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    Backpacking Sri Lanka
    Backpacking Sri Lanka
    Backpacking Sri Lanka
    Ebook272 pages1 hour

    Backpacking Sri Lanka

    By Gail leach

    3/5

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    About this ebook

    The essential guide for the independent adventure traveller planning their own tour of Sri Lanka.
    Sri Lanka is a paradise island that has recently emerged from a bloody civil war and has now exploded onto the tourist market. This guide provides insider travel tips and up to date information on transport options around Sri Lanka, including tuk-tuks, planes, taxis, trains and buses.
    It's a must have guide for backpackers and adventure travellers with many top tips on the best method of transport for your tour of Sri Lanka tour, including tips on how to travel safely and avoid the scams.
    It includes a comprehensive listing of National Parks in Sri Lanka, UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Best Beaches in Sri Lanka, Top Attractions plus train and bus schedules.
    From Arrival at Colombo airport, money change, food and drink to your departure this guide has it all.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGail leach
    Release dateFeb 21, 2016
    ISBN9781311681911
    Backpacking Sri Lanka
    Author

    Gail leach

    When I was 10 I went to see a magical mystical fortune teller at the school fate. She took my hand and studied it for a long time and then told me I had GYPSY BLOOD. I was shocked and horrified. I protested and told her that I knew exactly who my parents were and neither were gypsies. She laughed at me and then explained she meant i would travel the world like gypsies do. To me this seemed like an impossible dream.I grew up in a small village in England where nothing much ever happened. People were born in the village, educated in the village and worked in the village, unless they were unlucky and had to travel the 3 miles into town. Yet here I am, I have travelled to so many countries, had many adventures and lived in UK, Dubai, Singapore and Sri Lanka and I am not finished yet. As they say life is an adventure, so live it!

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    • 2/5
      Needs a good proofread; full of grammatical errors, missing punctuation and spelling errors. Also, it was very disrespectful about local Sri Lankans at times, giving a very biased view of travel in Sri Lanka (and I'm not naive and have backpacked in South, Central America and throughout Asia for years as a solo female traveller). Some useful practical advice about train travel and some of the more off the beaten track religious sites. Recommends some unethical animal attractions, so all in all I wouldn't follow this author's advice.

    Book preview

    Backpacking Sri Lanka - Gail leach

    WELCOME TO BACKPACKING SRI LANKA

    Sri Lanka is a small country and at first glance it looks like it will be easy to plan your tour of Sri Lanka –Right? You are so wrong!

    Bad infrastructure, cows, tuk-tuks, crazy elephants, slow moving tractors and high volumes of traffic on single track roads all add up to long and tiring Sri Lanka Tours.

    With this guide you will be able to quickly discover how to make the most of your backpacking travel experience in Sri Lanka. Learn about the train routes, how to book a seat, which trains to book and which trains to avoid at all costs. Discover what types of buses are used, which ones are luxury and safe to travel in and which ones to avoid if you don’t want your valuable possessions stolen.

    We give you the full picture, not the fairy story so that you can avoid the scams and stay safe throughout your Sri Lanka tour.

    This is an essential guide for INDEPENDENT adventure travellers who want to successfully organise their own Tour of Sri Lanka. We give you the luxury travel options as well as bargain Lanka travel choices. The guide includes the pros and cons of each transport option and comes with an essential train map, timetables and major bus routes.

    Sri Lanka has many attractions to see, but unless you have 3 plus weeks for a tour of Sri Lanka or you decide to do part of your Lanka travel by plane or helicopter, you will not be able to see them all. Using this guide will help you get the most out of your tour of Sri Lanka

    back to the top

    WHAT’S THE WEATHER LIKE?

    Sri Lanka is a tropical country close to the equator, so it is hot and sunny all year round. The sun rises around 6am and sets around 6.20pm. There are no hot summer or cold winter seasons as the temperature remains fairly constant throughout the year ranging between 26°-35°C. The northern tip of the country around the cities of Jaffna and Trincomalee normally has consistently higher temperatures all year round. There are however, monsoon seasons.

