Har varit här på Sri Lanka nästan en månad. Rutinerna kring karantän – valde härliga Heritance Ayruveda och kunde kombinera med sköna behandlingar – har fungerat väl. Även flyget, Qatar Airways, har gått smidigt. Bedömer att Sri Lanka under hösten kommer kunna välkomna svenska turister igen i större omfattning.
För oss som behöver smaken av Sri Lanka vill jag påminna om att i Järfälla finns Original Sri Lanka och i Eskilstuna Ceylon Spice Spot.
Delar en intervju med Mangala Karunaratne, grundare av Calcey Technologies. Mangala har en bakgrund i både Silicon Valley och Sri Lanka. Ett flertal svenska bolag har valt att arbeta med Calcey och därmed dra nytta av Sri Lankas IT-kompetens.
Further to the update released on 19 April 2021 by the local Health Ministry, please take note of the relevant revised protocols (in Bold) regarding travel to Sri Lanka.
Prior to boarding travellers are required to:
1. Have a valid tourist visa before boarding the flight, applied online via eta.gov.lk. Before applying for the visa, travellers are required to have the following;
A pre-confirmed booking at a Level 1 ’Safe & Secure’ hotel; depending on the duration of your stay and vaccination status. 24-48 hrs for vaccinated and 14 days for not vaccinated. Allowed to move within Level 1 hotels and use all facilities of the hotel.
Obtain COVID-19 local travel insurance cover for USD 12 for a policy of USD 50,000 for a period of one month is mandatory (despite the vaccination status all visitors are required to obtain a COVID insurance cover)
Pay for PCR tests (USD 40 per PCR test) depending on the number of days of stay and vaccination status.
*If vaccinated 1 PCR test on arrival. *If not vaccinated 2 PCR tests, on arrival and exit PCR. However, if the stay is less than 5 days, no exit PCR required. *Children below 2 years are exempted from PCR testing. *Children between 2-12 years, • Vaccinated route – undergo only on-arrival PCR. • Not-vaccinated route – undergo only exit PCR.
2. Have a negative PCR test done within 72 hours before boarding the flight.
3. Airport transfers should be arranged by a Certified Safe & Secure travel agent or another certified secondary party.
Protocol for Vaccinated Travellers
1.
• Travellers who have completed the recommended doses of COVID-19 vaccination and arriving after two weeks of completion of vaccination will be considered ’vaccinated’. • Any vaccination accepted by the country of origin is acceptable under the vaccinated route. • Children below 12 years are permitted to accompany their parents/guardians who are fully vaccinated. * Children 2 years and above are required to do one PCR test (On arrival) * Children below 2 years are exempted from PCR tests. However, if the parents/guardians develop symptoms or result in positive PCR test reports, children will undergo PCR tests.
2.
At the airport produce the following; a. Negative COVID-19 PCR report (in English) taken within 72 hours before the flight. b. Original copy of the vaccination certificate (in English). c. Completed Health Declaration Form.
3.
Stay at a Certified Safe & Secure Level 1 hotel until the on-arrival PCR test is performed (for 24-48 hours). Travellers are permitted to use all the facilities of the Certified Safe & Secure Level 1 hotels.
4.
On receipt of a negative PCR test report, travellers are permitted to leave the bio-bubble. The respective Level 1 hotel doctor will issue a discharge document upon verifying the status of vaccination and PCR test results.
Protocol for Travellers who are not vaccinated
1.
• Travellers who have not completed the COVID 19 vaccination or arrive in Sri Lanka less than two weeks of vaccination or accompany children above 12 years who are not vaccinated are considered ‘Not-Vaccinated’. • Under this route children below 12 years are exempted from on-arrival PCR testing. However, children between 2 to 12 years will undergo an ’Exit PCR’ testing. • Children below 2 years are exempted from PCR testing. However, if the parents/guardians develop symptoms or result in positive PCR test reports children will undergo PCR tests.
2.
At the airport produce the following; a. Negative COVID-19 PCR report (in English) taken within 72 hours before the flight. b. Completed Health Declaration Form.
3.
Stay at a Certified Safe & Secure Level 1 hotel/s for up to the first 14 days of the visit and undergo an on-arrival PCR test. Travellers are allowed to stay at any number of Certified Safe & Secure Level 1 hotels and are permitted to use all facilities of the hotel. Travellers are also allowed to visit approved tourist sites in a bio bubble.
