HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO TRAVEL TO SRI LANKA?

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I know you want to know how much does it cost to travel to Sri Lanka, but wait a little man that we want to talk to you about the traveling trinity! Yes, the traveling trinity: each trip has its own, it may not be holy, but on more than one occasion it cost us more than a prayer! We talk about food, accommodation Y transport…

So if you want to know tricks to eat well, find a good accommodation and move cheaply through Sri Lanka you have reached the right post! Relax that we tell you everything!

FOOD

If you know us a little, you know that gastronomy is one of the aspects that most captivate us and make us fall in love with a country. Well, in the case of Sri Lanka there was no love at first sight. Not even the truth. The cuisine of the country seemed boring and repetitive.

There were exceptions, of course: we will never forget the dinner they prepared for us at the Nilaveli Crystal Blue Hotel, or the little fish on the beach ... but if we remember one of the richest dishes we ate was a hamburger, and without removing anything from Merit to that giant meatloaf, we can eat good hamburgers wherever (Marshall won't say the same)

The national dish is the CURRY RICE It usually consists of rice, pappadam (some crunchy crepes) and some curries, usually dhal (lentils), vegetables and some chicken (on the coast there is quite a lot of fish curry). The problem? What to eat curry rice every day tires. And the alternatives are not many if you travel with low cost budget: FRIED RICE, FRIED NOODLES, KOTTU and little else.

We didn't find the famous COCONUT ROTI (well, we tried them once and we found them roti with a coconut hair, maybe we were unlucky).

The south, being more touristy, has more variety of food and coming from the center we put burgers and small fish on top. We certainly ate better on the coast than in the interior ... if sometimes going to tourist sites has its reward!

And what about the prices? The difference is abysmal: if you eat local as local in places local, the food is VERY cheap (from 100 rupees, something like € 0.60). If you eat in restaurants “tourist”, Guesthouse, food court & co prices go up a lot. Several times we ate noodles for 350-450 rupees (€ 2-2.5). And if you want to eat meat or fish, calculate about € 3-4.

Let Sri Lanka, maybe with Laos, is the place where we least enjoy the food.

Oh by the way! FUNDAMENTAL: PICA food at killer level... always ask not spicy! And may luck be with you!

TRANSPORT

A few months ago, when we began to consider the possibility of going to Sri Lanka, we came across Bere's blog "without a fixed destination" and we saw that she and her little Frenchman had a brilliant idea: rent a tuk tuk. A month before our arrival we saw that Tony and Carme from “Conmochila” had also made this means of transport to travel the country and we were about to copy the idea.

If you are considering traveling with tuktuk, read the great posts written by these exceptional tuktukeros:

HOW TO MAKE A TRIP TO SRI LANKA DRIVING YOUR OWN TUKTUK (CONMOCHILA)
TUKTUK IN SRI LANKA AS AND WHERE TO RENT ONE (WITHOUT FIXED DESTINATION)

We finally chose to travel with public transport for two reasons:

Cost: renting a tuktuk was going to be more expensive ... you have to calculate some € 10 per day, and considering that not every day we were going to travel, it was an unnecessary expense. Although on the other hand the adventures and freedom offered to travel with an own means ... perhaps deserve this expense!
It was the second reason that took the idea of tuktuk from our head: Jordi! And is that a friend joined our adventure and go 3 with the backpacks in a tuktuk maybe it was going to be too heavy. Also, to deny it, we really enjoy the absurd things that happen in public transport ... and in Sri Lanka they are guaranteed!

How do you travel with public transport in Sri Lanka? It is easy? It is cheap? Is there a lot of offer?

The good thing about traveling as a local is that it is extremely cheap! The bad? It is that many people travel and on more than one occasion we had to make stretches (more or less long) standing.

In general buses are faster and more frequent than trains, although the section Kandy-She has to be done by train, because they say it is one of the most beautiful railway routes in the world (especially Haputale-Ella).

As a general rule train tickets are purchased the same day at the station itself except the Kandy-Ell sectionto which we recommend you reserve a few days in advance and those of buses are paid directly on board. There is no online sale.

They are transports slow, old and crowded, but it is an indispensable part of the trip and moving like a local gives you a much more real idea of the country ... we are going by private taxi, you are much more comfortable but it is cold and impersonal. Also in the taxis do not raise vendors of magic pens, men who eat stones and sellers of fried-fried croquettes that you do not know if they are fish, chicken or cat.

ACCOMMODATION

Luckily we did not have to worry much about the accommodation since they stayed for free for (almost) the entire trip (if you want you can visit our accommodation guide in Sri Lanka). We just need to look for accommodation in Kandy, being a last minute decision and in Negombo, being only one day. In Kandy after haggling we pay 3,000 rupees for a triple Very pretty, with wifi, hot, spacious water and in a shabby GH on the outside pretty inside. In Negombo we pay 2,000 for a double with shared bathroom in a Homestay next to the bus station. Sure there are more options the beach area.

Usually the accommodations are quite carillos but we found them of good quality. Most usually propose prices including breakfast (usually tea or coffee + fruit + eggs and toast), you can lower the price a bit by removing breakfast from the "offer". And from what we saw, you can / should haggle always.

There is also the option to do couchsurfing, a good way to reduce spending and expand friends and knowledge of the country.

And now, after the tostón that we have released, we are going to tell you what our real expense has been:

We were traveling through Sri Lanka for 24 days (Most of which in the company of a friend, so we could distribute several expenses in 3!)

In total we spend € 245.76 per person, which a day make a average of € 10.24 per day divided into:

Lunch € 5.35 (In most days we have eaten in “tourist” restaurants or in gh and hotels, so you can reduce spending by eating in street places)
Transportation € 1.51 (We rented a motorcycle a couple of times and moved by bus. Very cheap! If you dare traveling by finger we think it is a good option, because we made a journey in the highlands and it was very good!)
Tickets € 3.15 (We pay the expensive entrance of Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa, plus other "smaller" ones to Dambulla and Pidurangala)
Several € 0.23 (personal expenses such as shampoo, scissors, postcards, etc!)

EYE! These expenses do not include accommodationWell, since we paid only two nights it didn't make sense to include it in the average. (Calculate about 5-10 € more per person, depending on the type of accommodation you want to enjoy ... and don't forget that couchsurfing is free!)

Exchange rate: € 1 = 177 LAK