How do you feel about organised visits to local communities while travelling? Are they a welcome opportunity to learn more about the culture and history of a place? Or are they uncomfortably intrusive and too staged to offer genuine insights? I’m often in two minds about them, but can rarely resist the opportunity to meet local people and discover something of their lifestyle and culture. And when those opportunities are clearly within the control of the people themselves, so much the better.
The Vedda people of Sri Lanka
One afternoon while staying near Gal Oya National Park we went on a visit to the local Vedda people’s cultural village, Rathugala. The Vedda are the indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples of Sri Lanka, with roots tracing back to the Neolithic period (around 10,000 BC). They speak a very different dialect and practice ancestor worship as well as worshipping gods with specific roles such as protecting them in the jungle. Historically, they lived in caves, although we were told that today there are too few caves so they have started to build simple houses. They use bows and arrows for hunting and collect bees’ honey. Their diet includes game, yams, and honey, and they practice herbal medicine. While visiting the cultural centre felt rather artificial at times it was nevertheless interesting to learn more about these people through one man’s lived experiences.
Rathgula
This particular group of Vedda relocated to this area in the 1950s when the Gal Oya artificial lake was created, drowning their ancestral homelands. The government at the time offered to move them to a conventional village but they didn’t want to abandon the jungle and their traditional lifestyle, so they came here instead. Back then there was no road through the area as there is today; it was all jungle. Today they still live deep into the woods but operate this ‘cultural village’ by the roadside to introduce tourists to their customs and way of life.
Our host welcoming us to the village
The life of the Vedda
Our visit took place in and around one of the caves that were the Vedda people’s original homes here. Around this they have constructed replicas of the simple homes they use today and several other buildings. Our host showed us various aspects of their lives, such as trapping animals and making fire.
Outside a community meeting area, and setting an animal trap
We saw a replica of the small houses (really just sheds) where a daughter spends up to a week closeted with an adult female relative when she first starts to menstruate. At the end of that time. When her horoscope indicates it is time for her to leave the room she returns to the family cave or house and the small hut is destroyed (even if she has younger sisters who might make use of it in their turn). She is welcomed back to the family with a big celebration and is now considered a young lady. I was surprised when our Buddhist guide from the lodge told us that many Sri Lankan families still do the same thing, although the girl would be kept in one room of the house rather than a separate building.
The tiny menstruation house on the left and a raised platform for food storage on the right
Music and dance
We had a demonstration of a traditional dance performed for the god of the jungle. What we saw was just one man doing a relatively short dance; apparently it would normally be accompanied by drumming and last all night. Before and after the dance the area was cleansed with turmeric water, and at the end we were all blessed with it.
Our host then played a tune on a traditional flute. I found the music rather lovely and haunting, a wistful reminder of the precarious nature of the Vedda culture.
We were also taken to see a small museum with photos of family members from around 100 years ago, animal bones and traditional weapons. We all had a go at firing a bow and arrow, some more successfully than others. I was pleased to get the arrow away even if I didn’t hit the tree! There was even a library with a few books and animal photos on the wall.
Conclusion
Despite my initial reservations about whether this would be too intrusive, I soon realised that the whole experience was completely in the control of the Vedda themselves. We weren’t invading their space, they were welcoming us to a small part of it set aside for just this purpose. And our host was very engaging and friendly.
So instead of feeling uncomfortable with the experience I enjoyed it. I was pleased to learn about this very different way of life and to support their efforts to maintain it. It’s quite likely that these visits contribute to their efforts to preserve a way of life increasingly under threat. We learned how the next generation aren’t interested in living this way. They want phones, cars and jobs in the city. We may have met a member of the last generation of traditional Vedda people.
I’ve seen some reviewers complain that this is somewhat artificial and not their real village, but they’re very open about that fact and personally I felt happier visiting this centre that the Vedda themselves have established in order to demonstrate their culture, rather than ‘invading’ their homes and personal lives.
I visited Sri Lanka in February 2026
33 Comments
JDoesLife
I guess, as long as the tribe or the local communities approve that is okay.
Sarah Wilkie
I agree – and even more so here, where they don’t just approve it, they run the cultural centre themselves 🙂
equinoxio21
Last sightings of disappearing cultures… I guess visiting the Maasai in East Africa now would be similar.
(I have an old movie shot by friends of ours in the early 70’s at a West Pokot village. Might show it…)
Sarah Wilkie
Oh yes, do! We had a similar experience visiting a Maasai ‘village’ near Ngorongoro way back in the 90s 🙂
equinoxio21
Complete with chants and dance?
Sarah Wilkie
Do you know, I really can’t remember!! I have photos of the encounter (see here: https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/the-maasai-people-of-the-ngorongoro-crater/)and I remember seeing inside a simple home, but little else – it was so long ago!
equinoxio21
Hopping right there. Ngorongoro is magic. My parents and little sister went, taking “advantage” that I was in boarding school! 😉
grandmisadventures
so interesting to get to know these people, their history, and their culture in such a personal way
Sarah Wilkie
It was – thank you Meg 🙂
wetanddustyroads
I enjoy meeting local people on our travels (and seeing how they live), but I’m always careful not to invade their privacy. Maybe your visit was a staged one, but still, you could get a good idea of how the Vedda people live (even more so if this is probably the last generation to live this way).