4.
Perform the second PCR; a. If the stay is more than 14 days – perform PCR on 11-14th day of arrival. Upon negative results for both PCRs, travellers are allowed to leave the bio-bubble and the respective Level 1 hotel doctor will issue a discharge document upon verifying the PCR test results. b. If the stay is between 5-14 days – perform the PCR depending on the date of departure (i.e. 24-48 hours before departure). c. If the stay is less than 5 days – no exit PCR required.
These guidelines will be reviewed by the relevant authorities depending on the COVID-19 status in the country and global situation, wherein such an event we will keep you updated no sooner the verified news is received.
AROUND 70% OF SRI LANKAN WORKERS HOLD INFORMAL JOBS. WHY IS INFORMALITY SO STUBBORNLY HIGH, AND DOES IT MATTER IN THE FIRST PLACE
An earnest tenderer for a building improvement at a public sector energy organisation, who arrived at 9 am spent the next six hours to collect bidding documents. Due to the risks associated with the pandemic, employees at some public sector organisations are rostered for work two or three days a week. The officers who eventually attended to the tenderer arrived several hours late carrying bags of groceries evidently having completed weekly shopping during work hours.
Being a small business owner, the tenderer patiently endured another delay to pay a Rs1,500 non-refundable bid deposit. Although the state organisation publishes documents online tenderers must bid on, the originals are collected after paying a bid deposit.
For most small businesses, and private and informal sector workers, Covid has been devastating. Private sector employees endured pay cuts, small businesses went bust and those in informal jobs were without an income during the lockdowns to prevent the Covid pandemic’s spread.
A) Protocol for travellers who have completed recommended doses of COVID-19
vaccination and arriving after two weeks of completion of vaccination.
On arrival,
the original copy of the vaccination certificate together with a certified
English language translation (if the certificate is not in the English
language) should be produced to the Airport Health Officer.
Travellers
must be booked in a certified ‘Safe & Secure’ Level 1 hotel allocated
for tourists.
Travellers
should undergo a COVID-19 PCR test within 24 hours after arrival (day one)
from a Health Ministry approved private-sector laboratory.
The
relevant hotel will inform details of the travellers and their PCR test
reports on day one, to the area Medical Officer of Health (MOH).
The
traveller should produce the original copy of the vaccination certificate
together with a certified English language translation (if the certificate
is not in the English language) to the hotel management, where they will
take a photocopy to be submitted to local authorities.
If the
first PCR test result is negative, travellers can move within certified
‘Safe & Secure’ Level 1 hotels and visit approved sites in a
bio-security bubble until the completion of day seven.
If a
traveller displays COVID-19 symptoms, he/ she should inform the respective
tour guide/ chauffeur and hotel, and they will take steps to inform
the relevant local authorities.
If the day
seven PCR test result is negative and upon receiving clearance from the
area MOH, travellers can move about freely and engage with local communities.
If the PCR
test result is positive, hotel management will inform the area MOH and
follow the treatment protocol issued by the Ministry of Health.
B) Protocol for travellers who
have not received the COVID-19 vaccination/ not completed the recommended doses
of vaccination/ arriving in Sri Lanka within less than two weeks of
vaccination.
Travellers
must be booked in a certified ‘Safe & Secure’ Level 1 hotel allocated
for tourists.
Travellers
should undergo a COVID-19 PCR test within 24 hours after arrival (day one)
from a Health Ministry approved private-sector laboratory.
The
relevant hotel will inform details of the travellers and their PCR test
reports on day one, to the area Medical Officer of Health (MOH).
If the
traveller departs from Sri Lanka within less than fourteen days, a second
PCR test should be done depending on the date of departure and should have
a negative test report before departure (e.g. if the traveller departs on
day eight, a second PCR test should be done on day 6th to
7th ).
If the
traveller stays for less than 96 hours in Sri Lanka, it is not required to
undergo the exit PCR test and will be required only if the airline/
country of destination requests so.
If the
traveller stays up to 14 days or more, a second PCR test should be
conducted on day 11th to 14th.
If the
first PCR test result is negative, travellers can move within certified
‘Safe & Secure’ Level 1 hotels and visit approved sites in a bio-security
bubble until the completion of day fourteen.
