Things We Have Learned About Sri Lanka

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We absolutely loved the natural beauty of Sri Lanka, and the friendly nature of the people who live there. Here is a list of some of the things we learned during our trip here.


• You can frequently see umbrellas that are the same colours as the Buddhist flag.
• Males grow their thumb nail on their left hand very very long.
• You should never take a picture posing with your back to the Buddha as this is disrespectful.
• The stray dogs and cats are very used to being petted by humans.
• 'Rice and curry' is the explanation for any dish at lunch/dinner.
• There is at least one bake house everywhere you go and when you order, it is normal to get a huge selection to share.
• Sausages are offered as 'chicken sausages'.
• If you ask for dinner or breakfast at a guest house, they won't usually ask what you want off the menu, they will just cook whatever they have for you. (And a huge selection of it).
• People are very keen to introduce their children to white tourists.
• Strangers are extremely friendly to each other.
• Sri Lankans pride themselves on being one of the happiest populations.
• No buggies are seen as children are just carried.
• Anyone can walk onto a construction site as they are not closed off.
• There is no safety on construction sites (bare feet, shorts and no harness).
• If you're on the beach, Bob Marley will be playing at all times.
• Everyone appears to have the exact same style of bath mat.
• It is considered common for people to drown on the beach due to huge waves and people not listening to the coastguard.
• Instead of ice cream vans playing music, they have bakery vans.
• A bus has right of way always, everyone should just be fast in moving out of its way.
• Service charge and government tax will be added to everything so the price of things increases way more that what you initially thought it would be.
• People eat sweet jaffa while drinking tea (kind of like Scottish tablet) instead of putting sugar in it.
• School children appear to manage to keep their all white school uniforms immaculate.
• Highways are very quiet due to toll charges.
• Betting shops are advertised as 'sporting turf accountants'.
• Many of the tea plantations have British names, because they were originally British owned.
• The drainage system installed by the Dutch is still used today, and can be a serious hazard when walking along the dimly lit streets.

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