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There is a shop at the riverside in Pinnewala that sells notebooks made from recycled elephant dung. It was definitely the most highly appreciated present I brought home for Christmas. About 70 rupees.
This place sells ayurvedic oils and spices, and also offers treatments (head massage, body massage, steam). They also tour you around the garden, showing how things grow and what their ayurvedic uses are.The actual massage facilities are pretty primitive by western standards. The massage was good, though, and I really found the steam treatment relaxing. I loved the flavor of the spice tea they sell here. Also the cocoa tea. You could spend quite a bit at one of these places. They take credit cards.
This was one of about 6 or 7 shops in a row that all sold saris. We don't know if our guide (in the picture, on the left) knew the proprietors of this one, or if he had only been there before. This shop had lots of sari materials of differing quality, along with some other dresses and blouses, etc. The sari material itself ended up costing about US$10-$12 per sari, although there were some materials that were less expensive. Expect to pay another US$3-5 to have a blouse made to order (we had them made at another location, close to our hotel in Negombo).
I was a hut on the beach at Beruwela and inside was a tiny man with an old treadle sewing machine, he was very friendly`I go England` he said `no f**k``err, really` we replied`yes` he said very seriously `I like no f**k``oh.... good` we said`yes... very good place...Norwich in no f**k`the light dawned, he meant Norfolk I had a suit made, my husband had a silk shirt, and my son had a shirt and some pyjamas..... total cost £8 sterling.... we gave him 10
If you have enough space in your backpack, you could always bring home a chair. Why not? Handy things when you need somewhere to sit. The ones you can pick up at Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage are a bit special though. They are elephant scenes carved into thick leather and stretched over a collapsable frame, which will fit into a backpack when rolled. At around ?35 / $50, they make a very special souvanir. There are many other souvanirs you can bring back from Sri Lanka, but please do NOT buy anything that remotely looks like it is made from turtle shell. It is illegal, though when I was there they were flogging out stuff from the government shop in Colombo. I should have reported it. Perhaps kicking up a fuss might help if enough do it.
You will find plenty of batiks in Sri Lanka. Especially in Central Sri Lanka, batiks are popular. You can find batik shops and gallery where you can find shirts, lungi, shawls, wall hanging and more with beautiful batik designs.
Mask from Ambalngoda is one of Sri Lanka's most popular traditional crafts. Originally used for rituals, this wood carved and painted masks are now seen hanging at house front for protections.There are various sizes of mask available with different characters. Smallerst one starts with approximately SLRs. 40. There are different qualities which makes difference in the price. If you are looking for ordinally one, it's better not to purchase them in the airport last minute. Because they are much more pricy inside airport.
Sri Lankan shops in tourist area's sell almost every-thing, but be careful when buying chocloate and perishable good as some of it has been in the sun all day for weeks, it's best to buy those sort of goods in a supermarket, in some places the chocs are kept in the fridge, but check the sell by date as out of date goods will give you stomach problems, you can get brand names like Cadbury's.....The most comon cigarettes that they sell are Marlborough, (lights) and Benson & Hedges and the local Bristol and Gold Leaf, you can also find menthol in some places which come in packs of 12. The choice away from the tourist spots are very limited. The price for the cigarettes are around 90Rps for 20. There are also the Sri Lankan Bede cigarettes which cost 1Rp each and are made of one piece of tobacco leaf rolled up, They usually come in bundles of 20 and have their own unique taste.
You can buy lots of many different clothes like the usuall Thai dye stuff, and there is a good selection of shorts, shirts, skirts and sarongs. (Hikkaduwa). There is also a wide selection of ornaments and masks to be had. The best buy must be the silver it's cheap and there are plenty of shops to choose from so don't buy any-thing in the first shop you see as there is plenty of haggling over price to be done. There are also a good number of gems to be found, If you decide to buy a ring with a stone on it make sure it is of good quality as I have heard stories of the stones becoming loose and falling off. One of the best places to buy goods is in Colombo.
There are lots of wood carvings to be found all over the country, the woods used include Ebony and Teak, Some of the carvings are very beautiful and they are inexpensive if you are prepared to haggle on a price. And of course there are the many varieties of coconut carvings.
Mount Lavina Hotel Colombo
5 Reviews and 395 Opinions This is the closest hotel you can experience the Beach as you come to Colombo. Good food, good rooms...
Earl's Regency Hotel Kandy Kandy
4 Reviews and 235 Opinions Kandy Perahara Starts on Esala Full Moon Poya Day in July & finishes on Nikini Full Moon Poya Day on...
Palm Garden Village Hotel Anuradhapura
3 Reviews and 111 Opinions The Palm Garden Village is like a colonial club, but one with a relaxed and freestyle-air. It was...
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Q: Thinking of traveling to Sri Lanka in the end of March for 3 weeks. I will go with my 6 yr old. Will take Medical precoushns bu...
A: Any special reasons why you want to stay in Colombo for 3 days. Everywhere in Sri Lanka is child friendly, but as you want to end up in Trinco (and spend part of your...
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