Sri Lanka

[slinkycat]

Today I looked at a travel brochure with tempting descriptions and lovely photos of Sri Lanka and I thought hmm.....that looks great,also it bought back memories of when the Blue Peter team visited what was then Ceylon (showing my age now!) and I thought, I would love to save up and go there next year, until.....I googled Sri Lanka and the Foreign Office have it flagged as an area at high risk of terrorism, I've had a quick read through the island's troubled history, my question is, have any of you abers been there recently? Did you feel safe, and would you recommend it?

[terambulan]

friends (father worked tea planatation in 50s) has just returned having had a great time.....but then they do know the terrain.

The Tamil-Tigers have been known to kidnap tourists for ransom but ignored by FO so have restrained from that.

[slinkycat]

Thanks for that info Terambulan, still a bit worried though, the F.O. and the BBC were both reporting bombings:-( will look into it further, though all the travel agencies seem to be going ahead, business as usual!

[jno]

quite a while since I was there, about 20 years, but even then there was fighting in the north. The FO advised people to stick to the south, so I did, getting to Anuradhupura but not to Trincomalee. There was virtually no tourism going on; I had a whole hotel in Bentota to myself, literally. Downside: no cooks. The receptionist made me toasted sandwiches. But it's a lovely country.

But if all you want are golden beaches, you'd probably do just as well somewhere like the Maldives or Seychelles.