Sri Lanka money

[Srilakaplease]

Hello helpful
people !
flying into Colombo at night
in Sri lanka then traveling straight down the coast …:
how do I get Sri Lanka money when arriving late ? I understand you can’t exchange in the uk ? Thank you 😊

Loads of exchanges open late in the airport, don't worry. You'll feel rich after the exchange ☺️

Ha ha thank you!
You sound like you know that the drill!
are the exchanges at Airport open 24/7 ?
once the taxis paid I’m wondering if cheaper to exchange the rest of cash elsewhere ? Thanks for advice

Don't worry - just go to a cash point. Where are you staying?

Thanks…
down the coast

Cash points in the arrivals hall.
Have you got a bank card that gives you free overseas cash withdrawals? Worth doing if not. Virgin money etc.

Also you can buy a Sri Lanka sim card there too to save overseas roaming charges.

Hi - how do these work?

@MrsMagoooo I just bought the new SIM at a stand in arrivals and they swapped my UK one out. Pretty sure it had enough data to last the trip.
Check your UK phone provider first - O2 are including international roaming beyond Europe from January.

Thank you! Did you have to change your messaging apps to take a new phone number, like WhatsApp?

No, WhatsApp carried on working as normal from the UK number, but also worked with the new number (don't ask me how, but we've done this in a few countries and it always works fine without having to mess around telling people the new number).

If you plan to use the airport ATM on arrival, check the exchange rate before you go and compare that with the rate that the ATM is giving you.

In some countries the airport ATMs have the same rate as everywhere else, but in others (starting with the UK) they are owned by the same licenced bandits who run the currency exchange desks and apply a horrific rate to transactions with a foreign card (think 65p for a Euro instead of the official rate which is around 85p). So if you see a terrible rate, just take out a little to pay the taxi and then go to a proper bank ATM the next day.

Also, keep all your ATM and currency exchange receipts. You may need them to be able to change money back into GBP/EUR/USD when you leave.

There’s a machine in arrivals that is 24 hrs - will start you off.