Sri Lanka's Northeast and Railways with Highlights of Kerala Extension - Private Tour

If booking more than 12 weeks before departure a deposit of £295.00pp will need to be paid at the time of booking with the full amount payable at 12 weeks prior to departure. The deposit applies to adults and children. If you are within 12 weeks of travel then the full balance of the holiday will be payable.

British passport holders are required to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) prior to travel to Sri Lanka. To apply, please visit the official website: https://eta.gov.lk/slvisa/ where ETA applications are currently free of charge.

Alternatively, if you would prefer assistance with the application process, we recommend The Travel Visa Company, who can apply for the ETA on your behalf for a service fee. Please call 01270 250 590 and quote “Mercury Holidays”.

Passports must be valid for a minimum period of six months from the date of arrival into Sri Lanka.

Visa and entry requirements are subject to change. Obtaining the correct documentation for travel is the responsibility of the traveller and not Mercury Holidays. We recommend checking with the Sri Lankan Tourist Board, Embassy, or the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office prior to departure for the latest visa and passport validity requirements.

A visa is required for entry into India. British Citizen Passport Holders will need to obtain a tourist visa. You can apply for an E-visa no more than 30 days in advance. Your E-visa must be valid for your whole trip so please ensure the expiry date is for the whole duration of your stay. Alternatively you can visit The Indian Visa Application Centre in London: 142-148 Goswell Road, London, EC1B 7DU. We also work closely with The Travel Visa Company who will be able to arrange your visa on your behalf. Please call them on 01270 250 590 and quote 'Mercury Holidays'. Additionally, you will need to complete an e-Arrival Card within 72 hours before your arrival. This can be done on the Indian visa website: https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/earrival/. Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months before you enter India. Visa requirements are subject to change and obtaining a visa is the responsibility of the traveller and not Mercury Holidays. We recommend you check with your destinations' Tourist Board or Embassy prior to departure for the most up to date guidelines regarding visas and passport validity.

We strongly recommend that you and all members of your party are suitably insured as soon as you book your holiday. It is a condition of booking that you must have suitable travel insurance. It is important that you purchase travel insurance that suitably covers your participation in whatever activities you may undertake at the time that you make your booking. To assist you with this, we have arranged travel insurance in partnership with Holiday Extras, including up to a 20% discount, which is given to all Mercury Holidays customers. To arrange your insurance with Holiday Extras, please visit https://www.mercuryholidays.co.uk/info/insurance for more details. Please ensure you provide us with the name of your insurer, policy number and their 24 hour emergency contact number as soon as possible. Mercury Holidays will not be liable for any costs incurred by you due to your failure to take out suitable travel insurance from the date of booking.

It is your responsibility to check any health and vaccination requirements applicable to your booked arrangements. We can only provide general information about this. Health and hygiene facilities and disease risks vary from country to country. You should take health advice about your own needs as early as possible and in good time before your departure. Sources of information include; www.fco.gov.uk, http://travelhealthpro.org.uk/, www.hpa.org.uk, your General Practitioner or a specialist clinic.

All our tours feature a “Tour Pace” to help find the right holiday for you. To travel on any of our tours requires unaided mobility and the ability to stroll around the sights, climb stairs and get on and off coaches and boats. The tour pace of Sri Lanka’s Northeast and Railways is Active. A good level of fitness is required as you may be on your feet for approximately four hours in a day, though this will be interspersed with regular breaks and will vary from day to day. You will be walking around the sights, and you will be getting on and off coaches, and climbing steps which may be irregular. You will stay in variety of hotels throughout the tour. Our guides will always endeavour to provide the highest level of service and assistance; however, they cannot be expected to cater for customers who are unfit to complete the itinerary. Early morning trains and flights depending upon the schedule and some early morning sightseeing’s are also in this tour.

