Thursday, May 9, 2013

Expat Existence in Sri Lanka, Colombo

I lately visited the great island of Sri Lanka, and located a rustic filled with surprises.

Sri Lanka can be found just south asia, within the Indian Sea. Once referred to as Dominium of Ceylon and frequently known to because the tea country, tea farms abundantly thrive over the island, with spice gardens, blueberry and coconut palms growing at random to produce a jungle of natural assets.

People, creatures and transport appear to co-exist alongside without any bitterness towards one another. Dogs question aimlessly across or bask under the sun beside streets, cows and goat's roam around everywhere, even around the beaches (that we found rather amusing) and individuals abound, whether walking, cycling, utilizing a tuc-tuc, motorbike with 5 astride, inside a taxi, bus, vehicle or truck, each occupies an area from the much less wide road. But co-exist they are doing, there's no anger at being stuck behind a truck, basically a brief hooting from the horn to state I'm here and also pass, pleasantness develops and also the expression and sounds are of friendliness, within a nation that sorely needs help at redeveloping itself because the tsunami. Individuals are poor but happiness is everywhere.... Not only for that child around the stylish or even the person in their side, however for expats and vacationers too.

Vacationers fluctuate for the resorts plus some chance areas slightly outdoors of those areas, to get a quieter less bothered holiday. Small pockets of expats are available, dotted from coast to coast. Whenever you encounter these folks and talk about existence around the island, there's very little to complain about. Yes, sometimes water will get switched off or even the electricity, yes the web isn't as fast because they wish it to be. Is not that how many people feel in developed nations anyway: The faster it will get the faster we would like it. Within this little bit of paradise, expats aren't very worried that it requires longer to complete things here, the folks are ready to wait, much less rash to maneuver forward too rapidly. There is lots of talk and worry about the elections and safety inside the country and you will find still road blockades and police / military personnel with guns wandering around keeping peace if required. However, with 70% of people being Buddhists, the life-style is peaceful and existence simplistic.

From an expat perspective, I possibly could not fault the life-style. As stated above, yes you will find definite things missing, situations are reduced, it requires a great four to six hrs to obtain from Colombo to Galle together with to anywhere about 200km's apart. I am unable to state that the streets are specifically in good shape, however in the ten days which i visited, I didn't see one accident. Struggles could include the possible lack of getting in one area of the island to a different rapidly, the possible lack of fast web connection, possibly a persons waste / refuse, which enables for that increase of flies, the grime that is left to lie around and finally the possible lack of funds to rebuild the nation as to the it had been prior to the Tsunami.

With that said, I must look whatsoever the great stuff that you discover there, the good thing about natural assets, the way the excellent and expats are attempting to rebuild the nation, beaches, game parks and mountain tops. This really is a classic beautiful place in the world.

Expat Living costs summary

The currency in Sri Lanka may be the Sri Lankan Rupee LKR

The Exchange rate as at 15 The month of january 2010 was = 114.217 Rupees

I will break the Living costs lower based on a few of the basket products:

Alcohol and Tobacco: Alcohol at Bar, Beer, Cigarettes, In your area Created Spirit, Whiskey, Wine

Cigarettes (20s) - .14 to

Domestic Beer(500ml) - .50

Imported Beer (330ml) - .80

Wine in a bar - a glass

Wine in a shop - (750ml bottle)

Hotels often boost the prices of alcohol because it is the main one way that they'll earn profits. You will find many small hotels and restaurants which produce a edge against your competitors to where one can stay.

Clothing: Office Attire, Casual Clothing, Children's Clothing and shoes, Jackets and hats, Evening Put on, Shoe Repairs, Under garments

Casual Lengthy Sleeved Shirt (Males) -

Casual Lengthy Sleeved Pants (Males) -

Shorts (Males) -

T-Shirt (Males) -

Casual Blouse (Women) -

Casual Skirt (Women) -

Children's Jeans (Boys) -

Children's Jeans (Women) - .50

Children's Shirt(Boys) -

Children's Shirt(Women) -

Clothing is very cheap, in Colombo an individual can get the majority of the title top quality clothing at fairly inexpensive price points in Factory shops.