Sarah Wilkie
I agree – on balance it was better to have this ‘staged’ visit as it meant we didn’t need to worry about invading their privacy yet had a chance to better understand their culture and the threats they face. Thanks Corna 🙂
Alison
Always good to see how other people in the world live. It’s great to read how some things never change. A difficult concept for our Western civilization to comprehend. I certainly couldn’t live like my grandparents lived.
Sarah Wilkie
That’s a very good point Alison 🙂 If we’ve changed our lifestyle etc. so much since our grandparents’ time we really shouldn’t be too critical when young people from any other culture want to do the same. It’s too easy to look at the tough lives of groups like the Vedda and want them preserved as if they were museum objects for us to study rather than thinking about what it is like for the people themselves.
the eternal traveller
I guess the good thing about this is you’re not actually visiting the actual homes, more of a living museum where the people can share their traditions and way of life. Hopefully it adds to their income.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, a living museum is a good way to describe this 🙂 I’m confident they get an income from these visits, and although I didn’t mention it in my post, they also sell a few handicrafts by the roadside here, such as woven baskets and trays.
Diana
Very interesting! I can see how it could feel staged, but on the other hand, I feel like few people would want someone to just walk into their house and observe them. I sure wouldn’t. I’m glad this visit, while perhaps not 100% authentic, gave some true insight into their customs and way of life. I certainly learned a lot just from reading your post.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Diana 🙂 You’re right, it was actually better to have this slightly staged look at their lifestyle and traditions rather than invade their privacy.
Teresa
This is interesting. Though visiting these villages are sometimes becoming touristy, it still shares a glimpse of what their life is in reality. Thanks for sharing Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Teresa 🙂 It was touristy in the sense that the cultural village was developed purely to show tourists their traditions etc., but we were in a small group of just six looking around (us plus two young Dutch couples) so it felt quite friendly and low key.
Monkey's Tale
Like you I’m always leery of these tours, but glad this one worked out well for you. We’ve had a few on both sides of the spectrum. We usually try to stay in guesthouses when we travel so that we can meet more locals, although this is not in caves or huts 😊. We were surprised that some families in India still isolate their daughter during menstruation, and do so every month! One of our hiking guides was the first to tell us and he lives in a fairly big city. His mind was filled with all sorts of crazy ideas on what his sisters were going through and why they had to be isolated to protect the family. It was wild! He wouldn’t even listen to an alternative line of thought.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, we’ve had a couple we weren’t so comfortable with but on the whole we’ve been happy. As you know we usually organise our trips through a tour operator and we’re careful to choose ones we consider responsible and ethical, so we tend to accept their recommendations. Selective Asia are a B Corps company so we trust their judgement. This felt completely in the control of our hosts, the Vedda 🙂
I was amazed when the guide from the lodge who accompanied us told us that the isolation of menstruating girls was fairly common in the country – I didn’t realise that was also the case in India (the subject has somehow never come up!)
Image Earth Travel
Wow, Sarah, what an amazing and educational tour.
I’m also hesitant with these types of tours, but sometimes it’s the only way to visit an isolated or protected village. I still feel like it’s intruding and forced/staged.
This post reminded me of a local tour I did on Siberut Island off Sumatra back in 1998. This was to experience the last Animist tribe, (Mentawai), in Indonesia. I’m sure it would be a regular tour these days and the whole dynamics has changed.
Sarah Wilkie
I certainly learned a lot, and it felt less intrusive than a visit to their actual present-day village would have been. I feel that if the Vedda people themselves took the initiative to develop this sight because they wanted to share their culture in the hopes of preserving it AND to make some much needed money, then it was a good thing to support it. If it had somehow been forced upon them I would feel differently but I don’t believe it was. Travelling with an ethical tour company like Selective Asia I’m inclined to trust that these visits are positive for both sides on the whole, hosts and visitors 🙂
Image Earth Travel
It’s great to learn about these cultures before they’re lost in time, but also hope that it helps these indigenous groups. I think of what’s happening in the Amazon and how land owners there are being forced out because of logging – it’s tragic.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, my hope is that by hosting these visits they are helped to retain something of their traditions. The forests in Sri Lanka have been cleared a lot too, I’m sure, but not on the scale of what’s happening in the Amazon. It seems the biggest threat they face is from within – younger people rejecting this lifestyle, which must be quite tough, to study and then work in the towns and cities.
Yvonne Dumsday
What a great privilege to have had such an experience
Sarah Wilkie
It was – thanks Yvonne 🙂
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
I’m in the uncomfortable camp – I think the only time we did a ‘home visit’ was in Beijing and I felt it was embarrassing all round. But I guess it adds to the family income, and your type of visit definitely seems less intrusive.
Sarah Wilkie
I’ve done those home visits and have sometimes been uncomfortable, though others have worked well – it depends how they’re handled to some extent. But this wasn’t their actual home, it was more like a museum that they run for tourists, so it felt less intrusive for sure 🙂
Sue
Like you, I’m often in two minds about these visits, but they can work
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, I think this one did – thanks Sue 🙂
Anne Sandler
Great post Sarah! I liked your videos, and agree that this is an unobtrusive way to preserve and show their culture. I hope they can maintain it since ours is getting rather messy!
Sarah Wilkie
Many thanks Anne 😊 I hope the Vedda manage to find a balance between their traditions and the modern world rather than lose them altogether