Category: Culture & Heritage

A week in Colombo

by Aadil Fawme Monday Tuk Tuk Tour Explore Colombo in the most authentic way possible – by three-wheeler, or ‘tuk tuk’ as they are dubbed by the locals. Whiz through the busy streets and get the full impression of Colombo’s multicultural society, caught somewhere between past and present, and discover some of the city’s best… Read More »

5 things not to miss in Arugam Bay

  1. Surf Points     When you arrive at Arugam Bay, you will quickly realise that it is surfers paradise. Its laid-back, down-to-earth atmosphere and myriad of people wandering along the main street carrying surf boards makes that fact hard to miss. There are several surf points around the beach town, ranging from those… Read More »

Spend Your Summer on Sri Lanka’s Stunning East Coast

Sri Lanka is often overlooked as a summer holiday destination, with most families choosing to visit the island during the Christmas or Easter holidays. Although Sri Lanka is in peak season between December to April, the rest of the year should not be classed as the country’s ‘low season’: various sections of the island come… Read More »

Discover why Sri Lanka is tipped as a top travel destination for 2016

Discover why Sri Lanka is tipped as a top travel destination for 2016

Finally, the world is realising something that Red Dot Tours has known all along: Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful, intriguing and addictive travel destinations in the world.   In Conde Nast’s first post of the New Year, Sri Lanka was dubbed as one of the hottest places to visit in 2016. This… Read More »

Red Dot INSIDE SRI LANKA A monthly insider’s report by Royston Ellis, December 2015.

Christmas presents Even though it’s hot and sunny in Sri Lanka at Christmas, unlike in Europe, the season is properly commemorated. Midnight mass is celebrated in the country’s churches (some seven per cent of the population is Christian) and, Christmas day being a public holiday, people of all faiths enjoy camaraderie, on the beach or… Read More »

INSIDE SRI LANKA A monthly insider’s report by Royston Ellis, September 2015

Sri Lanka’s rare martial art. An item in a local newspaper has set me on a discovery of a unique Sri Lankan martial art. The report reads: “A presentation and display on Angampora was conducted by the Sri Lankan Air Force Angampora team in Colombo last month, marking yet another significant milestone in history of… Read More »

INSIDE SRI LANKA A monthly insider’s report by Royston Ellis, July 2015

Perahera Season Next month, August, the world famous Perahera takes place in Kandy. It’s a 14-day event open to the public as spectators, beginning on 17 August culminating in the glorious evening Perahera on the night of the Full Moon, Saturday 29 August and followed by a less elaborate day Perahera on Sunday 30 August.… Read More »

INSIDE SRI LANKA A monthly insider’s report by Royston Ellis, September 2014

Colombo Renewal The rejuvenation and expansion of Colombo continues at an incredible pace. Last month I wrote about the opening of the converted old Auditor General’s building by Independence Square into an ornate and upmarket shopping arcade. Now the downmarket area of Pettah opposite the Colombo Fort Railway Station is being gentrified with the conversion… Read More »

INSIDE SRI LANKA A monthly insider’s report by Royston Ellis

Christmas in Sri Lanka Season’s Greetings! Sri Lankans love to party and happily join in the celebrations of the feasts or holy days of all religions. December 25 is a public, bank and mercantile holiday throughout Sri Lanka. Even though it is a Christian festival, the government sometimes regards Christmas Day as equivalent to a… Read More »

INSIDE SRI LANKA – A monthly insider’s report by Royston Ellis

Escape CHOGM   The CHOGM roadshow rolls into town from 10 to 17 November 2013. CHOGM is the acronym for Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and 54 HOGs representing Commonwealth nations around the world, plus  10,000 delegates, spouses and entourage members, as well as participants in Commonwealth youth and business forums, will be taking over… Read More »