Sri Lanka calling
Tourists are flocking back to this island nation.
Sri Lanka is a country on the move, upwardly mobile and attracting tourists who are flocking to this now safe and stable island.
Five years on from the end of a 25-year civil war, the benefits of peace and security are visible throughout Sri Lanka, as the island nation rebuilds and develops.
Many travellers compare it to India, but even a short visit makes visitors realise that Sri Lanka is a world apart, despite the countries’ shared history. It is more laid back (India on Valium, is how one fellow traveller put it) beggars are few (despite widespread poverty) and the people are welcoming.
Last year, a record 1.5 million visited Sri Lanka from India, Europe, the Middle East, the UK, China, Korea and Australia. That’s three times the number in 2006, when the country was recovering from the 2004 tsunami amid the civil war.
This year, the tourism board is hoping two million will visit, boosted by the global publicity from Pope Francis’ visit in January.
Investments in hotels, cafes and staff training, redeveloping tourism facilities, high-quality roads, new offices, shopping centres, apartments and housing, reflect this new confidence, lifting the quality of life for all.
Eco-tourism is developing as a major driver, reflecting the diversity of the country’s offerings: national parks with wild elephants, leopards, monkeys, spotted deer and amazing birds; whale watching, a turtle hatchery and elephant orphanage, kayaking, surfing and diving, on top of its traditional attractions of ancient cities, temples and the tea plantations.
CULTURE
Sri Lanka’s centuries-old Buddhist traditions attract devotees from India, Japan, China and the West. Likewise with an abundance of Hindu temples and mosques. The country is home to 22 million mainly Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Christians.
PLANNING
Most tourists visit the capital, Colombo, only briefly, preferring instead to head directly to whatever has attracted them to the island. The tourism strip of nearby Negambo is good place to recover from a long flight, before heading north to the cultural centre, or east to the sugar-like sands of the coastal beaches.
Others head south, directly to the 430-year old fort city of Galle, which like many other places in Sri Lanka, is a World Heritage site, and from there to surf beaches, or up through the
centre of the island to Kandy and tea plantations.
ROADS
Travelling around the island is rarely boring. An ever-changing landscape can lead to sensory overload. From roadside stalls to small villages undergoing big development, watching daily life is absolutely intriguing.
A car and driver, and preferably a trained guide, ensures first-time visitors glean as much as possible from the sights and sounds. Besides, driving on Sri Lankan roads requires nerves of steel and a high level of concentration.
It’s not unusual to see three huge buses and trucks overtaking each other on your side of the road. Despite that, the roads are of a high standard and make for pleasant driving.
TEA
The country maintains its former name, Ceylon, to help market its most important export: quality tea. But the industry has cleverly exploited the global tea obsession by developing its tea plantations in the highlands as a major tourism attraction, although tea plantation workers are among the most poorly paid in the country.
CUISINE
Food is a major attraction of Sri Lanka. Its cuisine is centred around rice served with a fish, chicken, beef or goat curry, along with other curries made with vegetables, lentils or fruit. Tourism cafes charge around PGK12 a meal. And it is nothing like Indian food.
Hoppers are a specialty, particularly for breakfast, consisting of a crispy, bowl-shaped pancake, made from fermented rice batter and coconut milk.
No Sri Lankan meal is complete without sambols, some spicy, some sweet, and some savoury. Best of all are those made with Maldive fish, chilli and coconut, topped with lime. After just a few days of eating Sri Lankan food, you’ll be craving for chilli on your Western omelette.
For dessert, curd and treacle is a delicious mix of buffalo milk and treacle. This goes well with fresh pineapple, which costs around PGK1, either in a supermarket or the roadside. Coconut is similarly priced. Drinking bottled water is a must, but at PGK2 a litre, it’s cheap. Dragonfruit, guava, durian, sapodilla, mangosteen, rambutan and apples also abound in supermarkets and at roadside stalls. Around Galle, a number of cooking classes offer hands-on experience to make these wonderful dishes.
ACCOMMODATION
Four and five-star hotels and resorts are all over the island. It is a genuinely yearround tourism destination, although where and when you go, is based on the two monsoon seasons.
As a rough guide, December to mid-April is considered the peak season for overall weather.
GEMS
Of the world’s 85 varieties of gemstones, Sri Lanka is home to 40. Fertile soil produces rubies, sapphires, cat’s eyes, garnets, Alexandrites and more.
Air Niugini flies to Singapore five times a week. From there, direct air connections are available to Colombo. See airniugini.com.pg.