Sri Lanka: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Sri Lanka feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 116 written places.
Gentle island pace with grand ruins; a wobbling head means yes, more or less.
✓ Considered polite
- Remove shoes and hats at every temple and cover shoulders and knees
- Ask before photographing people and never pose beside Buddha statues facing away from them
- Take the trains - the hill-country line is one of the world's loveliest rides
- Eat rice and curry with your right hand at least once - it tastes better
✗ Better avoided
- Turn your back to a Buddha statue for a selfie - it can cause real offence and legal trouble
- Show tattoos of Buddha - entry has been refused for it
- Touch or pat heads, including children's
- Drink tap water
Worth knowing
- Cash for small places, cards growing in cities
- Tipping is around 10% and appreciated
- Tuk-tuk apps like PickMe avoid negotiation
- The two monsoons mean one coast is usually sunny whenever you come
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.