Touts and Scams and other Sri Lanka Tourist Trap Tips

In tourist areas touts, aka 'beach boys' are a fact of life and they can be very annoying indeed, I have met people who have hardly left their hotel because of them. They are not usually dangerous but are often highly skilled in the art of separating tourists from their holiday cash and some will go to great lengths do it with all manner of cunning scams. The cleverest touts are difficult to distinguish from ordinary well meaning people and it is very easy to be taken in so be always on your guard and remember that while most people in Sri Lanka are happy to help a tourist they would not generally approach you directly unless you were obviously lost or in a dangerous situation.

The simple rule is that people who engage you in conversation in a tourist area are probably out for your money, anyone who leads you into a guesthouse or even a shop is on commission and it is you who pays it.

People are well mannered here and even with touts keeping good-face is important, a firm but polite refusal (in Sinhalese if possible) with lots of eye contact will sometimes do the trick, in Sri Lanka losing your temper is never a good idea. He may be a tout but this is his country, not yours.

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At Least Do This: When arriving anywhere it is best to have some idea where you are going to stay so use a guide book and telephone in advance. If necessary find a three wheeler, tell the driver the name of the place you want to go and agree a price for the journey in advance. If the driver informs you that the place is closed or full of cholera and that he knows a better place, tell him just to get on with his driving. When doing your holiday shopping hop on a bus to the nearest large town inland, one that is not mentioned in your guide book (and so has no tourist attractions) where things will be a fraction of the price in your resort.

For all their faults the local beach boys will know what is going on, they will know where the locally owned bars are (which are considerably cheaper than beachside hotels) and can arrange trips to places of interest. So by all means have a chat with your fellow tourist and ask them which beach boys they have done business with and use him when it suits you but always remember that this is a business arrangement. The most dangerous touts are the ones you do not realise are touts.
Alternative: Do not let the touts put you off from meeting the locals, most people are fantastic and will be glad to help you, so if you need advice do not be afraid to ask. One day I stopped the guy in the photograph and asked him where there was somewhere to swim, he took me along to the river, joined me for a swim and later drove me to the nearest rest house. He came back in the evening and joined me for a beer. That is how it works here.

For some people, describing Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage as a tourist trap is a heresy and lots of travellers rave about what is one of the Sri Lanka’s major tourist attractions, so maybe its just me. I do not mind paying a massive tourist premium to get in or being charged extra to take my camera, I just did not like the place.

I was told that Mahouts love their elephants and generally they do but the Mahouts at Pinnawela appeared much more interested in my money than in their elephants and I honestly did not see much in the way of care or concern for the animals. The close relationship between independent Mahouts and elephants elsewhere in Sri Lanka is much more evident

Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage is about 90 km from Colombo en route to Kandy, you can get a train to Rambukkana where you can pick up a bus or even walk the 3 kilometres to Pinnawela. The train will be met by an army of touts.

In addition to being a tourist trap, the welfare of the animals is increasingly a cause for concern for many experts.

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/zoo-check/captive-wildlife-issues/pinnewala-elephant-orphanage/

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At Least Do This: Take lots of change, you are expected to tip for everything but breathing or if you have Sri Lankan friends get them to go along with you, it helps keep the touts away.
Alternative: If you love elephants or you are travelling with children who do, then it might be mean not go along to Pinnawela but for the independent traveller you can either see your elephants in the wild or at work.

If you intend to travel out to Arugam Bay don’t bother with an organised ‘safari’ trip, you’ll see plenty roaming free from the A4 between Magama and Pottuvil, early evening is maybe the best time. The Ampara area has ton's of elphants and is still relatively tout-free, see the pics attached to this tip..

I hate to be dismissive about an important 'feature' but while the guy sits out on his stilt dangling his line in the water his colleagues wait on shore to collect money from the tourists who stop to take pictures. Whether these guys ever catch any fish is debatable, I’m assured by my Sri Lankan friends that its tourist they are really after and catching fish is at best a sideline. But hey, why not, it’s a living init and you wouldn’t get me perched on a stick for hours on end for a few hundred rupees.

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Ok, we are relatively rich while some Sri Lankan people remain poor so maybe I shouldn’t begrudge paying hugely inflated prices to enter tourist sites but I can’t help it, it irks me, we call it racism in my country and I wish they would find a more subtle way to overcharge me.

This picture was taken at the Blowhole and unless it's the season don't even think about it!

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Since 2006, there is no longer a duty-free allowance for tobacco products for foreign passport holders arriving at Colombo, if you get caught you will be charged Rs.6,000 per carton of 200 cigarettes. Apparently, they don’t mind a few 20 packets for personal use, you can no longer buy them at the airport on the way in.

http://www.customs.gov.lk/duty_free.htm#non

Very few women smoke in Sri Lanka but lots of men do (their preferred brand is often yours) the government has imposed a ban on smoking in public places but the good news for smokers is that at January 2009 there is still a smoking room at the airport (down behind ODEL).

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Alternative: You can get all sort of cigs cheap (around Rs3500) from the beach vendors some people say ‘they don’t taste the same’ so they could be fakes but smokers I’ve travelled with have found them ok.