The dedicated official hotline for the Sri Lanka Tourist Police is 1912. This short, three-digit emergency number links tourists straight to a specialist dispatch centre where English-speaking operators manage practical troubles like lost passports, theft, harassment, or larger transport disputes that may come up. The Tourist Police work as a specialised division apart from the…
The Sri Maha Bodhi is a very revered sacred fig tree in Anuradhapura, and it holds the verified record as the oldest historically documented, human-planted tree on Earth, planted back in 288 BC. It was raised from a direct cutting brought from Bodh Gaya in India, the very same tree where the Buddha reached enlightenment….
A Poya Day is when the full moon happens every month, and it is treated as a public, bank, and mercantile holiday meant only for Buddhist observances, not really anything else. In Buddhist lore, it is said that the big turning points in the life of the Buddha, meaning his birth, his awakening, and his…
The official national sport of Sri Lanka is volleyball. It was formally chosen by the government in 1991, but it is only part of the picture. Cricket is hugely more popular, deeply wired into the day-to-day life of the people, and widely viewed by the population as the unofficial national obsession. Volleyball was picked mainly…
The Ruwanwelisaya is a colossal, hemispherical Buddhist stupa in Anuradhapura; its height is about 103 metres (338 feet), and that is why it remains among the most revered and architecturally important monuments in Sri Lanka. It was raised by King Dutugemunu in 140 BC, and at that time it was counted among the loftiest monuments…
The observation car is this specialised first-class carriage, attached to the extreme rear of a few intercity trains, and it has a huge panoramic window that covers the entire back wall. Passengers get this uninterrupted 180-degree view of the tea plantations that slide backward, along with mountains and bridges, as the train starts climbing up…
The Aukana Buddha is this massive, 12-metre (39-foot) tall standing statue, carved straight out of a single solid granite rock face, and it was made during the 5th century. It sits in the North Central Province and is widely regarded as one of the finest, as well as the most perfectly proportioned, ancient examples of…
The dress code for Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo asks for modest clothing, and visitors must cover their shoulders, chest, and knees. Also, like with other Buddhist places in Sri Lanka, remove footwear and hats before you go walking on the temple grounds. This temple is among the most important and busiest religious sites in the…
To get into the Dambulla Cave Temple, men and women have to wear garments that cover their shoulders fully and also reach past their knees. You’re expected to take off your shoes and any headwear, like hats or caps, before you step into the sacred cave area. This dress rule is enforced in a strict…
A traditional hopper (Appa) is a bowl-shaped, crispy-edged pancake made with fermented rice flour and coconut milk batter, while a String Hopper (Idiyappam) is a flat nest of steamed rice flour noodles. They are really different in texture, cooking method, and overall look, even if English calls them by a similar name. Hoppers are cooked…
