Sri Lanka

I hope someone can help me on that matter. I collect beer cans. Now they canned Lion Lager and Strong in 12oz. beer cans. Could someone travelling there get me some cans and ship them to Germany or maybe if you fly back to Europe bring them with you? All cans can be empty if not dented. Of course I will pay purchase price and shipping costs. Hope you can help my beer can collection. Please email directly to chris@beercans.de Thanks Chris Germany

1. How many days do I need to visit the ancient cities. I am thinking Anuradhapura, Sirigaya, Polonnaruwa and Dambulla? Also, is it best to just start in Anuradhapura and just work my way south? How long will it take to do all of this starting off in Negombo and then ending in Kandy.

2. How many days should I take to visit Adam's Peak, World's End at Horton Plains and then get over to Ella? I am in pretty good shape and hike a lot, so I should feel pretty good after hiking Adam's…

Hi there,

just read that Yala National Park is meant to be a not safe area to travel in because of danger of terrorist attacks.
Is that true? Anybody been there recently?
We are flying into Sri Lanka day after tomorrow and Yala was one of our highlights in our travel itinerary.
Can anybody recommend other fascinating National Parks in the country?

Thank you all in advance!

I'm arriving in Columbo from Chennai about 3:00 in the afternoon. I want to go directly to Kandy and am not sure what the best way is by the time I get through customs, etc. It might be worth it to just get a car directly there, rather than try to get into Columbo and netotiate a bus or train station I'm not familiar with (I'm far more familiar with the extremely entropic stations in India) My guidebook lists a taxi directly to Kandy as costing about R3500, the book is a few years old now.

My…

We were grateful for some of the tips we received from the Thorn Tree before we left for Sri Lanka so we thought it would be worth giving some facts, figures and a few opinions on our return.

We landed in Colombo after the trip from hell and took a taxi up to Kandy, mostly in the rain. The taxi ride took just a bit over 3 hrs and cost USD 60 which seemed like a “fixed” price.

We stayed at Earls Regency hotel which is in a pretty location with nice gardens, pool and balconies but it is full 15…

Hi all,

we'll leave for Sri Lanka on monday. One thing I'm particularly looking forward to is getting some nice tropical fruit. I know it won't be difficult to get banana, papaya and probably pineapple and mango, but I'm also after other types such as mangostane, rambutan, chiku, salak, guava, and durian.

For the first few days we'll be somewhere on the southwest coast between Bentota and Matara. Does anyone know well assorted fruit markets in this region?

I'm also always interested to try…

Just for the information of anyone wanting surfing lessons in Hikkaduwa. I can recomend Gamini, his english is good and he is a good guy - he has been in Hikkaduwa for all of his life . He doesn't have the usual set-up on the beach as he is not associated with any of the guest houses or restaurants. He can be located at his mothers book shop/library at 101a Galle Road, Wewala (near Moon Beam Guest house/restaurant).

Hi,
I'm booking a guest house in Negombo which charges R1400 for an airport pick up. ( I arrive at 22:50 if that makes a difference). I have a guide book that is a couple years old which says a taxi from the airport should be about 500- 550 R.
I know for an average tourist this is not a huge amount of money to be concerned with,but on the other hand I am on a budget and don't want to over pay.
Thanks in advance for your advice................

hi,

it seems that different jobs, eg pool boys, drivers, maids earn different amounts which leaves me unsure as to how much to leave each one. we normally tip wherever we go and dont want to appear either tight or over generous (if there is such a thing!)

any help appreciated

Hi

Am torn about where to go for 2 weeks in late Feb / early Mar 09. I know, a real dilemma! ;-)

Want a bit of beach, good food, a few walks and all at not much expenditure. Pound sterling is becoming more worthless by the day. I've ruled out the Philippines because of internal transport.

Now, Sri Lanka seems to fit the bill perfectly. But having spent a fortnight just a year ago in Kerala and T Nadu I wonder if it's going to be "different" enough?

Forgive me if that sounds a silly question…