OT: Sri Lanka and the Maldives - cash

[Curious Orange]

Advice please, I'm off on my holidays to Sri Lanka and the Maldives shortly, and have found that you don't seem to be able to buy cash for either destination before you go. So what have those of you folk who have been there before do cash wise, how much do you get?

Cheers.

 

[bhafc99]

There are cashpoints at the airport in Columbo - just go right out of the terminal exit. There are also bank windows in the arrivals area, who will give you cash advances against major credit/debit cards.

Most towns have bank ATMs.

Just remember to tell your bank/credit card provider you're going there beforehand. Fraudulent transactions were a big problem a few years ago, when the Tamil Tigers had links to credit card skimming gangs in the UK. This means banks will almost certainly block any use of a card in Sri Lanka unless you've told them in advance you're genuinely going there. Only takes a quick call.

 

[Everest]

Maldives resorts normally deal in US dollars.

We've never changed into local currency.

 

[Billy the Fish]

There are cashpoints at the airport in Columbo - just go right out of the terminal exit. There are also bank windows in the arrivals area, who will give you cash advances against major credit/debit cards.

Most towns have bank ATMs.

Just remember to tell your bank/credit card provider you're going there beforehand. Fraudulent transactions were a big problem a few years ago, when the Tamil Tigers had links to credit card skimming gangs in the UK. This means banks will almost certainly block any use of a card in Sri Lanka unless you've told them in advance you're genuinely going there. Only takes a quick call.

Everything you need to know is in this post. When I went I didn't tell my bank and my card wouldn't work for a couple of days until I contacted the bank, lots of fraud apparently. Plenty of cashpoints out there.

 

[Curious Orange]

So, take dollars to the Maldives, and use ATMs in Sri Lanka?

 

[dannyboy]

see if you can switch to an all inclusive deal in the maldives , most islands do it and it works out much cheaper and much easier and so much less hassle

 

[Curious Orange]

see if you can switch to an all inclusive deal in the maldives , most islands do it and it works out much cheaper and much easier and so much less hassle

I'm already fully inclusive at both destinations I'm just worried about cash for other touristy stuff - mainly in Sri Lanka to be fair.

 

[bhafc99]

We found SL a challenging country to enjoy as we had other Asian countries. Everything is built around your 'driver' taking you everywhere, and it was hard to do anything independently. And of course your driver is getting kickbacks from all the places he takes you, so every restaurant etc he takes you to will charge you a hugely inflated price (of which he gets a cut). Plus he'll take you to 'cultural centres' where fabrics, carvings etc are made - these are of course just 'tourist shops' where you'll pay vast multiples of what you'd pay at a proper local market stall or shop.

Not to slag SL, it's an interesting place and the people are generally nice, but be aware that you'll be up against this all the time. And it's not because they're 'crooks', it's just the way things are set up over there - it's considered the normal way to run things. I won't forget being taken to one tourist attraction a day or two into our trip and realising that we were surrounded by dozens and dozens of little 'threesomes': western couple plus driver. It was the only way they knew how to operate.

Once we started saying no to our driver's suggested stops, asking to just be left somewhere for a day to organise our own time, and picking our own meals etc, we found our money went ten times further and we enjoyed ourselves a lot more.

 

[dannyboy]

in SL we got friendly with a tuk tuk driver who took us to places we wanted to see , he was impartial and was recommended by the hotel we were staying in . although we were staying a tiny hotel on the beach in unawatuna near galle. are you staying in one place? or travelling around SL as i did a little tour of there for a month os saw a fair amount of it if you need any info

 

[Curious Orange]

We're just in Sri Lanka for a week, staying in (sp) Waikaal,would probably want to do some tourist stuff whilst there - temples, elephants...