Communication: Home Telephone Rental and Call Charges, Web Connection and repair provider costs, Mobile / Mobile Phone Contract and Calls

Monthly phone rental - .36

Telephone call rate - $.05 for any local call

Internet line connection fee - 4 (buy all equipment with installation)

Isp fee - (1 geg free after that)

Monthly mobile contract fee - .18 (for that year)

Mobile / cellular call rate - 90% of phones are prepaid,

Cell Phone 100 Minutes Call -

- $.012 - $.05 sms peak occasions

Because of numerous excellent working overseas to transmit money home, the communication cost is very low and you will find frequently deals or cost-free is active in the actual call.

Education: Creche / Pre-School Costs, Senior High School / College Costs, Primary School Costs, Tertiary Study Costs

Annual Creche fee - .36 monthly

Annual Primary school fee - 0 - 6 monthly

Annual Senior High School fee - 0 - 6 monthly

Annual first Year Tertiary / College fee - 0 to 6 monthly (determined by which

private school they're going to)

Private schooling is easily the most costly around the island for expat children to go to, nevertheless the rates compared to other nations are reasonable. Expats which i discovered spoke highly from the education system in the united states and were pleased with the non-public education their children were receiving.

Furniture and Home appliances: DVD Player, Appliance, Iron, Kettle, Toaster, microwave, Bulbs, Television, Vacuum, Washer

DVD Player -

Fridge / Freezer - 9 (LG / Whirlpool - college guarantee)

Iron - cheap to top of the line

Kettle - cheap to top of the line

Microwave - 1

TV 21 inch - 4 (two year guarantee)

Washer LG - 0

Discount rates could be discussed with stores on all products

Groceries bought inside a supermarket: Baby Consumables, Baked Goods, Baking, Canned Meals, Cheese, Cleaning Items, Dairy, Fruits, Fresh Veggies, Fruit Drinks, Frozen, Meat, Oil & Vinegars, Commercial Dog Food, Pre-Prepared Foods, Sauces, Sea food, Snacks, Sodas, Spices or herbs & Herbal treatments

Powdered baby formula (400g) -

Plain biscuits (100g) - $.20

Loaf whitened bread (200g) - $.70

Cake Flour (1kg) - .80

Baked Beans (415g) - .92

Tuna (185g) - .75

Cheese: Cheddar (250g) - .63

Crisps: Pringles (139g) - .50

Autowash clothing powder (750g) - .57

Dishwash liquid (500g) - $.87

Clothing Softener (2l) - .40

Whole Wheat Toast (250g) - .45

Butter (227g) - .18

Milk (1l) - .40

Eggs (12) - .80

Orange Juice (1l) - .80

Frozen Mixed Veggies (1kg) - .20

Oil (1l) - .22

Essential olive oil (500ml) - .28

Can of cola (355ml) - .00

Local Fizzy Soda (1l) - .30

Local Natural Standard Water (5l) - .08

Tea Bags (200g) - .85

Instant Coffee (100g) - .75

Local Ground Coffee (200g) - .66

Salt (400g) - $.26

Pepper (400g) - $.35

Prices were acquired from local supermarkets, you will find no large shops to look in.

Health care: Doctor Consultation rates, Hospital Private Ward Daily, Rate, Non-Prescription Drugs, Private Health Care Insurance / Medical Aid Contributions

GP Private rate visit with meds - .50

Hospital Private ward rates - each day

Dentistry - Tooth extraction - .35

Most expats use Bupa or even the Sri Lankan Equivalent

Household: House / Flat Mortgage, House / Flat Rental, Household Electricity Consumption, Household Gas / Fuel Consumption, Household Water Consumption, Local Property Rates / Taxes / Levies

Rent 2 mattress Apartment City Center - 0

Rent 2 mattress Apartment outdoors of City Center - 0

Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage per - to monthly to have an average

household, this really is costly when taking household

ac into consideration

Gas / Fuel - 12 ½ kg bottle -

Local property Rates - eight to tenPercent of worth of property

Expats cannot purchase a property directly, this needs to be achieved using a Lawyer who is the owner of the home. Mortgage for local people is 4/5%. This is when most expats discover the costs slip in, running the air conditioning units is very costly along with the price of water.

