Shopping
Sri Lanka isn’t quite the shopper’s paradise of nearby India, Thailand or Indonesia. The island does churn out a lot of handicrafts, but sadly much of it is poor-quality tourist tat, exemplified by the third-rate suitcase-fillers sold at the government-run Laksala chain, which has shops in all the main towns around the island. There is interesting stuff to be found, however, if you are prepared to hunt around. The best places are Colombo, Kandy and the west coast resorts. Bargaining is the order of the day in all places except in the smartest shops – a request for a ‘small discount’ or ‘special price’ can work in many situations, especially if you are buying several items or making a big purchase, while at the more informal little shops and stalls you can usually haggle to your heart’s content.
Bird batik, Aluvihara
Apa Publications
Handicrafts and Souvenirs
The most characterful Sri Lankan souvenirs are the brightly painted masks which are sold all over the country, especially along the west coast – the best selection can be found at Ambalangoda, the centre of the island’s mask-making industry. Size and quality vary enormously: from the minute to the huge, and from sloppily painted junk to meticulously crafted heirlooms. Elephant carvings are also ubiquitous, in wood, metal or stone, as well as elephant paintings and batiks, stuffed toy elephants, elephant jigsaws and so on. Again, quality varies widely. Next in popularity come Buddha carvings, in a similarly wide range of media and quality.
Metalwork (a speciality of the Kandy area) is popular, though the island’s trays, candlesticks, plates and carvings can be a bit ornate for western tastes. Batik painting (introduced by the Dutch from Indonesia) is also fairly common. Most pieces feature tropical beach scenes, elephants or the Sigiriya Damsels, though a few places turn out more unusual stuff. Reasonable leatherwork and lacquerware is also available in a few places.
For something more unusual you could look out for Kandyan drums, carrom boards or religious kitsch, such as the colourful posters of Hindu and Buddhist gods, which are sold all over the island.
Tea and spice
There is plenty of tea for sale in Sri Lanka, either in dedicated tea shops (Mlesna is the main chain) or in general shops and supermarkets (Cargills supermarkets usually have a good stock), though the range is often fairly limited. You might also want to stock up on cheap spices from local shops – though spices sold in the island’s myriad spice gardens are usually massively marked up.
Finally, a number of shops in Colombo offer chic contemporary takes on traditional handicrafts. Places to try include Paradise Road, the shop at the Gallery Café and, best of all, the celebrated Barefoot, whose signature hand-woven cottons and linens are used in the making of a wide selection of vibrantly coloured objects, from clothes and tablecloths to fabric-covered stationery and unusual cuddly toys.
Gems and Jewellery
Sri Lanka’s fame as a major international source of high-quality precious stones is reflected in the large number of gem and jewellery shops which dot the island’s major tourist haunts. Shopping around may turn up some modest bargains, though unless you are an expert gemologist, stick to reputable shops and make sure you have done your homework so that you are able to compare prices and quality in Sri Lanka with those in your home country.
Needless to say, buying gems from touts or street traders (such as those who hang around Ratnapura, the island’s main gem-producing centre) is asking for trouble unless you really know your stuff.
A jeweller inspects gems at the moonstone mines, Mitiyagoda
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
Entertainment
Sri Lanka is badly lacking in nightlife. The island’s only established nightclubs are found exclusively in Colombo – all are attached to big hotels but none is particularly special. It’s probably better to head to one of the city’s handful of bars, pubs and live-music venues, all of which can stay lively till late.
The liveliest places on the coast are Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna, though even here things are pretty sleepy – quiet late-night beers on the beach and Bob Marley are the order of the day (or night) here, although there are occasional beach parties, plus an annual beach festival in Hikkaduwa held in July/August. Negombo also boasts a few lively bars in season, but away from these places, you can pretty much forget it.
Kandyan dance performers
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
After-hours entertainment is also largely non-existent. Colombo has a couple of cinemas and a smattering of cultural events, but that is about it. In Kandy, be sure to sample one of the shows of Kandyan dancing and drumming which are staged nightly at various venues around town (usually in the larger hotels) – all are thoroughly touristy but undeniably fun, with acrobatic dancing, exuberant drumming and fire-walking guaranteed.
Sports and relaxation
Cricket
As in India and Pakistan, cricket is a national obsession in Sri Lanka – it is impossible to go far without seeing kids playing games with improvised bats and balls on any available bit of space, and matches featuring the national team are followed religiously by virtually every man and boy on the island. Test matches and one-day internationals are held in Colombo, Kandy and Galle, while Dambulla also hosts one-day internationals.
Cricket practice on the beach
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
Golf
Increasing numbers of tourists are taking advantage of the island’s three beautiful 18-hole golf courses (all over 5,460m or 6,000yds; par 70–73), which can be found in Colombo, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya – the last two are particularly scenic. All three courses welcome casual visitors, and green fees and club hire are an absolute bargain compared with most other courses around the world.