    Monsoon seasons bring rain and tropical storms, luckily, it rarely rains all day. Morning rain is followed by afternoon sunshine, afternoon rain brings cooler evenings. It remains warm throughout the monsoon season and it’s still possible to get a tan if you want to head off to one of the beach resorts. However, the worst monsoon is the Second Inter-monsoon which occurs in October & November, this is when the cyclone like storms come in off the Bay of Bengal. The monsoon rains will affect your tour of Sri Lanka as the sudden deluge of rain often leads to flooding and a standstill in traffic, trains are disrupted and many private air conditioned buses stop running altogether, making Sri Lanka travel impossible. If you are backpacking Sri Lanka by public transport this could mean that you are left stranded. In heavy rain there is no alternative transport – no tuk-tuks, no taxis, nothing. If you get caught in monsoon rains at night the best thing is to find a hotel and start your tour again in the morning.

    The Monsoon seasons

    First Inter-monsoon season - March – April

    Southwest monsoon season - May – September

    Second Inter-monsoon season - October – November

    Northeast Monsoon season - December – February

    First Inter-monsoon –March-April

    Expect hot humid conditions with thunderstorms in the afternoon. High rainfall can be found in the south along the south west coast affecting beach resorts like Mirissa, Unawatunna, Welligama, Galle, Bentota, Hikkaduwa, Mount Lavinia, Colombo and Negombo. The Hill country receives the most rain so it is definitely not the best time to tour the Sri Lanka Hill country around the areas of Adams Peak. The mountain roads are slow moving single track roads which can be very difficult to navigate during heavy rains.

    Map showing rainfall in the Central Highlands

    South West Monsoon (May-September)

    During the South-West monsoon you can expect a lot more wind. If you are backpacking Sri Lanka this is actually quite nice as it cools the temperature a little and makes it more comfortable to travel Lanka. It’s also great if you are doing a Sri Lanka tour by car or tuk-tuk as it helps to keep the car cooler. It rarely rains all day but it can rain for a morning/afternoon or evening. You can still tour Sri Lanka during the south west monsoon.

    A lot of people advise not to travel to Sri Lanka during the monsoon as it is "not the season". This is nonsense! The greatest impact of the monsoon is not on backpackers or adventure travellers of Sri Lanka, it is on the fishermen and those offering diving/boating/sea sports. The monsoon weather brings with it very strong currents making it very dangerous to swim in the sea or take boats out on the south/ west coast. Even on calm days there may still be a lot of sand being shifted, this means little or no visibility for divers or on the glass bottomed boat tour in Hikkaduwa, making them a complete waste of money.

    Map showing high rainfall in the South

    The Second Inter-monsoon Season (October –November)

    A tour of Sri Lanka during these months can be more challenging particularly if you are backpacking Sri Lanka on public transport. During this monsoon the rain falls across all of the country, it’s normally the tropical thunderstorm rain which can be heavy and it makes travel around Sri Lanka difficult. It often results in widespread flooding and can result in landslides in the hill country. Expect delays to your Sri Lanka tour itinerary and be prepared to find last minute accommodation if you are backpacking by bus and train, as cancellations are likely. During this month there can be cyclone like weather and storms that come in from the Bay of Bengal, lightening strikes often result in power loss and sea sports are a NO GO. You can still tan at the beach resorts! Rain rarely lasts the whole day and most storms take place early evening.

    Cyclone weather in October & November

    North East Monsoon (December –February)

    This is the best monsoon period as cool winds blow in from the Indian land mass, they are dry and cold and bring with them clear skies and cooler mornings. During this time the Knuckles/Rangala mountains in the hill country receive the most rain. This area is very popular with the more adventurous tourists backpacking Sri Lanka who enjoy trekking/hiking/activity holidays. A tour of Sri Lanka at this time can be very pleasant as you get the best of the weather to travel Lanka.

    Best weather during December-February

    You can see from the rainfall charts that the north west/north east and east coasts have the least amount of rainfall throughout the year. If it’s sun sand and beach resorts you want then it makes sense to pick a destination like Trincomalee, Passekudah, and Arugum Bay. Passekudah is a developing destination with nothing in the way of bars and restaurants so you may end up spending all your time at the hotel so choose wisely. If you are a surfer then head to Arugum Bay from April to the end of September.

