prestonjohn

For all those who have been caught by the change in rules brought in by Delhi here are some facts you should consider about Sri Lanka. First thing i must state i have no financial interests at all, as i do not reside in Sl and i live in London permanently.We did lease in Goa but got completely fed up with the corruption, garbage and hypocrisy of Goa and Goans in general.My partner and i have over 50 years of the Goan experience between us.Sri Lanka is hot, its similar to Kerala,but if you go into the hills its similar to Almora in North India. Visas are no problem for EU members as you get a 30 day visa on arrival.1 or 2 month extensions are easilly available. That said i have met travelers here who have been here for 6 months, so obviously there are more avenues to explore .Renting here is not a problem but dont listen to any Goan Travel Agents as most of them are not too be trusted.You can rent apartments here from around $200 to $250 per month for furnished 2 bedroom flats or houses.Rooms in guest houses with AC and television run at about $20 per day but if you going to stay 2 months then you can haggle. Its a buyers market here at the moment.Simple rooms with toilets and fan come in at around 1200 Rps per day. Current exchange rate is 180 rps per pound.I would suggest you head for Negombo as its only 12 minutes from the airport, 1 hour from Colombo.Its even a slightly like India here but without the cheating mentality of the Indians.I have spoken to my guest house owner about the situation in India and he said he had two persons in last week who had problems with visas.Im staying at the Ocean View Guest House,owned by Mr Thamel, who is in most travel books on Sri Lanka.I mentioned the problems people were having in Goa and he was very sympathetic, especially when i mentioned that travel agents in Goa were mentioning prices of $150 per day for rooms.This is ridiculous because its 5 star hotel prices.Sri Lanka is broke, it fought the war on credit and is desperate for foreign currency. You can bargain here.Hope this helps some of you. We go back to UK on the 17th. Glad the ice age is over now.

Goacrazy56

Thanks for your very informative post
Im afraid to tell you the ice age is not over yet in the UK.The snow is back with a vengeance and the worse thing is they have run out of grit so even the main roads at 6am this morning were lethal.
Enjoy the sun all you lucky people who are in a warmer climate
GC freezing cold and a little bit miserable this morning
& peace

noni

As things are looking no doubt many of us will be sending you pm's looking for good clean accommodation. I for one am at the end of the road now, and it is the ordinary people in Goa who are going to loose out.

robclaridge

.Sri Lanka?..I liked it better when it was called Ceylon and Yul Brenner was the King.

johnny five

Yul Brenner (sic) or even his cousin Yul Brynner was King of Siam, which became Thailand, not Ceylon........

robclaridge

I guess a late night on the stubbies has its after after effects. But (sigh) who really cares. He was bald, the movie was shite - now he is dead, and both countries are shite anyway

felicity_t

omg Rob, sounds like you've been on a bit more than "the stubbies..." May I suggest "a nice cuppa, a Bex and a wee lie down" as Dame Edna used to say...

tush

I think a carbolic soap mouthwash would be more appropriate

felicity_t

Has anyone here had any experience with the relatively new Sri Lankan program for retirees: "Sri Lanka - My Dream Home"? I understand it was started a couple of years ago, maybe July 2008, and it's specially for foreigners over 55 yrs old, and their spouse, dependent children... etc.
Apparently you have to deposit $US15,000 (which is refundable upon application, and which you can use the interest from) in a Sri Lankan/international bank; you have to have a pension of $1500 per month for the first person and $750 for the others.
Other conditions are also not particularly onerous, compared to most economic migration programs.
(SNIP)
Has anyone had any personal experience with it or knows someone who has? I'm considering trying it if I can make the figures work (!) and would like to know a bit about the practical application of the rules.... thanx in advance!

a_f_d

Sri Lanka - My Dream Home program appears to require a monthly inward remittance of US $2,250 = GBP £1,385 = INR 105,000/- for a couple

which seems like a LOT

AndyD 8-)#

martin_d

John, what areas can you recommend in Sri Lanka?

prestonjohn

To A-F-D, i never recommended Sri Lanka as a possible retirement area for the simple reason that it has always been a high end destination, either for tourism or retirement.Now which area would i recommended if you had to take the two month visa break ? Well the simplest place to get to from the airport is Negombo. Its roughly 12 minutes and its full of places that offer either simple rooms around £8 per night or you can rent furnished houses for around £200 a month. Negombo is interesting in that it has the biggest super market in Sri Lanka-Arpico. Also its a real super market on the lines of Tesco.I was impressed.
Its on the rail line to Colombo and kandy is only 4 hours away if you get fed up with the heat.Its the only town that has a Indian feel to it but strangely its 80 % Catholic because of the Portuguese......If you drink in the local bars Carlesberg is between 60 & 80 p a bottle.Fish market is Ok too.Good veg market and there are no hassles with shop keepers chasing you around like in India.The most important thing though is Colombo is only 1 hour away and you can shop until you drop there in modern Malls with food halls too.

a_f_d

Yes, the so-called Arthur C Clarke option was to deposit something like US$250,000 in a term deposit (or more in later years), but is the $1500+$750 = INR 105,000 really a monthly remittance requirement or do you just have to show that as world-wide income?

AndyD 8-)#

leavinggoa

Here are a couple of links:
http://www.immigration.gov.lk/html/v...ream_home.html
http://www.migrationlanka.com/howtoapply.htm

leavinggoa

If anyone is looking for good modern, spotlessly clean, keenly priced accommodation in Negombo, try here, Shamila Chalets It's a bit out of the way but easy to get to town or beach by tuk tuk in about 7/8 mins(150/250rs).