Sri Lanka: A Travel Survival Kit

I received the book in excellent condition and quite fast! Would use this company again without a doubt!

I barely give "Lonely Planet Sri Lanka" 5 stars as they have some nice color photos of different activities and areas in Sri Lanka, they also have good individual area maps though straight black and white not topographical or color as they have in "Insight Guide Sri Lanka". Basically a very nicely laid out guide with just about all the information you would hope to expect or need.

Sri Lanka is an island of exceptional beauty -- but there is trouble in paradise. For two decades the island has been torn apart by violence between the two largest ethnic groups, Buddhist Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils. One of my most vivid memories of Colombo was a march of Buddhist monks carrying signs with political sentiments such as, "Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country." The Tamil Tigers, on their part, will probably be remembered as virtuoso suicide bombers. So much for "tolerant" Asian religions. Most of the violence has now ceased and the traveler need not be concerned with it, although traveling by land from Colombo to Jaffna in the north one has to pass along a dirt highway lined in places with minefields. Military fortresses will also be encountered along main highways. I'm not much of a beach fan, although that's why most tourists go to Sri Lanka. Given the ravages of the tsunami most of the beach resorts on the South and East coasts have probably been damaged. So this is an excellent time to go to Sri Lanka to see the beautiful tea estates in the cool, cloudy hill country and the Buddhist monuments near the center of the island. For the sand and sea set, some decent beach resorts near Colombo on the West coast were probably not affected by the Tsunami. The Lonely Planet Guide sums up the many attractions of this beautiful country. As always, it includes reliable information on history and practical matters plus sidebars on interesting subjects such as birds, turtles, train schedules, and 101 uses for a coconut. Smallchief

This well-organized, chatty yet meaty guide book is all you need to assist you on a trip to Sri Lanka. We went to Sri Lanka in the high season (February, when the place is full of Germans and other Europeans) and the only reservation we made in advance was two nights at the Galle Face Hotel (see Columbo chapter, where to stay, top end), a fabulous old relic of colonial architecture. With the help of the Lonely Planet, we "winged" everything else: train tickets to Kandy, car rental, dive trips & bungalows on the southwestern beaches. Sri Lanka is a diverse, fabulous place to explore, and the Lonely Planet made it super easy.Great historical chapter "Facts About the Country" makes for good reading while you're waiting for your cold lassi to come to the table.

This book goes into deep detail about Sri Lanka. Being a Sri Lankan myself resideing in Australia. I found this book defintely worth taking on your trip. The best thing about the book is, that as new devolpements come, the Lonley Planet website allows you to upgrade (free of charge) the information in it, by you downloading the new revised pages. As long you keep the book updated the book will always have the latest information. This is not-only this guide book, but for all of Lonley Planets guide books. Normally I would give this book 4 stars, but for this feature alone 5 stars is worth the effort.