    Due to cyclone type weather in October/November, it is best to check the long-term weather forecasts before booking a tour of Sri Lanka or planning a backpacking adventure especially on the east coast. During this time the sea is likely to be too rough for any sea based activities and there are also stronger winds and heavier rainstorms during the months of October/November.

    Most Guide books will advise that you go to the south and west coast – Mirissa, Unawatunna, Welligama, Hikkaduwa, Galle, Bentota, Mount Lavinia, Colombo, Negombo from mid November to March and to the north and east coast Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Arugum Bay from March to October, however, this has more to do with the sea tides than the actual weather. If you are not into seawater sports /fishing/boating/diving/snorkeling then there is no need to follow this advice. However, it’s best to try and avoid the cyclone season (October & November) as travel across country becomes very difficult.

    The monsoon seasons were once relatively easy to predict but that has since changed due to the warming of the Pacific ocean called the El Nino effect. Since 2010 Sri Lanka has seen 5 major floods and 4 droughts due to a change in the climate, so whilst weather is guaranteed to be hot, the monsoon rainfall cannot be accurately predicted. In 2015 Sri Lanka was hit by the El Nino climate effect resulting in high temperatures and flash floods across the country severely affecting Lanka travel.

    Tour the East coast from April to October

    Tour the West coast from late November to April

    back to the top

    ****

    VISAS AND LANDING CARDS

    Any one wishing to enter and tour Sri Lanka will need to have;

    • A valid Passport.

    • A Visa.

    • Return air flight ticket.

    • Details of a hotel/guest house where they will stay.

    • You will also need to complete a Landing card on arrival.

    Visa’s can be obtained online or on arrival and are normally valid for 28days.

    It’s very easy to apply for a visa to backpack Sri Lanka, if you are backpacking or planning an independent tour of Sri Lanka you will need the address of a hotel/guest house to complete your visa application form and landing card. You can apply for a visit visa online by visiting the government website http://www.eta.gov.lk/ - slvisa or you can apply on arrival.

    Online approval can come through within 24 hours, however, depending on the volume of applications or whether it’s a holiday or such like it can also take up to 1 week for the visa to be approved, so make sure you leave plenty of time to organise it.

    If you plan on obtaining a visa on arrival, it’s best to pay in USD for your visa as not all currencies are accepted. You will see a small visa kiosk in the arrival area, you must pay for your visa first at the kiosk and then go to immigration. There is an ATM in the airport if you need to withdraw local currency for the visa.

    Landing cards. Some airlines give out the white landing cards before your arrival; if they don’t then you will find them in the immigration arrival hall on the writing desk areas to the right of passport control. Fill it in before going to the immigration.

    Extending Your Visa. You can extend your visa for a further 2 months without too much difficulty, providing you have money and a flight ticket out. It’s a time consuming process and takes 3- 4hours on average.

    Essential Requirements for Extending your Visa

    If you want to extend your tour of Sri Lanka and need to extend your visa you will need to head to the passport office in the Department of Immigration and Emigration, 41 Ananda Rajakaruna Mw ,Punchi Boralla Colombo 10

    Take with you –

    • A blue or black ink pen,

    • Passport size photos (get photos near to the immigration building there is one by the lifts and entrance to the visa section –this is the easiest and quickest one),

    • Cash for payment of the visa.

    • Something to read or keep you occupied whilst waiting.

    • You will need to show you have cash or a credit/debit card for living expenses and an outward plane ticket.

    Inside Immigration

    Get there really early – 8.30am is perfect. This is a crazy busy building, foreigners need to go to the 3rd floor. There’s no obvious system but this is what you do. Either download the visa application form from the net or get one from the 3rd floor reception desk on the left as you walk in. At the reception you need to have your application marked with your time of arrival and a number, you will also be given a slip of paper with your number on it.

    There is a large hall with seating outside of 3 office doors. Inside each

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