A short guide about Foreign Tourist Fare
In Sri Lanka, ticket prices vary according to your nationality. SARC citizens (i.e. Afghani, Bangladeshi, Bhutan, Indian, Maldivian, Nepali and Pakistani nationals) pay twice or thrice the fare local tourists pay. However other foreign national pays higher prices that sometimes amount to nearly Rs. 3500 for adults.
The idea behind what some people (including locals) consider as discrimination is to price the fare according to the purchasing power of tourists. Yet, some tickets are so steeply priced that tourists opt to stay away from them.
Tickets for visiting cultural attraction sites should only be purchased from the authorised selling counters if you do not wish to end up buying a used ticket. To avoid resale of your tickets to gullible tourists, do not hand over your used tickets to your guide, driver or anyone else after exiting the sites. Plus, you can keep them as souvenir in your photo album.