Hassle in Sri Lanka?

Hello Paul,
I was once in Cargils 'food city', standing near the door waiting for my wife or daughter. I slowly raised my arm to look at my watch and see the time. Just as my arm reached the horizontal possition a woman came walking past and just at that exact same moment, she raised an ice cream cone to her mouth, to take a good lick.
I ended up with a long white vanilla stripe from my elbow to my wrist.
the worst thing about it was that she kept walking and i looked at my arm and then her head which was turning in my direction as she passed and it seemed to be in slow motion, our mouths both open in amazment, . and then life carried on as if nothing had happened. It was terrible.
Now i know this was in Kandy and you will probably be somewhere on the coast but, there are 'food city's' all over Sri lanka.
best wishes
Chris

Hi,
I've been into lots of Cargills stores in various parts of Sri Lanka but I never did get anyone willing to share their ice cream with me
Regarding the hassle, yes, you're sure to get some but In my experience, not in the way you desribe for West Africa.

If you go to any of the quiet , remore beaches, then no touts.

If you go to the busy places, where there are big hotels, then you'll see some. Selling, coconuts carved into monkeys, home made wooden catamarans, carved masks, clothing, cigarettes,, baubles, bangles and beads, etc. You'll also probably get one or two trying to sell you a room in their brothers hous, which is much better and cheaper than your hotel, but just say no firmly and if they still wanna stay and talk, lead the conversation away from what they're selling and onto cricket or the weather or something similar.
Much better than argueing.

In the towns, you stand a good chance of meeting the chef from your hotel, who recognises you from looking through the serving hatch at breakfast. Luckily for you, he's in town to buy spices for the hotel and as a special favour to you, he's willing to buy spice packs for you to take home, all at wholesale prices. And,, he'll guarantee the quality,,, ain't you the lucky one.?.

There's a good addition to this one, usually in Galle. A guy hangs around the station entrance and chats to you in a lovely friendly manner. He elicits a little information from you, where you're staying etc, then he wishes you a good day and walks away. He doesn't approach you again. BUT , whatever info he could glean from you, is passed to his mate who will follow you around for about 30 minutes before introducing himself as the chef/ assistant manager/ desk clerk / etc, from your hotel.. How more convincing is that when he knows the hotel and perhaps your name, , stuff that you let slip..

When me and my wife get those, we greet them with delight, then ask to borrow a few hundred rupees from them as we left our cash in the hotel. Amazing how quick they vanish.

Perhaps you'll meet a couple of lovely ladies, who are collecting donations for a school for the blind/deaf/cripple/ etc, ( delete which ever is non applicable). They have a long list of tourists from all over the known world , who have already made generous donations. Just ask for the school address and promise to make your donations direct .

Or, you may meet the guy in Kandy, usually outside the hall every evening , where the cultural show takes place. He can dislocate his shoulder at will. His arm , then appears to come out of his back. Really effective til it's tike to go home, then it all slips , easily back in place.

You may meet some guy, who's brother owns and runs a jewellery shop in Galle. He's thinking of opening another somewhere else in the country and desperately needs help, ( your help ) to compose a sign board in good English, French , German , Russian, whatever you can speak,. Not much to ask. Just a little advice.. And, the whole thing is to get you to accompany him about a mile to his brothers shop.. Thats all, just to get you into the shop.

Lots more where they came from, some Sri Lankans have very fertile minds and are excellent actors.
I love it.. It's like a contest thats far more entertaining than an electronic play station game.

However, although I've heard of it, I've never actually seen any touts, scammers, etc get nasty or threatening , in any way. Some can be very persistant but I've always found , humour and a definite "NO", works.

Have fun and watch out for the student who just wants the chance to practice his English,, he may be genuine.
Rod.

We met a guy in galle who at first is very friendly and keeps telling you he doesn't want anything from you . Than he starts getting very sentimental about the great loss he had because of the tsunami. He told us he only has got one daughter left... he keeps telling stuff and than asks if you can buy him some milkpowder for his daughter. At first it seems a good idea, don't like giving money, but something like milkpowder... But than it apears to be very very expensive in the store he takes you to. So it's an agreement with the shopowner, he will collect the profits at the shop after you leave. Luckily it was in the rough guide and my friend recognized the story once he started about the milkpowder. Also the shopowner was shaking his head saying 'no' to us when we were at the shop. So we didn't buy anything in the end.

The milk powder is a traditional scam - usually the shop owner is in on it, as you say, and once you leave the guy returns the milk and they share the money. The one I get a lot in galle is a guy saying his wife fell on the fire and got burned and they cannot afford any treatment for her - I once had that 3 times in one morning.

I admire the scam Rod described where one guy gets your details and a second guy then comes and does the chat - it takes a lot of effort to do it and I have to admit I have almost been taken in, except I did not want to go where the man wanted to take me - only later I worked out what had happened.

I also got asked to go into a jeweller in Galle to help translate his price list!! They were nice enough people and of course out came all the treasures. In fact I bought a very nice silver ring for about £5 sterling which I am wearing now so I didn't mind. As Rod says, these scammers are unlikely to be nasty, just a nuisance if you are not in the mood. I recognise a number in Galle and Negombo from previous visits and so I can call their bluff. There used to be 2 fellers in Negombo "collecting" money for deaf children. One claimed to be deaf, the other said he used to play cricket for the national team. They had the list with all the big donations written down on it - plausible rogues who were around for several years but I didn't see them this year.

Me again - meant to say about the weather. It is the monsoon season in June and you will get some rain. You should also get plenty of good weather in between. It would not stop me going - it can rain like the end of the world for a short time then out comes the sun.

Also, the situaton is not as bad as you describe in the Gambia. You may get pestered a bit on the more popular beaches (Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna, Negombo) but they will give up after a bit. Kalutara is quite touristy ( biggish hotels) so the security may be good and this will limit the beach boys, but some will find you. Alot of them are nice enough.

About guides in general. There is definately a growing ‘guide’ culture which we shouldn’t support. I know I have in the past but, I am working on my conscience.
As far as I can see; there are guides and touts wherever there are tourists. If you want to ‘chill out’ on a beach or visit historic sites, nature reserves or see a different way of life, how do these people ( who have no obvious service to offer) make a living?
Best wishes
Chris