If a
traveller displays COVID-19 symptoms, he/ she should inform the respective
tour guide/ chauffeur and hotel, and they will take steps to
inform the relevant local authorities.
If
the PCR test results of day one and day 11th to 14th are
negative, the area MOH will give clearance for travellers to move about
freely and engage with local communities.
If
the PCR test result is positive, hotel management will inform the area MOH
and follow the treatment protocol issued by the Ministry of Health.
These guidelines will be reviewed by the relevant authorities depending on the
COVID-19 status in the country and global situation, wherein such an event we
will keep you updated no sooner the verified news is received.
A) Protocol for travellers who have completed recommended doses of COVID-19
vaccination and arriving after two weeks of completion of vaccination.
On arrival,
the original copy of the vaccination certificate together with a certified
English language translation (if the certificate is not in the English
language) should be produced to the Airport Health Officer.
Travellers
must be booked in a certified ‘Safe & Secure’ Level 1 hotel allocated
for tourists.
Travellers
should undergo a COVID-19 PCR test within 24 hours after arrival (day one)
from a Health Ministry approved private-sector laboratory.
The
relevant hotel will inform details of the travellers and their PCR test
reports on day one, to the area Medical Officer of Health (MOH).
The
traveller should produce the original copy of the vaccination certificate
together with a certified English language translation (if the certificate
is not in the English language) to the hotel management, where they will
take a photocopy to be submitted to local authorities.
If the
first PCR test result is negative, travellers can move within certified
‘Safe & Secure’ Level 1 hotels and visit approved sites in a
bio-security bubble until the completion of day seven.
If a
traveller displays COVID-19 symptoms, he/ she should inform the respective
tour guide/ chauffeur and hotel, and they will take steps to inform
the relevant local authorities.
If the day
seven PCR test result is negative and upon receiving clearance from the
area MOH, travellers can move about freely and engage with local
communities.
If the PCR
test result is positive, hotel management will inform the area MOH and
follow the treatment protocol issued by the Ministry of Health.
B) Protocol for travellers who
have not received the COVID-19 vaccination/ not completed the recommended doses
of vaccination/ arriving in Sri Lanka within less than two weeks of
vaccination.
Travellers
must be booked in a certified ‘Safe & Secure’ Level 1 hotel allocated
for tourists.
Travellers
should undergo a COVID-19 PCR test within 24 hours after arrival (day one)
from a Health Ministry approved private-sector laboratory.
The
relevant hotel will inform details of the travellers and their PCR test
reports on day one, to the area Medical Officer of Health (MOH).
If the
traveller departs from Sri Lanka within less than fourteen days, a second
PCR test should be done depending on the date of departure and should have
a negative test report before departure (e.g. if the traveller departs on
day eight, a second PCR test should be done on day 6th to
7th ).
If the
traveller stays for less than 96 hours in Sri Lanka, it is not required to
undergo the exit PCR test and will be required only if the airline/
country of destination requests so.
If the
traveller stays up to 14 days or more, a second PCR test should be
conducted on day 11th to 14th.
If the
first PCR test result is negative, travellers can move within certified
‘Safe & Secure’ Level 1 hotels and visit approved sites in a
bio-security bubble until the completion of day fourteen.
If a
traveller displays COVID-19 symptoms, he/ she should inform the respective
tour guide/ chauffeur and hotel, and they will take steps to
inform the relevant local authorities.
If
the PCR test results of day one and day 11th to 14th are
negative, the area MOH will give clearance for travellers to move about
freely and engage with local communities.
If
the PCR test result is positive, hotel management will inform the area MOH
and follow the treatment protocol issued by the Ministry of Health.
These guidelines will be reviewed by the relevant authorities depending on the
COVID-19 status in the country and global situation, wherein such an event we
will keep you updated no sooner the verified news is received.
Off the port side on a half-submerged branch, the keelback snake clings for dear life in the dark, muddy shallows. The serpent is wrestling with a warty frog and, as dusk approaches, it needs dinner. Flattening its head to strike, it contorts to attack its prey.
It would be a spoiler to reveal what happens next at our anchorage, but also unnecessary. Because the memorable nature of a two-day journey along the Bentara River lies in the ever-variegated encounters with Sri Lanka as it reveals itself, inch by inch, along the riverbank.
