Sri Lanka

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

Heading to Sri Lanka for the cricket in March/April next year, wondering if anyone on here has been before?

Will be spending about 9 days in Galle, though planning to stay somewhere in Unawatuna, then about a week in Colombo.

Any recommendations? Particularly on some cheap but decent accommodation in Unawatuna?

[Bum Crack]

after watching 4 Corners Monday night, that's the last place I'd be going.

[Q.]

after watching 4 Corners Monday night, that's the last place I'd be going.

I'd be cautious about heading north.

Sammy stated he'll be spending all his time in the south, which should be safe, albeit with military presence.

All that said, his travel is over six months away. Six months is a lot of time for things to get better...or worse.

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

That side of things doesn't worry me too much, particularly with the area's I'm going to, but by all reports everything has died down a fair bit since 2009, and by traveling there now you're contributing to rebuilding the country, keep in mind the areas I'm visiting, in particular Galle/Unawatuna are still suffering from the effects of the 2004 tsunami.
I know of a few people that were in Sri Lanka during 2007 when things were a lot worse and they've no issues with going back this time round, though they've said seeing documentaries after their visit and associating the things in them with what they directly saw and heard was somewhat disturbing.

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

I've booked at a guest house called Palm Grove in Unawatuna, its run by a British couple who guarantee a fridge full of beer in your room at all times

A$230 for 8 nights, king size room with ensuite and private balcony, seems an extremely good deal considering what some other places in the area are charging while the crickets on.

http://www.palmgrovesrilanka.com/

[Q.]

Whaddya think Sammy?

I'm considering a three or four week trip next year to see as much of the country as possible. Worth it?

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

Unfortunatley I got caught up in this mess http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigation ... lands.html

But I've got quite a few mates from the UK and Australia arriving there at the moment so I'll let you know what they think after the tour, only thing I've heard so far is it's about 46 degrees and very humid

[Q.]

Cripes, that's dodgy!

[Sam_goUUUdogs]

By all reports my mates are having an absolute blast (cricket results aside )
The beers are cheap, about $2 for 500ml, but they are quite open and obvious about the fact they take tourists for a ride when it comes to prices for things.
Tickets to the cricket are usually about 50p, but they were bumped up to £25 simply because they knew those that had travelled would pay to get in regardless of the price.
There's also tourist and local prices for entry to a lot of places, a couple mates went to a turtle park down near Galle and they were charged the foreigners entrance fee which was a good 3 or 4 times that of the locals price.

I'd certainly say it's worth going for a few weeks though, after hearing some of my mates stories and seeing some of the pictures, Sri Lanka is certainly still on my ''to do'' list.