Questions about Sri Lanka budget

[SnarkSideOfLife]

Dd is going to Sri Lanka for three weeks. Her first two weeks are with Explore and paid for (inc some meals) and the third week she will be on her own and is sorting accommodation via Hostel World and is travelling to a few places and ending up in Colombo.

how much money is she likely to need per day for food and public transport. Are there ATMs widely available or will she need cash before getting there. If it’s cash should she take US dollars or local currency? Have tried googling and getting conflicting advice.

Aggh, posted in the wrong board!

I don't have the answer but I think this is the right place to ask.

Thanks, I asked for it to be moved and they’ve kindly moved it 😁

She needs local currency which she can get at colombo airport. A lot of accommodation only take cash, but we did use card a lot when out and about. ATM's quite widely available. Hard to say how much per day. We stayed in decent private accommodation for around £20 a night for 2 people. Public transport isn't great so we used tuk tuks quite a lot which are very cheap in the populated areas but a bit more pricey in less touristy areas.

Explore’s trip notes will have information on how much money is required for meals, food, beverages etc. They will also have info about the availability of cash, cards etc. I appreciate this isn’t all that you have asked but their notes are usually very detailed.

I just asked her to check and it’s actually Intrepid she’s going with. She says they’ve given a bit of information but not much and she’s more worried about the week where she’s on her own. She’s travelling to different areas and has no information on those areas.

Cash machines widely available, top tip though is to have a local e sim for her phone as UberTUT is great for transport (or regular Ubers) I mostly paid by card though.

You can't get money before arrival so best option is to head to a bank after arriving, not all atms are 24 hour though

Thank you. She’s on some o2 contract with free roaming, will she still need a local e sim?

Thanks, she could take dollars with her but she did read she can only get local currency there. She’s unsure whether she needs local currency. I know when I went to Mexico for example we just took dollars.

Any Lonely Planet/Rough Guide has this kind of info in it. Tell her to buy a guidebook!

Good idea, she’s just ordered one.