Colombo, Sri Lanka

We arrived into Colombo
around 7 in the morning and took a taxi to our guest house in the beach town of mount Lavinia. It is the rainy season on this side of the island and the waves were several meters high crashing on the shore. The guest house was basic but comfortable. After being awake nearly two days we could have slept on snakes, so we slept until the afternoon . When we woke we went out into the town around Mount Lavinia and stopped at on of the first food stalls for some local eats. Since i don’t eat meat in asia we ordered vegetarian dishes but they don’t consider chicken meat so we had a misunderstanding there but we got it sorted out with new plates of food. Anything vegetable wrapped in bread and fried is amazing here and usually comes with some sort of dipping sauce which mu SO is always happy about. The whole meal with two bottled waters and a Kik cola cost about three dollars.

The beach looked to be nice in the dry season but now looked sad and soaked with dangerous looking waves that were several meters high. We head back over open train tracks and go to the city of Colombo to see about train tickets into Kandy. We take the public bus which cost about thirty cents for thirty minutes for the both of us. The bus was from an era before air conditioning had a conductor collecting money and distributing change, even though his English was poor there were lots of people more than happy to practice their english and help us. When we get to the Colombo Fort Train Station the place is a beehive of activity with buses and stands selling things. The ticket office is still open even though it is past seven at this point and we get first class a/c for the three hour ride for about eight dollars for the both of us. Happy, with tickets booked we go have a look at the bazaar around the station. I buy a coconut to drink and about ten seconds later the bottom falls out of the sky and everyone runs for cover. The shop next to where I just bought the coconut invites us up under the roof to keep dry. Everyone we have met in Sri Lanka at this point is this kind and inviting. We were under his roof there for maybe twenty minutes having pictures made with him and joking around and never once were we asked to buy any of his watches or clocks. He was a nice guy. When the rain lightened up we headed back to the guesthouse again by the public bus. It cost even less on the way back but it took a shorter route so we figured it was legit. At twenty cents who could argue. With the rain pouring we stay in and use the wifi.

Still jet lagged, we sleep in and decide to just head into Colombo city and take a tuk tuk around the city for a few hours. Everyone says leave Colombo quickly and goe to other parts of the island and although I would not disagree I also thought that one day in the city was nice if you can take a tuk tuk around and see all the temples and shrines. There are four religions here; Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. You see churches as well as temples and mosque all over the city. All of them are decorated to stick out, the hindu temples with brightly colored statues stacked high, the buddhist temples have large white domes with a point on top, the mosques are brightly colored with a checkered pattern and the churches have big crosses.

We arrange with a tuk tuk driver to take us around the city for three hours at about seven dollars an hour. He took us to all of the colonial landmarks around the city like the lighthouse, a popular old hotel with a view that we enjoyed and many old government buildings. The temples and shrines were interesting but if you have seen a hundred buddha statues then you have seen them all. There was a buddhist temple with an elephant tied up out front that was our favorite, not because of the elephant since that was quite sad but because of how elaborate the temple was with decorations and artifacts. All in all the day around Colombo was really nice. We finished off the day at the Galle Face Hotel beach bar with a splurge on deviled cashews snack and fish and chips with a Lion Lager for me and a Sri Lankan sunrise cocktail for her. It was a beautiful view and must be the best place in Colombo to watch the sunset while having a drink.

Up early the next day, we luck up and actually catch a bus that has a/c. This seems like a real luxury but still only cost around a dollar. When we get to the railway station it is chaos again, we make our way to the right platform. There are lots of touts and we get help from one that speaks very good english . He is nice and professional and without giving him to much trust we listen to him explain the different tours he can arrange. We had been considering getting a driver to drive us round for a few days when we are in the mountain areas of central Sri Lanka. Both my SO and I are very skeptical of everyone but we figure it can’t hurt to listen. He goes over the different options he can provide and we listen and tell him what sort of the limits we have on cost and time. He comes up with a price on a four day tour with a private car with a driver and arranged accommodation, including breakfast, and park entrance to One of the ancient city sites. The first price he pitches is almost double our daily budget but with some haggling we get it down to our daily budget of a hundred dollars a day for the both of us. We agree on the price and that he will pick us up at our guesthouse in Kandy at 8 am in two days. It all seems a bit up in the air but with a hand shake and some scribbles on a paper, it seems like a pretty fair deal. We don’t pay anything there, not even a deposit we just say we will take care of that if and when he meets us. Spoiler alert: He shows!