The currency in Sri Lanka is the Rupee (LKR) and it is a closed currency. This means it is not possible to buy Sri Lankan money in the UK before you travel. It is important to budget carefully as you should not take any Rupee (LKR) out of Sri Lanka when you depart. There are foreign exchange offices and cash machines available in most places during your tour. Your tour guide will assist you at the start of your tour with currency exchange. Credit and debit cards are accepted in most hotels and some shops and restaurants; a charge is sometimes added for using them. You can take cash or travellers' cheques (in pounds sterling or another foreign currency) and/or a bank card with you and exchange or withdraw rupees once in Sri Lanka. Cash machines will also be available throughout the tour in order to withdraw money in your local currency. It is important that you budget carefully and ensure you have the right form of currency before you arrive in the country.

The currency in Kerala is the Indian Rupee (RS). The Rupee is a closed currency and officially you are not allowed to take any cash out of Kerala. US Dollars and GBP are also widely accepted in these destinations, should you wish to keep an alternative currency on you. Therefore, it is very important that you budget carefully.

As normal practice you may be asked for your credit card details on check-in at the hotel in order to cover any extras incurred during your stay. If you do not have a credit card, you may be asked for a cash deposit. MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted in hotels as well as American Express.

You will need to take some extra money with you to cover any personal purchases, such as souvenirs, laundry and extra drinks and snacks. Approximately £200 per person will be sufficient for the duration of the tour.

It is customary to tip your guide and driver. This is at your discretion, but we recommend you allow approximately £5 per person, per day for the driver and assistant and £4 per person, per day for the national guides. It is asked that if you do not tip in the local currency, please do not give coins as these are difficult to exchange. This will total to approx £115 per person. Most guides collect a kitty tip, approximately GBP 25pp for whole tour. Guides usually collect this at the beginning of tour to tip bell boys, porters, trackers and other assistants who will service you throughout the tour

This is a fully escorted tour, meaning that you will be met on arrival by your national guide who will remain with you for the duration of your trip. You will also be joined by a local guide in some of the cities which you visit, ensuring that you have first-hand knowledge at all times. For groups of 5 people or less you will have an English speaking Driver Guide or a Driver and Local/Monument Guides.

Private Tour: If you have booked a private tour then you will be accompanied by a Driver Guide or a Driver and Local Guides. These will be available to you during all scheduled sightseeing. Private Tours can depart on any day of the week depending on flight and train schedules and the opening days of the attractions. They will follow the itinerary as described in the brochure unless you have been advised otherwise and you will still have all of the same meals, sightseeing and local excursions included.

Your extension add‑on to Kerala is fully escorted. For groups of three guests or fewer, you’ll be accompanied by a Driver Guide or a Driver with Local Guides in select locations. For groups of four or more, a dedicated Tour Guide will accompany you throughout the extension.

Trains

During your tour you will be getting on and off several trains. You will be booked in air conditioned carriages. Seats recline and there is overhead space for a bag. Bathrooms are at the end of each carriage but toilet roll and hand sanitiser is advised. Trains in Sri Lanka do vary to the UK in terms of quality. Please note that luggage will be left on the tour bus while you enjoy your rail Journey.

Your accommodation is selected for convenience, location, comfort or character. Hotel accommodation is generally rated as local three to four-star standard, but please note there is no international classification system for hotels, and differences in facilities and quality do exist between the UK and Sri Lanka. All group tours hotels have private bathroom facilities and air-conditioning, where needed. Rest assured that all accommodation used by Mercury Holidays is regularly inspected by our staff and partners to ensure that standards meet your needs.

A triple room is available but please note that this will be a twin room with a fold away bed for the 3rd passenger.

House Boats

During this tour you will have a night’s stay on board a traditional houseboat as the best way to experience the backwaters of Kerala. The houseboats are built using traditional methods and there is no standardised design or layout. Your group will be split across a range of houseboats each one with between one and six bedrooms. Some will have a single deck consisting of bedrooms and a seated dining area, others may have an upper deck as well. The simple bedrooms feature en-suite and air conditioning but of necessity do not have the same comfort/facilities of a hotel room.

The crew on the ship will prepare your meals in a traditional Keralan style and are employed from the local villages so their English is basic. The guide will be available but as the group is split he will not be on your houseboat at all times.

Breakfast is always western style and served in the hotel each morning. Dinner (when included) will be taken in local restaurants or at the hotel. A variety of restaurants are visited giving you the chance to experience a range of dishes and flavours. Please note: Please take cash for drinks in the hotels as cards are not always accepted.

