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Published: March 20th 2015
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I can't believe I'm still awake. On the second leg of our journey from Dubai to Columbo I was so tired I felt sick, but the sunshine and sights since arriving here have put me in a great mood, although now I'm sat in bed in our lovely hotel room I can feel my eyelids start to droop. Better get on with it then! The flights over were fine. On time and no turbulence. I watched The Imitation Game and Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1 and started listening to Bill Bryson's audiobook The Thunderbolt Kit, which I was really enjoying. Owen also watched the Imitation Game, some film about Nick Drake and that new Dumb and Dumber. Both planes were full but we were fine and - most importantly - enjoyed the meals provided. We have organised our honeymoon though Blue Lanka Tour, and so far so good.Our guide Janaka met us at the airport and drove us into town in his lovely air conditioned car. The wall of heat that hit us as we got off the plane at 8.10 this morning was just tremendous. I checked the
forecast and although the actual temperate was 32, it says that it would feel around 38. We'd seen on several forums that Sri Lanka is not as hot this time of year, and if that's the case I dread to think what it's like at other times! It's not the hottest I've experience, but it was still hot enough to make you seek out shade at every opportunity. So the AC in the car was a welcome break. Januka took us to a beachside restaurant for lunch, but unfortunately they didn't do breakfast. It looked like something from a postcard though, so we do hope to return. Instead, we went to a little bakery across the road where we tried a Sri Lankan breakfast dish what is like a very sweet glutinous rice/porridge type dish. A few mouthfuls were nice but then it because too rich so I had the most bizarre cheese sandwich I've ever tried (sweet bread with some kind of spreadable cheese/egg/mayo thing going on) while Owen took a chocolate doughnut. Our brekkie was served with ketchup - not sure if that was to go with the sandwich or the donut!
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(Finished the next day because in the end, tiredness won!)
Columbo is a mainly commercial city but it's really lovely because there aren't that many tall buildings and and many of the small buildings are painted bright colours. As we drove in Janaka pointed out many palm trees and mango trees, although I have yet to be able to try any fresh mango which is the only disappointment so far. I didn't have fresh watermelon and papaya juice, but I remember how sweet the mangos in India were and I have high hopes for the same over here.
As we were a bit too early to check into our hotel, we decided to walk round a park our guide recommended to us. It's called Queen Victoria park and houses the library as well as other municipal buildings. The park itself was lovely. There were lots of paths, fountains (sadly not working or I would have wanted to to jump in!), and lots and lots of young couples canoodling. I was too hot to even hold Owen's hand, but there must have been a history of amorous behaviour in the park because we saw a sign
that said something along the lines of 'Please behalve properly because young children use this park too!"
We saw a lone cow tethered us and little paddock of horses and Owen was in his element listening out for all the bird calls, although it was difficult to see many. There were huge butterflies though, loads of them flitting around. As we walked, this older guy came up to us and asked if we'd seen the flying foxes, and when we said no he showed us a tree with what looked like little bags hanging from it, which turned out to be fruit bats. There were quite a few trees like it, and up close you could see the outline of the actual bat shape. Later on in the day, we actually saw one take flight, which was pretty cool.
At this point, the guy started showing us other things and we realised we were getting an impromptu tour which we'd no doubt have to pay for, but to be fair, the guy was really interesting and knew a lot about everything in the park. Of course, we don't know if it was true, but he said he worked
in the park and on his days off would come in and speak to tourists for some extra money. Regardless, w are grateful he found us, because we would only have experienced the surface enjoyment of the park if it hadn't been for him. He showed us:
A cinnammon tree and let us smell the different between a crushed leaf and the actual bark. I thought they both smelled a lot sweeter than the dried cinnamon sticks we are more familar with.
We also smelled a cardamon tree
He showed us a banyan tree, which I've heard mention of in a lot of folk tales, but have never seen. There were a lot of what looked like clusters of trees that were infact just one tree, where the roots had started growing in all directions. Owen also got to swing on some vines tarzan style.
We saw an acacia tree that had grown up through a banyan tree and the trunks were all tangled.
We learned about ciccadas and the crickets and these little tiny plants that just looked like weeds but when you touched them they closed completely - a bit like venus fly traps.
We headed back to the hotel after about 1 to check in, and in the lift on the way up spotted a sign for the Infinity Pool. Now, our holiday is supposed to be of the budget variety. When Dinesh from Blue Lanka tours came back with our original itinerary, although very reasonable for almost three weeks, was more than we wanted to spend so I asked him if he could make it cheaper if we were to stay in lesser accommodation, which he very kindly did. However, my only guess is that he places a lot of people in this hotel in Columbo so managed to get us a good deal, because there is no way this place is 2 or 3 star. The room has floor to ceiling windows, a huge bed and fantastic shower. There is a rooftop terrace with the pool and a bar, and the breakfast this morning was unbelievable.
Anyway, yesterday afternoon, instead of going to sleep as we were both yearning to, we went up to the pool and actually had it to ourselves for hours. It was cool but not cold, a refreshing relief from the heat of the sun. Lying in the sun, sipping on a fresh fruit juice and doing the occasional length of the pool, overlooking the Indian Ocean felt like a real five star experience.
I think we went to bed about 5 ish, both shattered, and slept well. We've had a delicious cooked breakfast and are now just waiting for our driver to take up to the next place.
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