Having a rest in Sri Lanka, you will definitely bring with you a tan, pleasant memories, great photos and a good mood. But from a vacation on this unique island, you can bring more significant souvenirs – to please yourself, your family and friends.
1.Tea
How pleasant it is to warm yourself with a mug of delicious fragrant tea brought from a sultry green island on an autumn or winter evening! Ceylon tea is the most popular and famous tea in the world; 4 types of tea are grown in Sri Lanka – black tea of four varieties, red, green and white. Although the Sri Lankans themselves drink only black tea with milk, the most elite varieties are white gold and white silver teas. For these varieties of tea, only a few of the topmost, only blossoming and tender leaves are harvested.
Black tea in Sri Lanka is sold everywhere. But you can buy good quality green or white tea in Sri Lanka only in souvenir shops at tea factories.
2. Wooden masks of Sri Lanka
Bring a charm from evil spirits and illnesses as a keepsake of your vacation, attract wealth, happiness and good luck in business into your life. The methods of making such masks have remained unchanged for many centuries, they are made from various species of exotic trees, hand-painted with natural paints made from rainbow wood shavings.
3. Wooden souvenirs
How nice it is to put on the shelf a figurine of an elephant that attracts well-being to the house … Even nicer – if this elephant was brought from a vacation in Sri Lanka – because it will remind you of a vacation on an island where elephants are literally everywhere, and will be carved from ebony or a unique royal ebony with its bright, yellow-black coloration. Souvenirs made of wood can also be a wonderful gift for your friends. We recommend buying wooden products only in specialized stores.
4. Ayurveda =”Sri Lanka – what to bring back from vacation” />
In Sri Lanka they know a lot about Ayurveda. Here you can buy cosmetics and medicines made from natural ingredients according to ancient recipes.
Cinnamon tincture will relieve headaches and toothaches, a shell remedy will help with stomach diseases, red pineapples will help you lose weight, and red oil will cure joint diseases.
Essential and coconut oils with healing and rejuvenating properties, natural creams, shampoos and lotions, hair and massage oils, sandalwood soap, face masks, toothpastes made from ingredients of truly plant origin. It is worth buying a toothpaste with red pepper, which will not only heal the gums, but also add a spark to daily hygiene procedures.
5. Spices
Since ancient times, Sri Lanka has become one of the main exporters of spices. Cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa, curry, cardamom, turmeric, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, chili – this is not a complete list of plants grown in Sri Lanka. It is best to purchase them in stores at the Spice Gardens — after a fascinating excursion into the world of fragrant herbs.
6. Fabrics — silk, batik, sarongs, saris, lace.
Hand-painted on fabric – batik — is one of the national types of crafts in Sri Lanka. Clothes are made from natural fabrics and painted with bright colors. By purchasing such a product as a souvenir, you seem to take a piece of a bright tropical island with you.
Sri Lanka is also famous for its silk fabrics. Here you can visit silk factories, see with your own eyes how these beautiful products are created. In factory shops you can buy shawls, scarves, shirts, blouses, tunics, national clothes of excellent quality.
7. Fruit
What is a tropical island without exotic fruits? Thanks to the climate, Sri Lanka pleases its guests all year round with fresh bananas, pineapples, mangoes, mangosteens, atemoya, jambu, guava, papaya, lychees, carambola, jackfruits, pomegranates and many other unusually delicious fruits of nature. You can’t take them out in hand luggage, but in your suitcase they will calmly fly to their homeland and delight and surprise those whom you decide to treat. The famous durian also grows in Sri Lanka — but its export is prohibited in any form due to its extremely specific smell, so you will have to enjoy this fruit on the spot.
8. Local alcoholic drinks.
In Sri Lanka, you should definitely try 2 local alcoholic drinks: coconut arak and Calypso red rum, which are well-deservedly popular among Sri Lankans and guests of the island.
Arak is made from flowers coconut palm with the addition of local herbs. It is called palm wine or palm vodka. It is added to cocktails or drunk neat with ice.
Rum «Calypso» — made from cane sugar, burnt caramel, and red banana juice, which gives it a bright rich color. This alcoholic drink is considered very beneficial for health. It is drunk with carbonated drinks, lemon juice, and added to coffee.
9. Gems.
Sri Lanka is often compared to the gem of the Indian Ocean, and it's not just about the climate, beaches, Sri Lankan hospitality, and gentle blue sea. About half of all precious and semi-precious stones known to geologists are found on this island. Most of all, the island is famous for its rubies, topazes and sapphires. One type of sapphire is the unique star sapphire — mined in only two places on the planet, one of which is Sri Lanka. If sapphires are not to your taste, you can buy cat's eye, alexandrite, moonstone and aquamarine on the island.