17 things I Wish I Knew BEFORE travelling to SRI LANKA 🇱🇰

here are 17 things I wish I knew before I visited  Sri Lanka now I've spent a couple of months in   this country and there's definitely things you  need to know before visiting and the first one   is the head bobble actually means yes or okay  now in the western world shaking a head means   no but actually over in Sri Lanka it's completely  different when you first get there it is quite a   shock but just remember that when you see someone  shake their head once you go you'll understand now   number two is something I actually read before  coming to the country and that is lots of the   reviews are fake and I was wasn't too sure  about this after spending a couple of weeks   in the country reading reviews of restaurants  hotels guest houses there was like 100 reviews   with 10 Stars each and you're just like that looks  a little bit dodgy so just take that into account   when looking for stuff now number three Sri Lanka  may look like a really small country below India   but actually it is pretty big and it takes a long  time to get around the island this is due to some   of the infrastructure but things like buses and  trains you could be on these trains for like 8   hours long and only cover a small distance of the  the country now here I'm talking about the public   transportation that's what takes a long time to  get around the country but it also means that all   the public transportation is super cheap as cheap  as I've seen it anywhere in the world we took a   train journey for like 7 hours and it costs  like £150 in second class which is incredible   value now number four something I loved about Sri  Lanka is the local people are super friendly and   also really helpful if you're ever stuck and the  great thing which actually surprised me a little   bit is they speak really good English English not  all of them obviously but a lot of people speak   English so it's really easy communicate ask about  problems or whatever you got just ask people they   will help you out now number five this one's  a little bit of a confusing one so let's think   about this for a moment so there are two Monsoon  seasons in Sri Lanka and two dry seasons in Sri   Lanka and this even though it's a small island  the country kind of splits in half when's the   monsoon season and the dry season now the dry  season also known as a tourist peak season in   the southwest of Sri Lanka is between December and  March in the North Eastern side of Sri Lanka the   dry season or the tourist season is between May  to September so depending on which part of Sri   Lanka you're looking to go to depends on which  time you should go in the year now number six   Sri Lanka is a big bargaining place so this means  things like Tuk tucks taxi rides Market stuff not   in food or restaurants that stuff is you know that  stat is the same price but all other stuff you can   bargain for it because otherwise you're going to  be spending a lot more than you actually need to   now as tourists it's understanding of paying a  little bit more but getting absolutely ripped   off is not nice ask your hotels how much Tuk Tok  should be and you can kind of get a rough idea   obviously I can't just tell you how much a Tuk  Tok would be here because they vary in Ella things   are more expensive but then if you're in Columbo  things are cheaper it just varies a lot now number   seven which relates to the bargaining is actually  use Uber or the local pikme app pikme is like uber   but the shr Lankan style you can get Tuk tucks  on there taxis and they are really affordable   and you can just put in the exact location you  want and the driver will just drive there pretty   much like uber it also means you don't have  to bargain the app does it for you now number   eight something you need to learn is to say no as  Western people we always want to be polite and be   like okay yes for example if you take a Tuk Tok  ride to the temple he's probably going to ask you   if you want to return to your hotel or wherever  and in this instance I would advise saying no   because it means he's going to be waiting if you  spend lots of time in the temple you might feel   bad and honestly I just feel like it's best to go  with another Tuk TK there's always Tuk TK around   another instance is a Tuk to driver might stop you  and try and take you into a shop to get commission   for selling you turmeric or tea or something  random and you're allowed to say no you're   allowed to say I don't want to look in that shop  no thank you now number nine is about the safaris   and which Park you should actually go to we went  to the Arland National Park and it is beautiful   it's a really good chance of seeing the famous  leopards and lots of other Wildlife but it is   the busiest it's the most touristy now something I  would advise you is to go to Willow Patu National   Park this place is a lot less busy and also has a  great chance of seeing leopards now it's about 2   hours north of nombo so it's not too far out the  way and without the crowds it's probably going to   be beautiful now number 10 if you're looking to  rent a car or a motorbike or even a Tuk Tok it   will be a great way of getting around the country  but you actually need a Sri Lankan driving license   now legally an international driving license is  not enough and you need to get this converted to   a Sri Lankan driving license in in Sri Lanka and  it's quite a bit of work however if you use the   Tuk to rental.com company they can actually do  this for you for a small fee and it's going to   make it a whole lot easier so if you're looking to  rent a Tuk Tuk as a lot of people do on their tour   of Sri Lanka then I'd highly recommend using this  company we didn't use them this time but I think   on our next trip this is what we're going to do  now number 11 the famous sigara rock is actually   30 USD which is super expensive compared to  everything else in the