Talk:Colombo

edit conflict

Sorry to anon user. I was editing the hotel listings at the same time you were adding names. There was a conflict, and I think some of the hotels names you added got lost. In addition, is it possible that you could add the address of the hotels. This information should go between the name of the hotel and tel number. Thanks. (WT-en) WindHorse 20 Feb 06

danger warning

I think the warning ''Colombo is getting very dangerous'' is rather alarmist. Yes, there are potential dangers because of the civil war, but these are no worse than the IRA threat in London 20 years ago, or the current Jihadist one. Visitors should certainly think at least twice before visiting the east of Sri Lanka or the Jaffna peninsula, but anyone who does so for just travel or holiday is probably the kind of person who would wander around Baghdad in an "I Love George W" t-shirt. (WT-en) Wayneinmelton 02:11, 7 September 2007 (EDT)

Support. BTW, would you propose a phrase that describe the current situation for traveler more objectively? --(WT-en) DenisYurkin 15:57, 6 January 2008 (EST)

'Update:' Yes, since the Srl Lanka government cancelled the already tottering cease fire with the LTTE earlier this year, perhaps ''very dangerous'' is, sadly, becoming increasingly accurate. --(WT-en) Wayneinmelton 12:30, 18 February 2008 (EST)

Just a reply to that "update" - clearly you have not been to Colombo. Despite the bus bombings, if one avoids this mode of travel, it is highly unlikely that you will get caught up in anything. Anon, 12:06, 10 October 2008 (MT)

Budget

I think there has been some misunderstanding. In the Budget section on hotels, most of the listings are expensive resorts, many of them outside of Colombo. Does anyone know of any low priced places to stay in Colombo City? —The preceding comment was added by (WT-en) 116.54.100.20 (talk • contribs)

added a car rental service .

Everyone, I added a car rental service and hope this would be useful for fellow travellers. I'm not affiliated with this company and but I've used it so I'm willing to recommend without hesitation. Let me know whether this edit is appropriate or not . If so kindly suggest me an option. WilliamSon89

Removed an image

Colombo Traffic

I took this out of the article; it seemed unnecessary & uninformative. Saving here. 15:30, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

District numbers

We generally do not include the city name in listings but many here have something like "Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo 03" or just "Colombo 01". Should some of those be removed? If not, can we have a map indication of where these areas are?

They are also inconsistently placed, in "directions=", "address=" or "content=". Where do they belong? Pashley (talk) 13:20, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

There are two maps on Commons with the districts. Unfortunately they have low resolution. This is the slightly better one, what do you think? Otherwise we could delete the district notions, after all the coordinates in the article help the reader finding the places. --Ypsilon (talk) 16:39, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

If we keep the district numbers, I think that map should go in.

Should we keep them? I do not know Colombo well enough to tell. For some cities, they are quite common, e.g. I often see "London W1". For others, names are generally used, e.g. for Ottawa you'd say things like "in the Glebe" or "in Sandy Hill"; I do not think anyone ever refers to the postal districts. I have no idea which is correct for Colombo; that needs comment from someone who knows the city well.

Personally, I like the names -- in particular I find "Cinnamon Gardens" & "Slave Island" colourful -- but that does not mean they serve the traveller best. Pashley (talk) 07:35, 27 April 2020 (UTC)

User:Arepticous might know the answer to this and some of your other questions.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 08:07, 27 April 2020 (UTC)

@Pashley: sorry for the delay. Colombo is both a city and a district. To make it easier for postal services and travelers, Colombo was divided into 15 segments as Colombo 1, Colombo 2, colombo 3, and so on. Each segment contain locations within the district (Colombo 1 is Fort) it plays an important role, and they are known to be a part of the addresses of those who reside in the city. Arep Ticous 05:58, 5 May 2020 (UTC)

Slave Island

This is an interesting name, used in many places in the article. w:Slave Island has the history & I think some of it should be added here, but I'm not volunteering for that work. Anyone? Pashley (talk) 13:31, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

Shouldn't take too much time to add a paragraph or two, I could do it. --Ypsilon (talk) 16:39, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

Done --Ypsilon (talk) 18:00, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

Price ranges

Neither Sleep nor Eat sections have an infobox defining budget, mid-range & splurge. They probably should.

Also, there are oddities. For example Galle Hotel at "$200+" is listed as mid-range but one entry under Splurge has "from $117". Pashley (talk) 15:27, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

Is the Lagoon at "Full meal: Rs 4,000" really a mid-range eatery? Pashley (talk) 15:32, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

I also notice that most listings lack price information. Pashley (talk) 15:39, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

I'm not a huge fan of infoboxes with price ranges (also, I haven't seen many of them as of lately, didn't even remember we had them) especially for developing countries where inflation tends to be high. But the eateries and lodging should definitely be ordered by price, and someone might have added listings to the wrong category. It defeats the purpose of price categories so this definitely needs to be checked up before the article is featured. --Ypsilon (talk) 16:39, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

Also, mixing currencies. All prices should be in Rupees.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 08:02, 27 April 2020 (UTC)

Usually, yes.

But there are exceptions; I remember friends being quite put out when a major chain hotel (Hilton? Hyatt?) in Hainan would accept neither Chinese yuan nor a credit card from a Chinese bank; they wanted US $ on an overseas card. In such cases, giving prices in foreign currency seems OK. So does adding a warning or just removing the listing per Wikivoyage:Avoid negative reviews. Pashley (talk) 09:20, 27 April 2020 (UTC)

Tourist and/or expensive businesses in developing countries often have their prices in hard currency, mostly this means USD. And the sole hotel in the article where the rate is given in USD has closed temporaily because of the COVID pandemic, so there wouldn't be much point in updating that particular rate even if it was possible. --Ypsilon (talk) 11:03, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Rail to the north?

The article currently says "As of early 2013 there are still no services from Jaffna or any other northern cities." Has anyone got more recent information? Pashley (talk) 15:59, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

bump. This definitely needs updating. Pashley (talk) 10:00, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

Done --Ypsilon (talk) 10:54, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Gems

I added some text about buying gems at Colombo#Buy; it needs review.

It might also be worth adding something about where to look for gems or jewellery. I recall a big bazaar area that had lots of both, but that was decades ago & I've no idea where it was. It is not obvious from our current text. Pashley (talk) 13:42, 27 April 2020 (UTC)

I can't find any bazaar specializing in gems in Colombo by googling, just individual shops, so perhaps its gone and they've built highrises on the place the market was. But there is one in Beruwela, 55 km south of Colombo. --Ypsilon (talk) 09:58, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Could it be w:Pettah Market? --Ypsilon (talk) 15:52, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

I was there about 1982 & the place I recall was not specialised, just a general bazaar downtown that included jewellery shops. Also lots of nice fabric stuff, especially batik & silk. Not Beruwela & I think not Pettah, though I think both of those might be added to the article if they are not there already. Pashley (talk) 03:46, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

Formatting

This article switches back and forth between the 12-hour clock and the 24-hour clock. We should use only one formatin an article. Please see wv:tdf. Which format is more commonly used in Sri Lanka? Talk:Sri Lanka recommends the 12-hour clock. Ground Zero (talk) 12:39, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

@Pashley, Arepticous:. I checked out some websites of restaurants in the Eat section and all of them used the 12-hour clock, and as this is recommended in the infobox too, this is probably the one we should use. --Ypsilon (talk) 13:14, 16 January 2021 (UTC)