The backpacker’s paradise: Sri Lanka. Your smart mini-guide (Part I)

The idea of visiting Sri Lanka came spontaneous (as usual) and I hadn’t planned anything in advance. My one week journey through the country will take you from dusty trains to green plantations, from chaotic situations to peaceful moments. If Sri Lanka is your next travel destination then have a look at the next few articles where you will find some useful information, best places to visit and smart tips about dealing with locals. 

On top of that you will discover a whole new and exotic world and you will be given over a hundred reasons for which you should choose Sri Lanka for your next travel adventure. 

 This year I decided to celebrate Easter at a non-fancy destination: Sri Lanka and I decided to go on a solo trip. 

 On 1st of May I took the flight from Dubai to Colombo. The flight from Dubai to Bandaranaike International Airport takes around 3:45h. 

Here are some basic things to know before you go.

What should I take with me?

The things that you will need in Sri Lanka for sure are:

-Get a comfortable backpack. As I mentioned more than once my best friend is my 30L Deuter backpack and I’m more than happy to use it for a trips with length of 2 weeks and even more. 

It was funny to see people in Sri Lanka with huge suitcases struggling to get on the train and even a guy who was carrying with him his surfboard. If you want to use the public transport (trains and buses) you should have in mind that space is always limited and buses usually leave only when they’re packed which means even the aisle of the bus is full of people. If you want to travel on a budget then pack light. Otherwise you will have to use taxis and tuk-tuk which are pretty expensive. 

What about renting a car? My tip for you is: if you don’t want to ruin your vacation and have a peaceful days in Sri Lanka, please don’t drive here :) Some of the bus rides that I had can’t compare to anything I’ve experienced before in cities like Cairo, Tehran or Mumbai. Driving is Sri Lanka is completely insane and I had a moment or two that my heart skipped a beat while riding local buses.  

- Get a mosquitoes repellent. Most of the places have these cute romantic nets over your bed that make you look like a sleeping beauty but mosquitoes are quite persistent so the only one thing that stops them is a good repellent. 

- Sunscreen. Sun is strong here so protection is important.

- The right clothes: long lose pants, shorts, swimming suit, shirts and tops. Don’t bother yourself with jeans or heavy sweaters. The climate in Sri Lanka is tropical with a lot of rain and humidity. Take maybe just one or two jumpers because if you decide to go uphill to the tea plantations or climb Adam’s Peak (which I did) you will feel a bit cold. 

First time in Sri Lanka? This is how it feels…

In many ways Sri Lanka is similar to India so if you’ve been there you would figure out everything quite fast. Here you’ll find the same chaos and you would never be sure what exactly is going to happen after you make your next step. 

One of the reasons that I consider Sri Lanka as a backpacker’s paradise is the fact that here everything is extremely cheap. If you are traveler on a budget then you should definitely include this country in your bucket list. 

How much it cost to travel in Sri Lanka?

For 8 days I’ve spent the total amount of 34 000LKR (aprx 200 EUR) and I wasn’t even trying to save much. I bought some souvenirs, I had a few expensive meals and my first night accommodation was pre-booked and was quite pricey. 

Of course at some situations you will have to pay much more than the actual price but this is how it works in countries like India and Sri Lanka. People have to survive somehow, right? This doesn’t mean that you should underestimate your bargaining skills and here I will try to give you the best ways to successful negotiations with locals. 

My straightforward advice is: never accept the first offer that you get and always walk around and look for a few options before you buy something. 

Simple example: friends from Slovenia wanted to buy a mask from a local market in Kandy. The first offer they get was crazy: 6000 LKR (36 €).  We looked around and they bought the same mask from another stall for 1400 LKR (8€). Later on, we found a nice souvenir shop in Arugam Bay. The price for similar masks was 1000 LKR (6€). 

Don’t waste your time asking locals for direction or timetables of buses/trains. Most of them will try to full you and the rest are just not inform about anything. If you want to ask someone try to find a police officer or someone at the ticket office in train stations. 

Be aware of the fact that locals will often give you wrong information so that they could offer you a tuk-tuk or accommodation. 

