Sri Lanka
Links to Sri Lanka Embassies and Consulates
Fast Facts
Coutntry Full name: |
Weights & Measures: Metric |
| Population: 20,000,000 |
Country Dialing Code: +94 |
| Languages Spoken: Official - Sinhalese, Tamil |
Time Zones: GMT/UTC +5.5 |
Electric Plugs: 230V 50Hz |
Currency: Name: Sri Lanka Rupee Code: LKR Symbol: Rs |
Exchange rate:
Weather
Climatically the driest and best seasons are from December to March on the west and south coasts and in the Hill Country, and from May to September on the east coast. December to March is also the time when most foreign tourists come, the majority of them escaping the European winter.
Out of season travel has its advantages - it's less crowded, and many airfares and accommodation prices go right down. Nor does it rain all the time. Reefs may protect a beach area and make swimming quite feasible at places like Hikkaduwa, which during the monsoon can be quite pleasant.
July/August is the time of the Kandy Esala Perahera, the 10-day festival honouring the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha, and also the time for the Kataragama Festival in the South. In both towns accommodation just before, during and immediately after the festivals is very difficult to come by, and rates usually double or treble. Be sure to book rooms well in advance.
Sri Lanka is a typically tropical country with distinct dry and wet seasons. The picture is somewhat complicated by the fact that it is subject to two monsoons: the Yala season (May to August), when the southwest monsoon brings rain to the southern, western and central regions; and the Maha season (October to January), when the northeast monsoon brings rain to the north and east of the island. Temperatures in the low-lying coastal regions are high year round but they rapidly fall with altitude and in the hill country, where it feels like perpetual spring. The highest temperatures are from March through June, while November to January is usually the coolest time of the year. Rainfall is heaviest in the south, southwest and central highlands; the northern and north-central regions are very dry. The best time to visit the west, south coast and hill country is between December and March. May to September is best on the east coast.
Money & Cost
Sri Lanka is a cheap place to travel around. Shoestring travellers can exist comfortably on less than US$20.00 a day by staying in basic share or double rooms, getting around by bus and avoiding flash restaurants. Up the scale a bit to US$30.00 or US$40.00 and you'll be kipping down in delightful rest houses. Plan on around US$100.00 a day if you want the full five star treatment.
You'll have no problem changing travellers cheques at most major banks. Banks will give you a slightly better rate for travellers cheques, but it's convenient to have some cash for times when you can't get to a bank (there are plenty of money changers in Colombo and Hikkaduwa). US dollars are best. International ATMs have become common, especially in major cities, and can be found in most important tourist cities, but it's best to carry some cash in case the networks are temporarily down. Credit cards are widely accepted; Visa and MasterCard cash withdrawals are possible at major banks.
A 10% service charge is added to nearly every accommodation or eating bill in the middle and top ranges, but this often goes to the management. Tips directly to workers are always appreciated. Hotel porters normally get Rs20.00 per heavy bag. On the whole, prices are very negotiable in Sri Lanka, but bargaining shouldn't be seen as a battle to the death. Find out what the approximate cost is and then come to a mutually acceptable compromise. Losing your temper or shouting is very bad form.
Currency
Name: Sri Lanka Rupee
Symbol: Rs
Sample Price Guide
sending a postcard
Rs 20.00
hire of car & driver per day
Rs 2800.00
Average Room Prices |
|||
Low |
Mid |
High |
Deluxe |
Rs500-1000 |
Rs1500-2500 |
Rs2500-6000 |
Rs6000+ |
Average Meal Prices |
|||
Low |
Mid |
High |
Deluxe |
Rs50-250 |
Rs250-500 |
Rs500-1500 |
Rs1500+ |
Getting there and around
Getting There
The only way to enter Sri Lanka is by flying. Colombo is the international gateway for direct flights from Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. There are cheap flights available between Colombo and Madras, Trichy, Trivandrum and Bombay. Departure tax is US$10.00 .
Getting Around
There are no domestic passenger flights in Sri Lanka, which leaves buses and trains as the dominant modes of transport. Buses, ranging from smoke-spewing nightmares to modern private coaches, are cheap, plentiful and always overcrowded. Train travel, while slower, is much more comfortable and the southern line to Matara passes some of the best beaches. Motorbike and self-drive car hire are becoming more popular, though motorists often run an obstacle race around cows and dogs - many of the latter significantly three-legged. It's common to rent a car with a driver for a day trip or a multi-day tour of the island; prices are reasonable. Local transport consists of buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws. Ask around and agree a fare beforehand.
History
Pre-20th-Century History
Legend and history are deeply intertwined in the early accounts of Sri Lanka: Buddha, Rama and biblical Adam are all claimed to have strode the island. It is probable that the Ramayana, and its story of Rama and Sita, recounted throughout Asia, has some fragile basis in reality, for Sri Lanka's history recounts many invasions from southern India. Whatever the legends, the reality is that Sri Lanka's original inhabitants, the Veddahs (Wanniyala-aetto), were hunter-gatherers who subsisted on the island's natural bounty. Much about their origins is unclear. However, anthropologists generally believe that Sri Lanka's original inhabitants are descendants from the people of the late Stone Age and may have existed on the island since 16,000 BC. The first Sinhalese, originally from North India, arrived in Sri Lanka around the 5th or 6th century BC. A number of Sinhalese kingdoms, including Anuradhapura in the north, took root across the island during the 4th century BC. Buddhism was introduced by Mahinda, son of the Indian Mauryan emperor Ashoka, in the 3rd century BC, and it quickly became the established religion and the focus of a strong nationalism. However, Anuradhapura was not impregnable. Repeated invasions from southern India over the next 1000 years left Sri Lanka in an ongoing state of dynastic power struggle.
