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43 Fife Road, Havelock Town, Colombo, Sri Lanka
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of people enjoy staying here
12 Opinions
Empty streets on POYA, Kollupitiya
ceremony in the hindu temple
Tsunami Memorial along the Galle Road
Albino Snake
I can't find any reviews about this hotel but read about it in Lonely Planet. Just looking for somewhere reasonably clean with Air Con, doesn't need to be fancy and need to stay under $35 US.
Much appreciated, thanks,
Barb
Hi Barb,
Looks not bad. Location is not that central in terms of shopping but still a relatively short bus or tuktuk ride (max. 20 mins) away from either railway station area or Bambalapitiya shopping district; also some shops and restaurants at walking distance.
All the best,
& [Sandya]
Thanks again Erik!
Thnx sahanj n Treshi,
The ADSL at 25$ looks good and should be sufficient. The guys at work should be helpful and they have an apartment for me ready as well, if I do eventually take up the job offer, but I dont know the location as of now.
Finally, I'll do a lot of my own research as well..and one more thing, do you have wireless internet in Colombo?
Thnx again
Ali
Take a three wheeled taxi to see all the temples. If you happen to get a nice and honest driver as we did, you will see an eye full. The visit to the temples was an experience I would never forget. The Hindu priest blessed us with the ashes between our eyes. Some people here in Kuwait think this was a curse but I believe it was a blessing.
On our visit to the Buddist temple. The high priest gave us the Royal treatment and showed us the treasures only few non Buddist have seen.
Hawkers play major role in the economy because every one is not capable of buying in big shops around 50% our populations are depended on them.
They sell clothes, electrical items, toys, hardware & everything that’s why everyone depends on them at lest one stage of their life. It’s true the prices are quite low when buying from them but quality wise it makes a doubt some times.
Clothes
When purchasing u better check it at least twice. Sometime it might have damaged or no proper stitches & simply it won’t be visible when u just see it.
Runs on battery
Ask him to put batteries & turn it and show u a demo.
Runs on electricity
But incase u had to buy item works on electricity ask him to turn it on. So, he can take to u near by shop of his friend turn it on. Else u say that you’ll return it back if it doesn’t work. But ask him whether he’ll pay the money back or replace the item before u finish the deal. I agree that people saying when changing an item from hawkers it’s really hard.
Normally hawkers won’t sell costly things. I’ve seen only once or twice a hawker selling radio which runs on electricity mainly. I know this not applicable here but u can apply it in some other small shop where u buy.
Purchasing
Feel free to ask the price reduced. If u can reduce the price by 1/2 it’s a really good deal. Even if u can reduce it by 2/3 of the price it’s still a good deal. It’s the same case for locals too even u can see people arguing with the hawkers to reduce the price.
Tips and Tricks
If the hawker is not reducing the price u can do the tricks what I do with them.
You simply say I’ll come back and go other hawkers to buy the item. Don’t worry the same item are available from others too as they’re given to them by the same wholesale dealer.
Otherwise u say to hawker I need this but the price is too much & pretend like going! Then the hawker obviously reduce price. At this moment u can fix the price.
The great thing about Sri Lanka is it has the highest no public holidays in the world. I am correct it have to be 27 days I think. It is mixture both religious and other public holidays.
Now when it comes to holiday Poya Day will definitely effect your holiday or rather travel plans. But there are few things you have to be more careful on as traveler or as a stranger to the country.
What to avoid
Only on the holidays the working communities mostly go home to see their loved ones. So avoid using the public transport like buses and trains. If you have a pre booked seat in bus and in the trains of the Tourist Coach Compartment won’t be a big issue.
Holidays falling near weekend
If a public holiday falls on Fri/(Thu) or Mon/(Tue) you have to very careful in using the public transports. Because you won’t be able to use them without advance booking and also it’s really hard to allocate seats.
When come to situations like theses the Sri Lankan people also do travel mostly to the up country and other parts of Sri Lanka. So make sure you pre booked accommodation and other facilities.
While visiting some Christian friends nearby Colombo, they took me to this large area where many of the major Buddhist shrines are replicated, called 'SRI MAHA DEVRAN VIYAHARA'.
Their English is limited and my Sinhala is almost non-existant, so I couldn't glean details.
It was raining heavily, so we had to jump puddles and huddle under the umbrella and rush through seeing the area, but it is quite extensive and seems to be still under construction, but is very well done and especially for someone not having the time to get around to all the island's Shrines, would be very beneficial to see many of them reproduced here.
Off PANAPITIYA ROAD. There was no entrance fee and you can roam at leisure.
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