Guides and car

Hi All,

Please could you tell me will how much I reasonably should expect to pay for a registered guide and car for 2 people using guesthouses.

Thank you

Guides and car

Hi,

I know there are many different price ranges about on the site which mirrors the many different price ranges over there.

I know that I can hire a top rate, English speaking Ceylon Tourist Board approved driver/guide, with an enormous knowledge of everything Sri Lankan, for about 6500 rupees a day. That covers the air-con vehicle, the driver/guide and the fuel.

Excellent quality guest houses for about 2000 to 2500 rupees a night on a B%26amp;B basis.

On top of that you have your lunch, evening meals and site entrey fees to pay.

Rod.

Guides and car

Hi Rod

Agree with your estimates, BUT, maybe worth mentioning that some guest houses don%26#39;t give free lodgings to drivers/guides, so this may add to the costs ?

Regards

Dave

Hi Dave,

you%26#39;re right , some don%26#39;t but most of the guest houses around the main routes do as they rely on the drivers bringing in guests..

The drivers know the guest houses where the clients are happy and they, themselves get well fed and accomodated so when they work out the route with a customer they take that into account.

It%26#39;s never a problem.

Actually, the independant driver I%26#39;m using has an agreement with several of the big companies , such as Aitkin Spence , so, even if some star class accomodation was required he can deliver good rates.

Good to see you back from your trip although I don%26#39;t expect you to agree on that point.

Roll on February when I can have a few weeks in the sun. I%26#39;m waiting for Susie to go and come back, then I%26#39;m off.

I%26#39;m taking my brother and his wife, first time visitors to Lanka and will be using a driver myself to show them around the triangle before heading off for a week in the hills on the train and local buses , then a couple of weeks on the south coast before spending the last couple of days at Kosgoda where, as you know, we are involved with the little village school.

Rod.

Hi Rod

No, I DON%26#39;T agree with it being nice to be back !!, hmmm, now all i have to do wait till YOU get back then i am off again!!, going at end of March and staying for the New Year in April again, so already looking forward to that one !, brrrr, it%26#39;s so cold here after nice long holiday in much warmer climes !

Agree incidentally with your other comment about drivers, some now do have accounts with the ';Big Boys'; and can get very good rates at star class hotels, the 2 i use out there now have this facilty and one actually got me a better rate for Heritance Kandalama than i could get myself recently !!, strange but true !,even with all my contacts there at thier head office !

Regards

Dave

Hello Rod

Yes, Susie is getting very excited about it all now!!! Bag has been packed, unpacked and packed again for weeks on end ..! SURELY it%26#39;s time to go now!!

Looking forward to discovering some seriously out of the way places this time and hope to report back to you before you head off the same way.

Also starting to think about a return trip in August .. I am looking at a flight with Kingfisher Airlines which is coming out very cheap compared to the others ... may need to save all the money we can if the 拢 continues to fall against the dollar/rupee......

All the best

Sue

Just to add ...

the decline of the pound has made the pricing part of our holiday quite strange this time. We have booked just a couple of places through Red Dot, but because the price was fixed in 拢 at the time of our booking, this has surprisingly come out quite well.

On the contrary, the few nights we have booked with a driver, are going to cost considerably more than we envisaged. The price was quoted to us in dollars and was certainly reasonable when the dollar was about 2 to the pound .. but look at it now!

Hope things are less crazy when you go in February, Rod! But we will still have the time of our lives, as always. And most of the holiday is still completely free for us to just pop in wherever we want, when we want, ';Rod_B'; style!

All the best

Sue

Hi Suzie,

The pound dropping through the floor certainly does make a huge difference but at least with your booking it%26#39;s a swings and roundabouts situation.

At the moment mine looking like a snakes and ladders game and I%26#39;m getting all the snakes.

Didn%26#39;t someone say they were phobic about snakes?.

As you said, whatever the situation, it%26#39;s gonna be great as it allways is .

I%26#39;m hoping that the rupees is allowed to float freely before I go but not counting on it.

I%26#39;m counting the days for you.

Rod.

Well, it certainly isn%26#39;t me who%26#39;s phobic about snakes .. I shall be positively disappointed if I don%26#39;t see a few whilst I am crawling about in the undergrowth ... just as long as I see them before they see me, that is!!

Hope to bag a couple of nights at the Olde Empire Inn too, in those front rooms. Will let you know if I%26#39;m successful.

Hello again Sue,

I really like the Old Empire but don%26#39;t forget, only the one room is en-suite. Right at the top of the stairs or on the left as you look at it from the street.

Defineitely worth trying though with the front balcony in that position.

Rod.

Any recomendations for a private guide/driver for a 3 or 4 day trip in June?