Colombo lifestyle

Sri Lanka offers an interesting array of items for shoppers. Gems, finished garments, Batiks, tea and handicrafts are popular items among tourists, with handloom fabric materials, leather products, furniture, reproduction antiques, jewellery and ceramics also sought-after.

The typical local cuisine comprises rice and curry, usually eaten at lunch and dinner and consisting of either unpolished (red) or white rice and an array of vegetables flavoured with coconut milk, sliced onion, green chilli, aromatic spices such as cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and saffron and aromatic leaves. There are also meat dishes such as chicken, pork, fish or beef either cooked as a curry or made as a 'badun' (stir fried with spices and onions). Speciality dishes are 'hoppers' (a crispy pancake made with rice flour) and 'string hoppers' (steamed circlets of rice flour), both traditional breakfast items eaten with curries. Tea is the national drink, and most popular alcoholic beverage is Arrack, made with fermented toddy obtained from the sap of the coconut tree.

In the beach resorts evening entertainment may consist of a fire limbo show, traditional dance performances from different parts of the country and local bands playing popular western music. In Colombo the entertainment is more varied, with casinos, nightclubs, karaoke bars, cinemas and theatres.