Columbo, Sri Lanka

[Curlyjo]

Looking for ideas in Columbo, Sri Lanka. We will be in port one day in April. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks.

[paul929207]

We were there for a say in October and were very disappointed. We took a private tour to Kandi to see the temple with the tooth of Buddha. Apparently the tooth is kept in a secure location and only brought out for special occasions. Our visit did not qualify as special enough. We also went to an elephant preserve.

 

The problem was the traffic. It was horrible. We moved along at 15 or 20 mph all day. While the temple and elephants were nice, to me they were not worth all the time on the road.

[buchhalm]

Elephant preserve. That sounds like a breakfast spread... :-)

What to do in Sri Lanka for a day? Short answer: stay on board and enjoy the ship.

Distances on the maps do not seem to be far, but traffic is horrible and you spend more time stuck in it than at the places you want to see.

The elephant sanctuary is really nice, if you have the time and can catch the bathing time (from memory around 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.) THAT is super nice!

What really bothers me is that in Sri Lank there are always two prices. One for locals and around ten times the price for tourists. The elephants are 20 rupees for Sri lankans and 200 for "foreign passport". W.t.f.??? Just let ME try to sell ice cream for $1 to Ausralians and $10 to foreigners. I'd be taken to the United Nations for disremination.

And try to get a cup of proper TEA in Sri Lanka. Apart from the cafes at the tea plantations directly, you will be served tea bag tea. And not even a nice quality one. It doesn't matter if it is in a small roadside shack or a 5* hotel. (I am typing this sitting at the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo. Apparently one of the best hotels in the country)

[buchhalm]

P.s.; shouldn't this be in the ASIA section????

[Curlyjo]

Thanks for the input, and yes, it should be in the Asia section. How do I get it moved there?

[Gaznjo]

Probably a little late but we did colombo last year.... As it is a working port, if you are not doing a tour there should be shuttle to get you into town .... At the hotel we were dropped off we managed to get a taxi that took us on a tour of the city for about 3 -4 hours.....

 

At the terminal they will set up a market ... We didn't realise till we got back that one of the stalls were for private taxi tours....

 

If you follow the link below for our grand Europe cruise you will find an entry for colombo.....

Edited January 17, 2014 by packetau

[comcox]

When I was in Colombo last year pre-cruise. I arranged a city tour with Walkers Tours. My driver/guide was very good. Agreed there is not a lot to see in Colombo but there are a few temples and a good museum if you like that sort of thing. Once on the ship they offered assorted shore-ex for a day. I took the Kandy tour and thought it was way too much driving for what we saw. Others went to the Elephant sanctuary and enjoyed that. I believe there are also tea plantations within a reasonable drive time of Colombo.

 

But, yes, as folks say the traffic is absolutely horrible and it can take an hour just to get out of Colombo city center. Getting in and out of the port itself is a pain. Taxis cannot just drive in.