|
WHAT TO
WARE
Light cotton dresses and
light weight suits. A wide-brimmed beach hat and sun glasses,
comfortable shoes/sandals. In the hill country pullovers will be
necessary. Visitors should be decently clad when visiting any place of
worship. Beach wear is NOT suitable for temples and shrines. All
visitors to Buddhist and Hindu temples are expected to be unshod and
have their heads uncovered. Topless sunbathing is prohibited.
CURRENCY
One Sri Lankan rupee is
made up of 100 cents. Currency notes are in the denominations of
Rs.10, Rs.20, Rs.50, Rs.100, Rs.200, Rs.500 and Rs. 1000. Coins are in
the following denominations: 1 cent, 2 cents, 5 cents, 10 cents, 25
cents, 50 cents, one rupee, two rupees, five rupees and ten rupees.
BANKING HOURS
National banking hours are
from 0900 hrs. to 1500 hrs. on weekdays.Banking hours may be different
at private banks. Further teller machines(ATM ) are operated through
out the day.
CREDIT CARDS
Reputed credit and charge
cards are widely accepted by shops in Sri Lanka. In some cases the
shops may try to add a surcharge to the price of the merchandise
purchased. This is not an acceptable practice and in such cases the
card company should be contacted so that corrective action can be
taken.These services are available at the Depature lounge and in Kandy
and Colombo.
TIME DIFFERENCE
Sri Lanka standard time is
6 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH
Post Offices, Agency Post Offices, and payphone booths provide
local as well as I.D.D. facilities. Phone cards of denominations up to
Rs.500/- are available at Post Offices and Shops. Foreign cables are
accepted at the G.P.O. Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo 1.
NEWSPAPER
National daily newspapers
are published in English, Sinhala and Tamil languages and Magazine
type editions during weekends. A comprehensive selection of
International publications, newpapers, journals and magazines are
available at newsagents, bookstalls and in hotel foyers.
RADIO
The Sri Lanka Broadcasting
Corporation operates radio transmissions in 9 Languages - Sinhala,
Tamil, English, Hindi, Nepali, Kannada, Telungu, Malayalam and
Japanese to listeners between 0530 hrs. and 2300 hrs. TNL and other FM
Service Transmissions are also available to listeners islandwide..
Please check daily newspapers for programmes.
TELEVISION
There are 8 channels in
operation - Rupavahini, ITN, MTV, TNL, Dynavision and ETV. A wide
variety of programmes covering various subjects are telecast on these
channels which include News brief from B.B.C., Sky News & CNN. Please
refer daily press for programmes.
VOLTAGE
230-240 volts 50 cycles
A.C.
HOLIDAYS
In addition to Saturday
and Sunday, the full moon day (Poya Day) of each month is a holiday in
Sri Lanka. On Poya Days all places of entertainment are closed and no
liquor is sold. Hotels make special arrangements for customers to
order their liquor the day before Poya holiday.
TOURIST POLICE
Special Tourist Police
Units are available to assist our visitors.
Tourist Police Units
Tourist Police,
Fort Police Station, Bank of Ceylon Mawatha, Fort, Colombo Tel: 433342
Galle Road, Moragalle, Beruwela
Ethukala, Negombo
Pushpadana Road, Kandy. Tel : 08-22222.
Sigiriya Village Hotel Road, Sigiriya Police Station,
National holiday Resort, Bentota. Tel: 03475022.
Police Station, Galle Road, Hikkaduwa. Tel : 0957222
SAFETY
To ensure the health and
safety of all guests in Sri Lanka, every tourist hotel has to be
equipped with equipment to manage illness and injury. To further
ensure that safety standards are maintained, the Sri Lanka Tourist
Board is equipping a fleet of ambulances that will be used to bring
tourists from the hotel care centres to the closest large hospital or
to the nearest point of evacuation if required. The Ceylon Tourist
Board and the tourism sector in Sri Lanka are going to great lengths
to ensure you enjoy a pleasant stay in Sri Lanka and if any
unfortunate occurrence happens, the best health care available is on
call at all times.
POSTAL INFORMATION
For information on postal
rates contact hotel front desk or No.4, Inquiries Counter, General
Post Office, Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo 1. (oppostie the
President's House), Post Restante - Tel. 326203, For times of arrival
and despatch of foreign mail - Tel: 692273. The General Post Office is
open day and night for the sale of stamps and for local calls.
Business hours are from 0830 hrs. to 1630 hrs. Certain businesses are
open on Saturdays till 1300 hrs.
MAPS
Large
scale maps of the island are available at the Survey Department, Map
Sales Branch, Kirula Road, Narahenpita, Tel : 585111/585112-6 and Maps
Sales Centre, York Street, Colombo 1. Tel: 435328 or at leading
bookshops. See also
http://www.avakasakade.com |
Information provided by
Sri Lanka Tourism Board.