Swimming
Splashing around into the warm waters of the Indian Ocean is one of the great pleasures of a visit to Sri Lanka. But swimming conditions vary enormously around the coast, even within quite small distances along individual beaches, and there are strong currents and undertows in places, so it is always worth seeking local advice if you want to swim off a deserted section of beach – a depressing number of Sri Lankans drown every year, as well as the occasional tourist. Be very careful if you are on the coast during the monsoon when seas can be rough. Most larger hotels have a swimming pool which can generally be used by non-guests for a fee.
Diving
Although not on a par with the nearby Maldives, Sri Lanka has a good range of diving sites and a well-established network of padi diving schools around most parts of the coast. The island’s marine environment is far from pristine, especially on the west coast, but although many of the offshore reefs have suffered significant damage, the coastal waters still boast abundant marine life, interesting underwater rock and cave formations and (on the west and south coasts) a large number of rewarding wreck dives. Most of the island’s diving schools are situated on the west coast, mainly in the Bentota area and at Hikkaduwa, and there are also schools on the south coast at Unawatuna, Weligama and Tangalla.
Diving dates
Snorkelling
There is very little good snorkelling in Sri Lanka, and most of the reefs close to the shore have been seriously damaged. The best spots are at Pigeon Island, at Nilaveli on the east coast, and at Polhena on the south coast (which has the added bonus of a couple of expert local snorkelling guides, contactable via the village’s guesthouses). The Coral Gardens in Hikkaduwa also offer decent snorkelling and plenty of tropical fish, but are rather spoilt for snorkellers by the number of boats riding around.
Surfing at Midigama on the south coast
Apa Publications
Surfing
There are several excellent surf spots around the Sri Lankan coast. The island’s premier surfing destination is Arugam Bay, which is internationally famous for its waves (best from May to October), offering a variety of breaks suitable for all standards from novice to expert. The other two main surfing destinations are Midigama on the south coast, and Hikkaduwa on the west coast (both best from November to April). There are specialist surfing shops at Arugam Bay and Hikkaduwa which offer tuition, board rental and repairs, and which also organise surf safaris to breaks along the coast.
Other Watersports
The water sports capital is Bentota, where the placid waters of the Bentota lagoon provide the perfect spot for all sorts of water-based fun, including windsurfing, water-skiing, jet-skiing, speed-boating, banana-boating, tube-riding, kayaking and lagoon boat trips (all of which can be organised through the resort’s myriad water sports centres).
The best spot for white-water rafting is Kitulgala, on the southwestern edge of the hill country, where the choppy Kelani Ganga River (famous as the location for the film The Bridge on the River Kwai) provides boulder-strewn stretches of grade 3–4 rapids.
Trekking and Cycling
The island’s vast potential for activity holidays remains largely unexploited, though things are slowly changing. The hill country, in particular, is a walkers’ paradise, with stunning scenery and a pleasantly temperate climate, though the lack of established long-distance hiking trails means that it’s best to sign up with a local tour operator rather than attempting to strike out on your own.
Cyclists have thousands of miles of relatively traffic-free minor roads to explore, though again it’s probably easiest to take a tour with an established local operator – Grasshopper Adventure and Jetwing Eco-Holidays (for more information, click here) are two of the best for both hiking and cycling, as well as other activity holidays.
Wildlife
Sri Lanka has an outstanding collection of national parks covering large swathes of the island and boasting a fascinating array of wildlife. For most visitors the main attraction is the elephants, which can be seen in almost all the island’s national parks, while the island’s superb leopards are also a major draw, most easily seen at Yala National Park, which has one of the world’s highest concentrations of this elusive mammal. Various species of monkey, sloth bears, and several types of deer, buffalo, wild boar, assorted squirrels, crocodiles and large monitor lizards are also commonly spotted here.
A leopard in Yala National Park
iStock
Sri Lanka is also one of Asia’s premier bird-watching locations, boasting a vast range of colourful avifauna. The island’s wide range of natural habitats – from coastal wetlands to cloud forest – supports a uniquely varied array of resident bird life, while its equatorial location also attracts a wide range of seasonal migrants from as far away as Europe. More than 230 resident species have been recorded, including 33 endemic species which are found only on the island.
Whale-Watching and Turtle-Watches
Over the past few years, Sri Lanka has emerged as a leading whale-watching destination (best from November to April). The main centre for trips is the village of Mirissa, near the southern point of the island. Blue whales are the most commonly spotted species, while sperm whales are sighted with reasonable frequency.
The island is also an important turtle-nesting site, with five different species of marine turtle visiting the island. Turtle watches are run nightly on the beach at Rekawa, near Tangalla, and at Kosgoda, near Bentota. Sightings are most common from January to May (usually reaching a peak in April), particularly during nights on or around the full moon.