There are some dry hotels in Sri Lanka, and some hotels where alcohol can be consumed on the premise but must be brought in from outside. Your guide will pre-warn you of this and if anyone in the group would like to purchase drinks before getting then he will arrange for you to visit a local shop and get what you need wherever possible.

Please contact Customer Experience for questions about other dietary requirements or allergy information. Vegan, vegetarian and non-spicy meal options are available, all meal requests need to be sent over to our suppliers before travel.

It is not recommended to drink the tap water, even in developed countries water may contain unfamiliar elements that can cause upset stomachs. In less developed countries water is not filtered in the same way, so to ensure your comfort and well-being, two bottles of drinking water will be provided on touring days.

In Sri Lanka, the sale of alcohol is prohibited by law on specific days throughout the year. These include Poya Days (full moon days), Independence Day in February, World Temperance Day in October, the day before and after Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April, the day following Vesak Poya Day in May, and Christmas Day. This ban applies to all shops and hotels, ensuring that alcohol is not available for purchase on these designated days.

Please note that Kerala has strict laws regarding the governance of the sale of alcohol in public places including hotels and restaurants. The sale and consumption of alcohol is therefore often restricted in hotels, varying from one establishment to another. You may however bring your own alcohol with you for private consumption in your room. In Kerala the liquor shops are closed on the 1st of every month and public holidays.

In Sri Lanka they celebrate various festivals throughout the year, Vesak Poya is considered one of the most important Buddhist festivals in Sri Lanka and is celebrated on the full moon poya day falling in May. The celebrations begin on the full moon day and continue for a week, where every corner has magical and colourful lanterns. Thai Pongal is the equivalent to a thanksgiving festival usually celebrated in January, followed by the Sinhala and Tamil New Year which is usually celebrated in April, it is a festival were people ensure their houses are clean, purchase new clothes, and prepare many traditional sweets.

It is seen as respectful to cover your shoulders and not to expose too much skin in Sri Lanka, so it would be advisable to pack a shawl or similar for women to cover up, including wearing up to/covering your knees when entering religious buildings etc. For gentlemen wanting to enter the Nallur Hindu Kovil it is advisable to be bare chested.

On your arrival in Colombo you will be met by a Guide or Airport representative from our local agent, Aitken Spence, holding a sign displaying: “Mercury Holidays”. The Mercury Holidays/Aitken Spence representative will show you to your transfer vehicle. Your guide will be able to answer any queries.

If you need to contact Aitken Spence during your stay the details are:

Aitken Spence Travel (Colombo): 4th Floor, Aitken Spence Towers 02 315, Vauxhall Street, Colombo 02, Sri Lanka.

Contact number: 0094 112 499623

Emergency contact information:

Rizmika - 0094 772 916461, Kushani - 0094 760 530644

Email - mercury@aitkenspence.lk, rizmika@aitkenspence.lk

Kerala -

If you need to contact Jayasree Travels and Tours, during your stay the details are:

F 341-Ground Floor, Lado Sarai, New Delhi, 110030.

Contact number: 0091 9526188860/ 0091 995 898 8719

Emergency contact information

Telephone number 24 hr:

Biju Unnikrishnan 0091 952 618 8860, Ms Jayasree Vikraman 0091 974 700 5888, Mrs Samitha Azhar 0091 974 471 3380, Mrs Rekha Anil 0091 9744813380, Mr Amit Bhardwaj 0091 995 898 8719

E-mail: biju@jayasreetravels.com

• Comfortable walking shoes
• Swimwear
• Anti-bacterial hand sanitiser
• Insect repellent
• Thick socks for when visiting temples
• Waterproof, lightweight jacket
• Sunglasses and hat
• Ruck sack
• Loo paper for public WCs
• Camera and charger
• Personal toiletries and first aid kit containing travel pills, rehydration powder, plasters, stomach settlers, antiseptic creams, aspirin etc
• An electric plug converter - the electricity in Sri Lanka is 230 volts and is a 3 round pin plug or a UK plug
• Long sleeve shirt and long trousers (required when entering any religious sites)