Sri Lanka, I found out has many UNESCO world herigate sites ( Iwas told there are seven sites altogether). I hope to visit most of them by 30 Dec 2008. Outide of CoombSo far I have visited Dambulla cave paintings, Sirigaya - a fortress located atop a 220 m high rock, several ancient sites in Anandaphura city. Tomorrow I will be visiting Pollonaruwa, located 15km from Giritale. I won't write in detail about these places due to the limited Internet speed here here but I write about what have I discovered so far:
Safety
Yesterday, I was asked to hand over my passport at army check point for the first time. Tbis happened on the road approaching Anandhaphura city. A stern and suspicious sargeant asked the driver some questions irst and asked him where we were going. Then he turned his attention to me and asked several questions:-
Where I am from ? My answer : Malaysia
Where I came from ? My answer : Sirigaya
Where I was going to ? My answer : Anandhapura and a few other places.
How long have I been in Sri Lanka ? My answer : One week
What I am doing in Sri Lanka ? Tourism
At the end of the questions, he asked for my passport. I observed he took particular interest at the various visa stamps in my passport. Lastly he checked for my entry visa to Sri Lanka. Satisfied that I was a bona fide tourist/traveller, he nodded and we were permitted to continue our journey.
BTW, Anandaphura city is only 50 km from the Notherm Tamil dominated regio where the government is waging a war agansnt the Tamil Tigers
Tip : If you are stopped at military check point and being asked some questions, it is best that your give answers that arare short and precise. What you don't want to do is to give a rambling answer. Look at the questioner in the eye when you answer.
People
I have found the people here to be friendly and helpful. The touts. tuk-tuk drivers and vendors are less a hasslem than those in India. Here if you say no once (OK - in some cases, seversl times), they will leave you along. In India, they will follow you around even you say no in several different languages.
Cost
The costs have been higher than what I expected. To move around the places I mentioned, I booked a tour with a driver. The whole package (beb and breakfast) excluding entrance fees was USD 470 for 7 days or roughly USD 67/day. A local man I met in the Colombo to Kandy train said I had been charged too much. He said the cost should be about USD 240 which was unlikely considering it costs USD 35 to 50 per day to hire a driver inclusive of his accomodation and meal costs. I estimated the hotel and guest houses that have I stayed to date cost about USD 20 per night minimum.
He described the guys at the tour ageny "Rail Tours" run by JF Tours in the Fort Railway station as bunch of crooks having come across similar cases of overcharging.
I will check out his claim of prices later. (It is is too late for me to anything as I have fully paid for the tour).
To be continued........
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