Yoga and Meditation
Yoga courses and facilities are less well established in Sri Lanka than in neighbouring India, although increasing numbers of ayurveda centres now offer yoga sessions either on their own or as part of treatment courses. Aficionados might consider a visit to Ulpotha (www.ulpotha.com), a specialist yoga retreat in the Cultural Triangle which attracts top international teachers for its two-week residential courses, though at top international prices.
The best place to study meditation is Kandy, which has a number of well-established centres. The best for foreign visitors is the Nilambe Meditation Centre (email: info@nilambe.net; www.nilambe.net), in a beautiful setting high in the hills about 20km (12 miles) outside the city.
Ayurveda
The traditional system of holistic health care known as Ayurveda (from the Sanskrit, meaning ‘the science of life’) has been practised in India and Sri Lanka for centuries. According to the Ayurvedic system, all bodies are made up of varying combinations of the five basic elements (ether, fire, air, earth and water) and governed by three doshas (pitta, vata and kapha), each of which is a combination of two or three of the five elements. Illnesses are seen simply as the result of an imbalance in the doshas, and so rather than treating illnesses and symptoms in isolation, Ayurveda aims to treat the whole patient, often trying to encourage a more balanced lifestyle.
An energy-giving marma scrub
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
A huge number of places (mainly in the west coast resorts) now offer Ayurveda treatments. These are basically of two types. Serious Ayurveda resorts and clinics cater for visitors (often with chronic medical problems) who go for long-term courses of treatment. Far more common, however, are so-called ‘soft’ Ayurveda treatments, most commonly various forms of massage, herbal and steam baths, and shirodhara, which involves dribbling hot oil on the forehead (or ‘third eye’). Although they are extremely pleasurable, these are essentially glorified de-stress and beauty treatments rather than genuine medical therapies. The massive boom in ‘soft’ Ayurveda over the past decade has recently encouraged many of the smarter west-coast hotels to open sumptuous new spas, in which ‘soft’ Ayurveda treatments are offered alongside mainstream spa treatments such as wraps and body polishes, facials, reflexology and aromatherapy treatments, and various forms of international-style massages such as Thai and Swedish.
Children’s Sri Lanka
The beach is likely to provide the main entertainment for kids visiting Sri Lanka, with mile upon mile of golden sand to play around on and warm waters to dip into – though parents should always check local swimming conditions (for more information, click here) and be attentive to the very real dangers of sunburn and dehydration.
Ball games on the beach
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications
Away from the coast, the country’s top children’s attraction is the Elephant Orphanage at Pinnewala, whose elephants are a guaranteed hit, especially the tiny babies – one of the very few places in the world where kids can see elephants which are even smaller than themselves. A rattling jeep ride around any of the island’s other national parks in search of elephants, leopards or other wildlife is also fun.
Older kids will enjoy some of the island’s activity sports, such as water sports at Bentota or white-water rafting at Kitulgala (for more information, click here). All levels of rafting are available from here. A tuktuk ride, a train trip through the hill country or a boat trip on one of the island’s rivers or lagoons, or even in a fishing boat along the coast, should also appeal, while those with a head for heights might also fancy the challenge of clambering up Sigiriya.
Finally, there are plenty of gruesome masks, painted elephants and wooden toys on sale all over the island – and if you are in Colombo, be sure to bag a colourful cuddly animal or two from Barefoot (for more information, click here) before you leave.
Festivals
It is sometimes said that Sri Lanka has more festivals than any other country in the world, and with 25 public holidays a year plus numerous festivals (lasting up to a month) from four different religions, it is easy to believe. The calendar, click here, gives only the most important of the country’s innumerable celebrations.
The Esala Perahera
Sri Lanka’s most spectacular festival is the magnificent Esala Perahera, held in Kandy over the 10 days leading up to the Esala Poya in late July/early August (exact dates vary; check www.srilanka.travel). Held in honour of the city’s revered Tooth Relic, the festival consists of a series of nightly processions around the city which gradually increase in scale and exuberance over the course of the 10 days. By the final few nights, the procession will have grown to mammoth proportions, with around a thousand dancers, drummers, fire-eaters and others, plus a hundred or so magnificently attired elephants, with a replica of the Tooth Relic carried on the back of the lead elephant, the so-called Maligawa Tusker – a vast explosion of noise, colour and religious pageantry without equal in Sri Lanka, or indeed anywhere else in Asia.
Virtually all the island’s major festivals are religious in inspiration, and many centre around elaborate night-time processions, or peraheras, featuring lots of exquisitely dressed elephants, dancers and drummers. Many festivals occur on poya (full-moon) days, which are held to be sacred by Buddhists who traditionally retire to their temples to meditate and pray for the day. Most festivals follow the Buddhist lunar calendar, so dates vary slightly from year to year. For a complete listing of events and exact dates, visit www.srilanka.travel.