Jaunted

No Reservations

Anthony Bourdain Sweats It Out in Sri Lanka

March 3, 2009 at 10:11 AM | 0 Comments

The best part about No Reservations is how much Anthony Bourdain mixes it up; how he visits somewhere utterly predictable one week (such as Manhattan), then ends up in the most random place you can think of (say, the Azores).

This week fell definitely on the random side, as Anthony headed to Colombo, Sri Lanka, a place we imagine being dusty, war-torn and unbearably hot. Bourdain spends the first half of the episode complaining about how dusty, war-torn and unbearably hot it is, but then of course he discovers the food. We don't even know how to go about classifying the Sri Lankan food Tony sampled, except that every dish seemed to have about 25 spices, four kinds of fish, eggs, rice, bread, vegetables…well, you get the point, seems like these people will not hesitate to put anything on top of everything. Of course, it all looks delicious, whatever it is.

Bourdain mostly got personal guided tours around the country, and ended the episode by lamenting that Sri Lanka just isn't safe and accessible enough yet for everyone to visit. We've got precious little coverage of Sri Lanka travel in the Jaunted archives, so it made us wonder—Is it possible to travel in Sri Lanka today? Anybody been? Let us know in the comments.

Related Stories:
· Sri Lanka Travel Guide [No Reservations]
· Tourism Board Travel: Sri Lanka Is Safe, Minus The Terrorism [Jaunted]
· Anthony Bourdain travel coverage [Jaunted]

Photo: [Travel Channel]

Tourism Board Travel

Tourism Board Travel: Sri Lanka Is Safe, Minus The Terrorism

September 21, 2007 at 10:15 AM | 2 Comments

Securite Sans Frontieres, a French firm that analyzes national security in foreign countries, has green-lighted Sri Lanka as a tourist destination for foreigners. After evaluating tourism sites, hotel infrastructures, airports and other security issues over a period of 12 days, the agency gave the go-ahead. SSF Frederic Bauer president had this to say:

"The terrorist risk is not that greater in Sri Lanka than other countries visited by the French. In conclusion, the security situation for us is acceptable for tourism visits to Sri Lanka and I take responsibility for recommending the destination for French Tourists."

Does that mean non-French tourists still need to watch out? The Sri Lanka Tourism Board hired the private firm to conduct a security audit in attempt to lure back visitors. After peace talks in February 2006 led nowhere, the travel industry has attempted to counter an endless stream of stories about terrorism with reasons to visit the beautiful island country.

Since France gave the go-ahead, agencies in The Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom have all told their citizens it's OK to visit Sri Lanka. And they're just in time: The World Tourism Organization selected Sri Lanka as the host country for this year's World Tourism Day, on Setember 27. This year's theme is "Tourism opens doors for women." Also, a new travel campaign titled "Men don't get it" will be revealed on this occasion. Seriously. We're not sure what that has to do with travel, but we like the sound of it.

Related Stories:
· Sri Lanka Tourism Board [Official Site]
· Sri Lanka Hotels [HotelChatter]

[Photo: remibenali]

Celeb Travel

Gwyn & Chris' Second Honeymoon

December 19, 2005 at 9:41 AM | 0 Comments

Gwyn and Chris reportedly left Apple with some friends and jetted off to Sri Lanka, to the Amangala Hotel on the Galle Coast, to celebrate their second wedding anniversary. They went scuba diving and shopping for Xmas gifts. Interesting that a supposedly-pregnant Paltrow would be scuba diving...

Related Stories:
·   Paltrow and Martin Get Away for Romantic Second Honeymoon [SF Daily Dish]
·   Amangalla Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]