You will be told that the train you’re waiting for will come after 3-4 hours, that today there’s a strike so there’s no buses running (yes, I’ve heard this in Nanu Oya), that the bus will take you more than an hour but with tuk-tuk you will reach your destination in just 15 min etc. 

Public transportation in Sri Lanka is quite slow and timetables are something that it’s never announced so it is an adventure to find the right bus/train. 

Delays are also something quite normal here so don’t be surprised if you have to wait for your train for an hour or two more. Always double check which platform your train will leave as it often happens that platform will change. Usually before your train arrives everything is quite calm and peaceful but if you notice running people to the next platform be sure you are on the wrong one :)

Despite all, the connections in Sri Lanka are good so you rarely need a tuk-tuk or taxi. Remember: you can get everywhere using just buses/trains. Just be patient and don’t let yourself being scammed by locals. 

Every time when you jump on the right train/bus you will be rewarded with the feeling of a small victory and this will turn your trip into a real adventure. The only one way to get so close (literary!) to the local people is to try at least once a ride in a regular non-A/C bus, packed like a sardines with another hundred people and pay something like 0.18€. Trust me, you would love that feeling :)

The Sri Lankan people might not treat the foreigners in the most gentle way but the beauty of the country and the amazing nature will leave you speechless. It will make everything else to look insignificant. 

 So if you are still wondering about accepting the challenge and booking that ticket, just do it. I can guarantee you will make a lot of nice memories and you will leave Sri Lanka getting a good life-experience and being more prepared for your next trip. 

Getting from the airport to Colombo 

Once when I arrived at Colombo International airport I had a few tasks:

- Withdraw money

- Get a local SIM with data

- Find a cheap way to get to the city (Bandaranaike International Airport is located 34km from Colombo!)

Honestly I didn’t expect the things to happen so smooth even though they were not absolutely perfect.

My visa for Sri Lanka was on arrival but I had to fill an online application form before my departure from Dubai and pay for my visa (35$) using my credit card. Make sure what are the requirements for your country before you leave. 

I cleared the customs and get my new passport stamp at the airport for less than 5 min. 

Once when you reach the Arrival Hall you will find everything you need.

There’s a few ATM machines. I used the one of Commercial Bank. The charge for withdrawing money was 300R. 

Everywhere in the big cities you will find ATM machines and banks so you shouldn’t worry about that. 

I haven’t had any problems with my debit card but a couple from Slovenia that I’ve met was having difficulties with their card. If you have some problems withdrawing money, first try to check your balance on the ATM machine and then try to withdraw again. 

At the airport you will also find a Dialog office. This is a mobile operator in Sri Lanka and just in 5 min you can get your new SIM card for 10$ (1300R). For that amount of money you’ll get 5GB data and 350R local calls/SMS. Not a bad deal, right?

Now, the most important question was: how to get from the airport to the city and avoid paying 3000R for a taxi?

Next to the Dialog office you will see the exit of the airport. Just take the Group exit and walk to the LEFT until the end of the paved road. Only 100 m away you will find a huge parking with many buses. I was surprised that there was no hustle and nobody tried to offer me a taxi or even approached me. 

That was honestly, the most peaceful airport I’ve ever been to. 

Now, once when you reach the parking you’ll see many buses parked there. Here I did my first small mistake that is common for most first time travelers in Sri Lanka. I didn’t have enough time to read carefully in advance so I hop on a bus #187 which at the beginning looked quite empty and spacious, plus it has AC. 

Later I found out that you can take a big blue shuttle bus to Colombo which will cost you only 130LKR (0,80€).

When I asked the driver how much the ticket costs for my bus #187  he told me it’s 200 LKR but I gave him 130 LKR. Even this was a bit overpriced, because the real cost is around 60-70LKR, but seriously we’re talking about 0,80€. After all, my experience with my filthy #187 bus wasn’t that bad at all. 

The driver offered me a spacious seat at the front. The bus was with A/C and I even had enough space to store my backpack nearby. 

In the next 10 min I realized how lucky I was, giving the driver a bit more money. The area behind me was quickly taken by huge suitcases, boxes, bags and every possible kind of luggage that you can imagine. And of course as you can imagine, I was the only one white person in that bus :)

Colombo in a few hours.