country but there's   actually a cheaper Viewpoint and even a free  Viewpoint you can go to which is going to save you   quite a bit of money the first one is pidu langar  Rock if I'm saying that correct and it costs about   1,500 Rupees to go up it has great views of sigara  and the surroundings and the second option you go   to which I'll leave it on a map and it doesn't  really have an official name is a spot just 5   minutes walk from sigara town when we went up to  this Viewpoint there was no one else there and so   this is a little secret gem which you guys are  going to enjoy and it's not going to cost you a   penny now if you haven't already please go down  and hit the Subscribe button I've given you all   this information for free and the least you can  do is just hit subscribe maybe a like as well now   number 12 is about the candy to L train and I'll  leave our link to our video all about the candy to   L train just up here or down the description cuz  it's well worth a watch but what you actually need   to do for this journey is actually reserve seats  if you can if you've planned out your journey a   bit then I highly recommend booking seats because  you can go in the reserve carriages now the best   carriages to go in is second class and third class  if you book First Class Car Carriage then all the   windows and doors going to be shut unless you want  that experience then go for that but if you want   to hang out the doors take pictures and do all  that kind of stuff then you're going to need to   reserve second class and third class carriages  in the regular second class and third class   carriages is going to be super full packs full of  Sri Lankans especially on weekends on weekends it   gets super busy so just take that into account  during the week you might be all right and you   might get a window seat or even a seat but there's  no promises I'll leave a link in the description   to reserve your seats on the candy to L train  now number 13 is Sri Lanka is not as big of a   drinking kind of party destination as other places  in Southeast Asia you're not going to find big old   full moon parties like you do in Thailand you will  find some small beach parties especially on the   south coast but in other areas you you're probably  not going to find them you can still drink and   it's easy to get some cocktails and beers but  you're just not going to find those big party   destinations I also found that Sri Lanka is a bit  more of an older Vibe I don't know if this has   got anything to do with it but but kind of just  what I found now number 14 digital Nomads people   who love to be on the internet I'll be honest the  Wi-Fi hasn't been great in Sri Lanka compared to   other places in Southeast Asia and Asia it's not  been anywhere close I've been quite disappointed   I'll be honest for a YouTuber it's been really  hard to upload videos but if you're just doing   small mundane tasks maybe emailing like small  websites you might be okay now another option   is actually getting data and the data is actually  being pretty good so if you are really reliable on   having Wi-Fi or 3G and I highly recommend getting  a SIM card now I use eim cards with aot and I'll   leave a little discount code here but if you're  looking for a cheap local provider then yeah I'll   probably get them in the airport or ask a hotel  where to get them cuz I'm not actually sure now   number 15 little backstory we were in the Maldives  before Sri Lanka and there's actually lots of Sri   Lankans who work in the Maldives now a number of  the Sri Lankans there actually said don't bother   going to clumber there's not much to see it's  just a busy City now in my opinion spend maybe   one day in Columbo and then get out there get to  the beaches get to the mountains because that is   where the good stuff is don't waste your time in  Columbo now number 16 something which is really   disappointing is that elephant riding still  happens in Sri Lanka and we saw it quite a bit   there now you might be asking me why can't I ride  an elephant I can ride a horse and it's fine it's   because elephants actually have to be beaten and  tamed through violence and so they actually hurt   and tortured into not chucking Taurus off their  back cuz you wouldn't get off a wild elephant   so yeah they've been tamed in violent way please  don't don't support it now moving on to the final   one number 17 I've actually got two more you're in  luck I've actually got 18 I'm sorry I lied I know   but number 17 is use the bank of selon ATMs these  banks are really common around Sri Lanka and they   don't actually charge you any ATM withdrawal  fees which is going to save you some good old   money you'll realize when you travel Sri Lanka  cash is King so make sure you always have cash   on you because the chances are they won't take  card number 18 the actual final one is the Sri   Lankan food the Sri Lankan food is incredible  if you like rice and Curry then you're in for   a treat even if you're a vegetarian they have a  vegetarian rice and Curry option which is also   super affordable sometimes only 500 rupees and  it's honestly amazing the butternut squash the   D Curry something which really surprised me  is Sri Lankan really upand coming especially   in Ella and the south coast and so those really  cool quirky cafes which are really up and coming   if you're a vegetarian you want smoothie ballls  all that kind of stuff if you aren't just looking   for schlank food there's lots of options for  you thank you so much for watching this video   and again if you haven't already please go  down and hit the Subscribe button so I can   carry on giving this information to you thank  you so much I'll see you in the next video bye

Channel: Joel Friend

Views: 117,041

Keywords: Sri Lanka travel, travel guide, ella, mirissa, Sri Lanka travel guide

Id: VyAn4wgUchs

Length: 9min 46sec (586 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 24 2024