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  #1  
Old 20 Sep 2008
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Srilanka possible or not
Hi.

After a year of planning to ride home to Finland from Tanzania where I have been working, it now looks like plans are changeing and I might be off to Srilanka. I have two options:
1. store the bike here in Tanzania and come back after my Srilanka contract and do the trip.

2. Stuff the bike in a container we are sending off and do an Asia trip instead.

Searching trough the forum I can not find more than a couple of old treads that mention Srilanka. Is this a no go place for overlanders?
I have done some research and found out that they have some pretty crazy import taxes on cars but can't find anything about bikes, does anyone here have some experience with this country and traveling trough it?
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Cheers.

Tom.
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  #2  
Old 20 Sep 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tomwest View Post
I have done some research and found out that they have some pretty crazy import taxes on cars but can't find anything about bikes, does anyone here have some experience with this country and traveling trough it?
Tom
Did you find this blog?
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/for...rilanka1.shtml

(Sometimes it's better to search horizonsunlimited.com using Google's advanced search to limit the results to a specific site/domain.)

I'll be in Sri Lanka for the first 2 weeks of this December so after that I might be able to give some bike hire feedback or waypoints.

All the best

Stephan
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  #3  
Old 20 Sep 2008
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Hi Stephan.

Thanks, no I didn't find that one.I can see that googeling does work better

I don't know if I will be in Srilanka as early as December, Im going there for work. Some one will be going there in Dec but if it's me or another guy I don't know at this point. We will be working there from December to March, the site is about 20 km south of Colombo.This is all very new don't have much details yet. If you are planning on staying around for a while and need some mechanical help or grab a just pm me. The invitation stands for anyone who might need assistance or simply a chat and a
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Places to be and things to do, see you all out there!!

Cheers.

Tom.
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  #4  
Old 12 Nov 2008
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Hi Stephan (o?),
very much interested in bike hire feedback in Sri Lanka ! you'll be there beginning of december right ? I plan SL at Xmas time with bunch of friends, and we try to find out where (if possible) to rent Royal Enfields for a 2 weeks period. Any clue ?
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  #5  
Old 12 Nov 2008
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Originally Posted by Leyoo View Post
Hi Stephan (o?),
very much interested in bike hire feedback in Sri Lanka ! you'll be there beginning of december right ? I plan SL at Xmas time with bunch of friends, and we try to find out where (if possible) to rent Royal Enfields for a 2 weeks period. Any clue ?
I only found Japanese bikes online when I researched. I'll look out for Enfields for you but if you can hire a Honda XR250 why would you want an Enfield?
Stephan
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  #6  
Old 21 Oct 2009
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It will all depend on what kind of bike you have and how long you want to stay. If your bike has over 350cc in engine capacity, you could face a lot of problems to get it into the country. You will need a special clearance from the Defence Ministry. Usually, as a tourist, and for temporary import, it could be done, but the red tape could be lengthy as well. As you would only temporarily import the bike, and re-export again, no import duties are to be paid.
If you want to stay just a short while, your biggest disadvantage would be transport cost. Sri Lanka is (still) an island, so you'll have to ship it in and ship it out again. So it might be wiser to send to bike to wherever you would start your 'continental' part of the Asian trip, and rent a bike while you're in Sri Lanka.
The other guys gave you good advice: head straight to Negombo if you want to rent a bike. It's close to the airport and has much more rental facilities (as a tourist spot) than Colombo. About 25 km around Colombo, traffic is hell also. I know, I'm travelling from Negombo to Colombo every day!
If you need more advice, or any help, just ask, and I'll see what I can do.
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  #7  
Old 20 Sep 2008
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I talked to a person who works with a cargo company in Chennai, about going to Sri Lanka. He said I would´ve had to fly the bike in (probably to Colombo) because the military situation at seas around Sri Lanka remains very tense. Especially going from Chennai to that direction by ship is no-go, he said. This was in January-08. I dont know, if it´d be safer to do so from somewhere further south.

He adviced against it, and actually I didnt have time to do it anyway.
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  #8  
Old 14 Nov 2008
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Smile Sri Lanka 07
Hi, i toured toured Sri Lanka Easter 07 along with my travelling mate Calum. we hired Honda Bajas 250cc (xr250's) from Welcome to my Web site, he is a decent guy to deal with. the West of the country is very populated and we much prefered the quieter east, although this is where some of the fighting is. the very North and NE are no go areas. There are plenty of road blocks preventing you entering the danger areas and apart from getting machine guns pointed at you on a regular basis by goverment troops we had no problems. Highlight was Aragum Bay, stay at the Hilton (about $10). People are fantastic. Once i get the hang of posting photos i will post this trip. Andy
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  #9  
Old 14 Nov 2008
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Thanks for the info, Andy. It'll be useful in a couple of weeks time. I've also been in contact with the company you used and he's answered all my e-mails promptly. Do you remember what you paid per day and whether you negotiated any discount?

Did the bikes have any rack on the back or frame for luggage?

Thanks.

Stephan
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  #10  
Old 14 Nov 2008
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Sri Lanka 07
Hi Stephan, we paid $12 a day. the bikes were in good condition. I don't remember any racks etc. I will try and post a photo of the bikes next week. Andy
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  #11  
Old 18 Nov 2008
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Sri Lanka 07
hi, i have some pics of the bikes and Sri Lanka for you which can be viewed at Flickr: andysxt600e's Photostream
myself and my good mate Calum picked the bikes up in Negombo, headed North to Anuradhapura (good place to visit temples), SE to Manampitya, SW to Kandy (visit the tea plantations, one of my highlights, over 5500feet), SEE to Puttuvil on the coast then 5minutes to Aragum Bay (miles and miles of perfect beaches and we only met 2 'tourists' who were there surfing the 3 days we stayed), South into Yala National park. We saw wild elephants, crocs, snakes and 7foot long lizards (which i nearly ran over). then back to Negombo. Standard of driving varies from terrible to good and the same can be said of the roads. We were stopped by Police/Army many times but were never asked for a bribe/fine, had our bags searched a few times. The people are very friendly and we always felt safe even in the most remote villages. I hope this helps Andy Attachment 1730
Last edited by Andysr6; 19 Nov 2008 at 17:16.
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