Miscellaneous: Domestic Help, Dry Cleaning, Linen, Office Supplies Online, Newspapers and Magazines, Postage Stamps

Domestic Rates - full-time per person - average

1 Black printing device cartridge -

1 Color printing device cartridge -

500 sheets printer paper - .23

Local Daily Newspaper - $.17

Worldwide Daily Newspaper - $.45

Worldwide Magazine -

Worldwide Airmail Stamps - $.22

Domestic Stamps - $.12

Domestic assistance is cheap and many employees either survive the home or near by. Office supplies online are reasonable, with CD's and DVD's freely available in the pub where most local people purchase them.

Personal Care: Cosmetics, Hair care, Moisturizer / Sun Screen Lotion, Diapers, Discomfort Relief Pills, Toilet Tissue, Tooth paste, Cleaning soap / Shampoo / Conditioner

Body product (400ml) Vaseline Intensive vehicle - .53

Toilet tissue 1 ply per roll - $.50

Tooth paste (200g) - .92

Shampoo (200ml) - .40

A few of the products that may be bought could be costly, like creams, sunblocks and cosmetic creams. Title brand items would be the most costly.

Entertainment and Culture: Books, Camera Film, Cinema Ticket, DVD and CD's, Sports goods, Theatre Ticket

Books paper back -

Cinema ticket - $.50

DVD / Compact disc Imported -

Cricket ticket - $.50 to

Theatre Ticket - only in Colombo -

Hard cover books are costly in the united states, but paper back books have an identical cost towards the US and United kingdom. Cinema tickets are cheap because of the supply of cheap DVD replicas which may be bought on street corners. Worldwide cricket tickets will also be stored cheap for that local population.

Restaurants / Foods out / Hotels: Business Dinner, Dinner at Restaurant (non junk food), Hotel Rates, Remove Drinks & Snacks (junk food)

Business Dinner excl Alcohol - per person

Dinner / lunch at local restaurant - per person

McDonalds Large Mac - .10

Hotel Rates 3* - to pppn

Hotel Rates 4* - to 0 pppn

Hotel Rates 5* - 0 pppn upwards

Remove - Can of cola x 1 - $.70

Medium pizza - .50

Hamburger - .00

Coffee - pot x 3 cups - .40

As with most nations just how much you have to pay for any meal relies upon in which you go, the neighborhood restaurants have great local foods, in addition to worldwide flavours, we found a wonderful vegetarian restaurant in Galle, really worth a trip and all sorts of prices were fairly cheap. Some restaurants do make use of the tourist population and serve sub-standard foods. However, most restaurants were good using their portions and diet plans.

Transport: Hire Purchase / Lease of car, Gas / Diesel, Trains And Buses, Service Maintenance, Tyres, Vehicle Insurance, Vehicle Purchase

Hire / Lease vehicle - Sedan Toyota Corolla - .14 each day for 7 days

Hire / Lease vehicle - Toyota RAV4 - .71 each day for 7 days

Gas unleaded per litre - .23

Diesel per litre - $.64

Bus Ticket (one of the ways) - .00

Taxi Ride - per km - $.50

Tuc Tuc - 10 km ride - .00

Train Ticket second class - .57

If you're going to I recommend you apply the local taxis and tuc-tucs, driving could be a mind-pain and uncomfortable experience if you're not accustomed to the neighborhood norms. However, speeds don't review 80km around the bigger streets and overall a secure spot to drive.

The above mentioned detail are the products make up the foundation of the living costs indexes for every basket group within the Xpatulator hand calculators, these cost is then combined with their indexes and forex rates to calculate the living costs in various locations.

For additional info on Sri Lanka find out more at world wide web.xpatulator.com/outdoors.cfm.

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