Just back from 6 days in Sri Lanka - our first visit to that part of the world and a bit of an eye-opener.
There has been a war raging in Sri Lanka for a long time and the week before we travelled the UAE Government issued advice for citizens not to travel to the country 'except in extreme emergencies'. On the day we arrived, the Sri Lankan army announced that it had killed 453 troops. However, apart from some troops behind sandbags at the airport, there was no obvious signs of any conflict (which is mostly tucked away in a small part of the north anyway) and we felt perfectly safe the whole time. The Tamils have never targeted tourists and I don't think the threat of terrorism should put you off visiting.
We, rightly as it turned out, were concerned that any journey in Sri Lanka would be extremely slow and so picked a hotel quite close to the airport at Negombo.
Jetwing Beach Hotel
We had a couple of rooms on the ground floor which opened out to the pool. They were large, comfortable and had great bathrooms with huge baths and walk-in showers. They were also filled with mosquitoes the size of small horses but our chemical weapons and the hotel's chemical warfare man, who napalmed the whole of the outside of the hotel every evening, meant we weren't bothered unduly.
The hotel was good. Food was generally excellent and the staff friendly. However, on the down side, it was very expensive for what it was and you could not go on the beach without being pestered by hawkers selling expensive tat and people wanting you to sponsor a local school or similar scam. I had a general feeling of being viewed as a walking ATM machine - tips are expected by everyone and the amount you give never seems to be enough.
Highlight of the holiday was the visit to the elephant orphanage at Pinnewala. The sight of 60 elephants walking down the street to the river, with nothing between you and them, was amazing.
We all had a ride on an elephant as well. Extremely high up, and I think on balance we all prefer camels!