It is close to bedtime near Bentota on the south-west coast, but our day is beginning. We are cruising in twilight on the lookout for fruit bats and owls, chugging at tugboat pace into Sri Lanka’s forgotten jungle lands.
The silent mangroves morph into rainforest proper, Tarzan vines and all, and the outline of traditional fishing huts on the embankment hints at some idealised evocation of life deep in the jungle. There are no lights and an absence of electric wires, other boats or visitors. It feels a long way from the crowds of Colombo 50 miles to the north. Which is exactly why we’ve come.
The Yathra Houseboat by Jetwing is the star attraction. It’s a two-suite Keralan-style barge, the first houseboat in the country, with a shaded sundeck. Thatched with a wig of branches, it looks like a countrified canal boat. But that impression is betrayed by the bamboo and burnished jackwood interiors and warmth of the service. Three types of hotly spiced fish and veg curry, served on deck, with chilli and mango chutney, coconut sambol and a roof of moodily downlit stars? Yes, please.
Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its hospitality, but there has been darkness to this lightness over the past few years. In April 2019, the Easter Sunday suicide bombings in Colombo saw nearly 270 people killed. Tourism dried up overnight. Covid-19 saw the entire Indian Ocean region rendered out of bounds for international travellers.
But as restrictions continue to lift, and the outlook looks more promising, it’s time to plan a return to the land of tea, temples and jungle trails – before everyone else does.
According to Leel Koralage, Yathra Houseboat’s captain, if I want to see the Sri Lanka that he grew up in, there’s only one place to begin: next to him at the helm as we embark upriver from glassy-calm Dedduwa Lake.
“Look! In the shallows!” he cries, the river basking in a dusky glow. “A marsh crocodile, an adult male. For most of the year, you’d be lucky to see him.” He passes a pair of binoculars for a closer look, just before the broad-snouted bull slides into deeper water. During the rains, says Koralage, the crocs stick to the swamps, disappearing like ghosts into the undergrowth.
If we are already at the brink of overstimulation – it’s hardly wildlife on demand, but still – we can turn to our cabin instead. The boat is a study in the worth of holding on to the old ways and nightly entertainment is a good book or a board game. Alcohol is a bring your own affair and the excursions are limited to crab fishing or morning and evening cruises through the river’s ecosystem, Mother Nature providing all the steamy air-con you need.
A little after 8pm, the boat moors, and the sound of the jungle takes over. There is the low hum of truck and tuk-tuk traffic from a faraway road, but also a chatter in the treetops. A crew of lost mynas gossiping? A family of whistling kingfishers? Whatever, after copious beers on board, it’s a mellow soundtrack for a good night’s rest on the river.
In the morning, anchored at an embankment on Dedduwa Lake, I’m on my balcony staring out, listening to the songbirds. The sailing today, a five-hour round-trip, takes us to Pahuru Kanda Temple and a replica of the Buddha’s footprint where, says captain Koralage, we can contemplate hope and fate.
Given the wealth of religious relics, palaces and temple highlights elsewhere in Sri Lanka – the terracotta pagodas at Anuradhapura, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, Lion Rock at Sigiriya – it is a disappointment. More eye-catching by far are the lone fishermen who paddle past heroically in barely afloat outrigger canoes. Here, catfish and crabs outnumber the locals.
All too soon it is time to putter back towards the coast, and I join the captain beside the stern, neither of us saying a word. We don’t need to. A monitor lizard appears in a climactic rush, diving into the river with a plunging splash, as if to fill the silence between us. It’s startling, and for the briefest moment there is a sense that it’s times like this that keep him in the job.
Yathra, meaning “the journey”, offers plenty of such moments away from tried-and-tested Sri Lanka. Afterwards, lying on a palm-fringed beach in Bentota, or following the crowds south to Galle Fort, you might yearn to be back afloat exploring the serene river lands, lost amid tropical rainforest.
As for the frog? It was swallowed, lock, stock and barrel, before the keelback vanished as if it had never been there at all.
Mike MacEacheran travelled to Sri Lanka before the pandemic. Yathra Houseboat by Jetwing (00 941 146 27739; jetwingtravels.com) offers balcony cabins from £106 a night, B&B, including excursions. SriLankan Airlines (00 941 177 71979; srilankan.com) offers London Heathrow to Colombo from £457 return. For more information, see Sri Lanka Tourism (srilanka.travel).