 

[dannyboy]

i think that is quite close to columbo , i went all along the south coast and into the interior so cant offer much advice im afraid. however if you want to see elephants then youre not far from pinnawala elephant sanctuary which is the elephant place to go . we went there , it was pretty good

 

[Billy the Fish]

We found SL a challenging country to enjoy as we had other Asian countries. Everything is built around your 'driver' taking you everywhere, and it was hard to do anything independently. And of course your driver is getting kickbacks from all the places he takes you, so every restaurant etc he takes you to will charge you a hugely inflated price (of which he gets a cut). Plus he'll take you to 'cultural centres' where fabrics, carvings etc are made - these are of course just 'tourist shops' where you'll pay vast multiples of what you'd pay at a proper local market stall or shop.

Not to slag SL, it's an interesting place and the people are generally nice, but be aware that you'll be up against this all the time. And it's not because they're 'crooks', it's just the way things are set up over there - it's considered the normal way to run things. I won't forget being taken to one tourist attraction a day or two into our trip and realising that we were surrounded by dozens and dozens of little 'threesomes': western couple plus driver. It was the only way they knew how to operate.

Once we started saying no to our driver's suggested stops, asking to just be left somewhere for a day to organise our own time, and picking our own meals etc, we found our money went ten times further and we enjoyed ourselves a lot more.

Interesting. I went with a couple of mates to watch England in a test match in Colombo so we weren't doing too much sightseeing, but we went down the coast to Hikkaduwa for a week afterwards and considered getting a driver for a couple of days. In the end we made our own way down on the train, and it was fine - the train cost about 20p for a 3 hour journey.

I've always worried about that kind of situation with tour guides, I suppose it's a bit of a lottery as to weather you get a good one. A mate of mine got a good one in Bangkok who was taking them to places off the tourist trail and local food markets for about £15 a day.

Personally I'd ratjer chance it with a copy of the travellers guide or lonely planet and go independantly, sometimes you miss things but that's the risk you take. If you know what you want to do and where you want to go you can usually get a flat rate from a tuk tuk driver for a day.

 

[Trufflehound]

We found SL a challenging country to enjoy as we had other Asian countries. Everything is built around your 'driver' taking you everywhere, and it was hard to do anything independently.

In the end we made our own way down on the train, and it was fine - the train cost about 20p for a 3 hour journey.

...

If you know what you want to do and where you want to go you can usually get a flat rate from a tuk tuk driver for a day.

OK, I'm going back a few years now ('93/'94), but I found getting around by bus and train to be perfectly straightforward. Absolutely no need for a 'driver'. It was also, at the time, the cheapest public transport of any I've ever been on anywhere in the world. I worked out that we covered about 1,000 km in the month we were there, and it cost the equivalent of £2.50 each, total.

Meanwhile, all the people we saw renting tuk tuks seemed to pay their money and get whisked straight to the gem stores, whatever they'd arranged...

I thought both Colombo and Hikkaduwa were both a bit of a dump though. Kandy was way nicer. Tengalle and Unawatuna for beaches. Sigiriya is a must-see too.



I think I ate my own body weight in 'string hoppers' during that month...

 

[MikeySmall]

OK, I'm going back a few years now ('93/'94), but I found getting around by bus and train to be perfectly straightforward. Absolutely no need for a 'driver'. It was also, at the time, the cheapest public transport of any I've ever been on anywhere in the world. I worked out that we covered about 1,000 km in the month we were there, and it cost the equivalent of £2.50 each, total.

Meanwhile, all the people we saw renting tuk tuks seemed to pay their money and get whisked straight to the gem stores, whatever they'd arranged...

I thought both Colombo and Hikkaduwa were both a bit of a dump though. Kandy was way nicer. Tengalle and Unawatuna for beaches. Sigiriya is a must-see too.


I think I ate my own body weight in 'string hoppers' during that month...

I was there about a month ago and most of this is still true. Tuk Tuk drivers are generally okay if booked through your guesthouse / hotel. Things have changed alot (was there in 05 as well). The Tsunami and civil war has ruined alot of peoples lives so worth taking this into account. You'll find the touristy areas (eg Bentota) more expensive than the UK - other areas still ridiculously cheap.