Why Sri Lanka
The island is four hundred and thirty kilometres from north to south and contains tropical beaches, tea plantations at two thousand metres, primary forest, wild elephants and two thousand five hundred years of Buddhist history. Eight sites here are World Heritage listed.
The country is emerging from a twenty-six-year civil war that ended in 2009, and then from a severe economic crisis in 2022. It is visited normally today, and visitor numbers remain moderate compared with India or Thailand.
Getting around
The train is the mode of transport to favour, and not only for the landscape: the Kandy to Ella line crosses the tea plantations and ranks among the finest in the world. Reserved second-class tickets go weeks in advance; third class is taken on the day, standing.
Buses go everywhere, are crammed and very cheap. The tuk-tuk handles short distances, with a meter in the cities and a price to negotiate elsewhere. A driver by the day is a common and affordable practice for touring.
Money
Cash dominates outside hotels. The rupee depreciated sharply during the 2022 crisis, which makes the country very affordable, but prices quoted in older guides are obsolete.
Entry fees for the major sites — Sigiriya, Dambulla, Polonnaruwa — are in dollars and markedly higher for foreigners than for residents. They constitute a budget item in their own right.
Before you go
Buddhism is everywhere and the rules around the Buddha are taken seriously: you never turn your back on a statue to photograph yourself with it, and a tattoo depicting the Buddha can mean refusal of entry to the country. These are facts, not excessive precautions.
Shoulders and knees covered in all places of worship, shoes and headwear removed. Socks are useful: temple stone burns at midday.
The trains and the sites fill at the same hours: the Ella line is taken early in the morning, and Sigiriya before seven — after that, the climb of twelve hundred steps is done in a queue, in full sun.