The best & driest seasons are from December to March on the West & South Coasts and in the hill country, and from May to September in the East Coast.
Your housekeeping staff, doorman, bellboy all expect a little tip. A tip between 100 – 200 rupees ( 1-2 USD) for each service is considered adequate. You guide or driver on tour will expect something between US$ 5 to 15 a day (depending on your level of satisfaction)
Tipping is accepted. Although a 10% service charge is included in bills for food and accommodation, tipping is a customary way of showing your appreciation for services rendered.
The places with some active night life are Colombo, Negombo and Hikkaduwa. Colombo has some decent pubs, night clubs, karaoke lounges and bars. There is a growing pub-culture among the young crowd in Colombo. Friday and Saturday nights are the days for all night partying.
Strictly avoid inserting a 110V – 120V appliance (E.g. hairdryer) into a Sri Lankan 240V plug base; you might find it catching fire in your hands!
Sri Lankan hotels have two types of plug bases; either the UK (Type G) or India (Type D).
*Do not confuse with the larger 15 Amp plug which is used for ‘heavy duty’ appliances like air-conditioners, and microwave ovens.
It’s always advisable to bring a USB cord (camera to PC) so you transfer the pictures to a PC. Internet cafés are ideal for this. Simply copy the pictures to the PC and then burn them into a CD. This is much cheaper and can keep your memory cards empty.
There are many franchised photo shops such as Kodak & Fuji with advanced digital imaging services in major towns. Almost all types of digital data storage devices are accepted. It’s always advisable to keep a backup of your pictures before handing it over for processing.
Never take photos of dams, airports, roadblocks or anything to do with the military. Don’t shoot with cameras around Colombo Fort
Tourists are sometimes asked for money for taking photos. Always ask before you photograph whether payment is expected. Our accompanying representatives will be able to guide you on this.