The Portuguese arrived in Colombo in 1505 and gained a monopoly on the invaluable spice trade. By 1597, the colonisers had taken formal control of the island. However, they failed to dislodge the powerful Sinhalese kingdom in Kandy which, in 1658, enlisted Dutch help to expel the Portuguese. The Dutch were more interested in trade and profits than religion or land, and only half-heartedly resisted when the British arrived in 1796. The Brits wore down Kandy's sovereignty and in 1815 became the first European power to rule the entire island. Coffee, tea, cinnamon and coconut plantations (worked by Tamil labourers imported from southern India) sprang up and English was introduced as the national language.
Modern History
Then known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka finally achieved full independence in 1948. The government adopted socialist policies, but promoted Sinhalese interests, making Sinhalese the national language and effectively reserving the best jobs for the Sinhalese, partly to address the imbalance of power between the majority Sinhalese and the English-speaking, Christian-educated elite. It prompted the Tamil Hindu minority to press for greater autonomy in the main Tamil areas in the north and east.
The country's ethnic and religious conflicts escalated as competition for wealth and work intensified. When Bandaranaike was assassinated in 1959 trying to reconcile the two communities, his widow, Sirimavo, became the world's first female prime minister. She continued her husband's socialist policies, but the economy went from bad to worse. A Maoist revolt in 1971 led to the death of thousands. One year later, the country became a republic and made Sri Lanka its official name.
In 1972 the constitution formally made Buddhism the state's primary religion, and Tamil places at university were reduced. Subsequent civil unrest resulted in a state of emergency in Tamil areas. Sinhalese security forces faced off against young Tamils, who began the fight for an independent homeland. Junius Richard Jayewardene was elected in 1977 and promoted Tamil to the status of a 'national language' in Tamil areas. He also granted Tamils greater local government control, but violence escalated.
When Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) secessionists massacred an army patrol in 1983, Sinhalese mobs went on a two-day rampage, killing several thousand Tamils and burning and looting property. This marked the point of no return. Many Tamils moved north into Tamil-dominated areas, and Sinhalese began to leave the Jaffna area. Tamil secessionists claimed the northern third of the country and the eastern coast. They were clearly in the majority in the north but proportionately equal to the Sinhalese and Muslims in the east. Violence escalated, with both sides guilty of ethnic cleansing.
By 1985, there were 50,000 internal refugees, 100,000 Tamil exiles in India, no tourism, slumping tea prices and dwindling aid (because of human rights abuses). Government gains in 1987 led to Tamil unrest in India, prompting concerns of an Indian invasion. The two governments agreed that the Sri Lankan Army would retreat and an Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) would maintain order in the north and disarm the Tigers. The agreement led to Sinhalese and Muslim riots in the south over the government 'sell-out' and Indian 'occupation'. Sri Lanka became a quagmire of inescapable violence.
A 1989 Sinhalese rebellion broke out in the south and the Marxist JVP orchestrated a series of strikes and political murders. The country was at a standstill. When the government's talks with the JVP failed, it unleashed death squads that killed JVP suspects and dumped their bodies in rivers. A three-year reign of terror resulted in at least 30,000 deaths. The IPKF withdrew in 1990. The Tigers had agreed to a ceasefire but violence flared almost immediately when a breakaway Tamil group unilaterally declared an independent homeland.
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Tamil suicide bomber in 1991 and Premadasa suffered the same fate in 1993. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga became prime minister in 1994, and president in 1995, and for the second time her mother Sirimavo Bandaranaike became prime minister.
In early 1995, the Tamils broke a truce and the government responded with a massive military operation that seemed to put Sri Lanka on the path to peace. But the Tigers regrouped and, by mid-1996, had launched damaging attacks on government troops stationed in northern Sri Lanka and terrorist strikes in Colombo.
The massacre in mid-October 2000 of 26 unarmed Tamil prisoners by a crowd of Sinhalese in the hill country town of Bandarawela resulted in violent demonstrations and retaliatory attacks.
Chandrika Kumaratunga won a second term in office in December 1999. Days before the vote, the president and People's Alliance coalition leader was the target of a LTTE suicide bomb attack in which she lost the sight in one eye. In December 2001, Ranil Wickramasinghe, who lost the 1999 elections, became prime minister when the United National Party swept parliamentary elections. This could have led to deadlock between Parliament and the executive in dealing with high inflation, high unemployment, poor infrastructure and, of course, the 18-year-old civil war, but unexpectedly promising peace talks with the LTTE have facilitated cooperation in the political process.
Recent History
Peace talks brokered by a Norwegian delegation inspired a one-month cease-fire beginning 24 December 2001 (the first in seven years), renewed in January 2002. With the lifting of a seven-year-old embargo on LTTE-controlled territory, it seemed peace was not a pipe dream. But the peace process stalled in 2003, although there was laudable cooperation between the government and the LTTE after the December 2004 tsunami. This mind-boggling disaster mauled a shocking 80% of Sri Lanka's coastline. More than 35,000 people lost their lives in the disaster and tens of thousands remain homeless, with reconstruction of housing proceeding slowly. International aid got roads, railways and other vital infrastructure working again, but long-term rebuilding is going more slowly - especially as the world's attention has moved elsewhere. The 2005 election of Mahinda Rajapaske as president came after the LTTE boycotted the election. A hardliner, he immediately took a tougher line with the Tigers and 2006 saw an increasing level of hostilities between the government and the LTTE, with clashes in both the north and the usually peaceful south. It's all been devastating for vital tourism, which during pre-tsunami 2004 seemed poised to take off.
BGN | BRN | KHM | GUM | FSM | IDN | LAO | MHL | MYS | MMR | MNP | PLW | PHL | SGP | THA | TMP | VNM