So, welcome to Sri Lanka!

Buses here never leave unless they are full and by full I mean that all the seats are taken and the aisle is blocked by a colorful mixture of rolling bags and standing people :D

This is how a regular city bus looks like before it gets full :)

Just before the airport bus leaves from the stand another passenger sits on the tiny place next to me – a young guy who is apparently local. 

I never underestimate the opportunity of talking to people sitting next to me on the plane or in the bus so I start a conversation with the stranger only to find out we are living in the same region. He lives and works as a chef in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The guy is originally from Nuwara Eliya so I receive some nice tips from him. 

The bus ride took us less than an hour. The airport bus drops us at Colombo Fort Railway station where the local guy had to meet his friend.

The moment we stepped out of the bus it started raining like cats and dogs. My first impressions of Colombo are quite wet (and no, don’t switch on your dirty mind, cause it’s not what you’re thinking):

I still had a few hours before my first train journey so I invite the local guys for a meal. 

Sri Lankan food

Now, a bit more for the cuisine of Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lankan food offers a wide variety of different ingredients and mixtures for every taste. The traditional food has a reputation of being spicy so if you are not a big fan of chili (like me) you better be careful with your exploration of local delicacies. 

Cases of food poisoning are not an exception. 

Once I had a case onboard the aircraft with a lady, traveling from Colombo back to Dubai, with a food poisoning and I can tell you it could be quite dangerous and unpleasant situation. 

Street food or a food from a restaurant, it doesn’t matter. The hygiene is always questionable here, so if you feel there’s something wrong with your meal, leave it straight away and take with you some medications like activated charcoal. 

My personal taste and opinion for the food lovers is that if you are in Sri Lanka you shouldn’t miss to try the following:

1) Rice and curry. This is something like “food religion” in Sri Lanka. It is so common so it almost became a synonym of food. 

I’ve always thought that curry means just the curry leaves but apparently the curry is a complex combination of spices including curry leaves, tamarind, coriander, ginger, garlic, chili, pepper, poppy seeds, mustard seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cumin,  coconut, turmeric root or powder and God know what else…

A curry's color is determined by how various spices are initially used and treated.

2) Seafood. Make sure you try different types of fish, crab, lobster, prawns, shrimps… Everything is allowed as long as you’re sure it’s fresh. 

3) Short-eats. So called short-eats are actually small snacks. From the simple rotti (Sri Lankan bread) to different types of rolls stuffed with meat, fish or vegetables this is the backpacker’s solution while on the road. 

4) Kotthu. My personal favourite. Rotti bread is chopped on a flat top and it's mixed with meat and/or eggs and different vegetables. It's never spicy and always tasty!

I’m really careful with my first dish so I order plain rice with some vegetables (avoiding meat) and some gravy sauce. I emphasize on the fact that I don’t eat spicy food but usually this wouldn’t stop locals giving you dishes with a flavor that kind of “punch-you-in-the-face”. I guess my first day I’m lucky because I’m in the company of two locals. 

The rice is nothing special but I find something new that the Sri Lankan guy offered me:  egg hoppers. 

Hoppers are Sri Lankan version of pancakes with crispy edges which are usually filled with a fried egg. 

I’m amazed to find out that the plates for the three of us cost the amount of 500 LKR (3 €). 

 If you are a solo female traveler you will quickly get some attention (sometimes even too much) from locals. Even if they’re nice with you, don’t let them get too close to you and always keep distance.

 I say goodbye to the guys and I stick to my plan which is to get out of Colombo as soon as possible. 

As part of my job as a flight attendant I’ve already been to the capital and I know that there’s not much to be done in Colombo. 

Still, if you have a day or two you can go to Negombo beach or do a small trip to  Muthurajawela Visitor Centre – Negombo Lagoon. 

SAMPLE ITINERARY FOR 8 DAYS

My itinerary for my 8-day journey included: Sigirya-Dambula-Kandy-Nuwara Eliya-Arugam Bay. I did all of it plus an extra activity: climbing Adam’s Peak. This is how my journey look like on the map: 

So, if you are interested to learn how I visited all these places, where I stayed, how I get there etc., read about it in the next articles :)