Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PRACTICALITIES
Sri Lanka has several daily newspapers in English; they can be entertaining reads,
whether intentionally so or not. Try a few to find your favourite.
Sri Lanka government-run stations dominate the radio and TV broadcast channels.
Midrange and more expensive hotels usually have satellite TV with international net-
works.
Sri Lanka uses the international metric system, though some Sri Lankans still express
distance in yards and miles. The termlakhis often used in place of '100,000'.
Smoking is not common in Sri Lanka. Smoking is outlawed on buses, trains and public
places. Bars and restaurants are legally required to have separate smoking and
nonsmoking sections, although these often merge.
Alcohol is not sold onpoya(full moon) days, this includes hotel bars.
Public Holidays
With four major religions, Sri Lanka has a lot of public holidays; also, all
poya
days are pub-
lic holidays and much is closed.
New Year's Day
1 January
Tamil Thai Pongal Day
14 January, Hindu harvest festival
Independence Day
4 February
Good Friday
March/April
Sinhala and Tamil New Year
14 April
Labour Day
1 May
Id-Ul-Fitr
July, end of Ramadan
Christmas Day
25 December
Safe Travel
Sri Lanka is open for travel, though you can check the security situation in advance at gov-
ernment websites. Parts of the North may remain sensitive for some time, so you may still
encounter a few road blocks and security zones.
