Sri Lanka day 14: From Colombo to Istanbul, a summary and staying on board in the Maldives

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With an evening flight we had one day to see Colombo. Our host made us breakfast and waxed lyrical about his vinyl collection and his 1960 mini and Morris Minor and we were serenaded by Elvis playing on an antique record player while we ate. He also guided us on where to go today and called us a tuk tuk that wouldn't rip us off.
Just 180lkr later we were in Independence Square and wee had a wander round there and the surrounding gardens and memorial which were all very nice. Once you get on the streets though about a million tuk tuks will offer you their services and try and rip you off. We had been warned that we would be offered the chance to go to a Buddhist festival that was only happening today and sure enough a few drivers did. I'm not sure exactly what the scam is but no doubt the festival either doesn't exist or is just a service that happens every day. Whatever, no doubt it would have cost us a lot of money.
Many tuk tuk drivers offered us tours and many more just wanted our business. And I mean many. I know they need to make money and they can charge us more than the locals but it gets very wearing when you have to say no thank you every minute or so. Sometimes foreigners just want to walk guys!
We decided to walk up to the next area which obviously annoyed half of Sri Lanka but we carried on anyway. A stop was made to have some excellent ice cream and then we walked along the sea front wherere tuk tuk drivers couldn't get to us. This looks like it would be a really cool place to hang out at night but not much was gong on when we walked along. It was a pleasant stroll though with a welcome cool breeze. People were flying and selling kites and for the first time here we saw couples acting like they were couples. We had been warned that showing affection in public is frowned upon here but it looks like Colombo is more open than the rest of the country. We also some guy with cobras in baskets that no doubt we could have paid to photograph but the gits also had monkeys on leads so there's no way they'd ever get money out of me.
We also saw a number of pelicans that were perched atop street lights and flying occasionally to some water near the sea front. I can't remember ever seeing pelicans in a city before so hopefully I got some photos in focus. (Just read Claire's blog and she reckons they were storks.....)
The waterfront is being transmogrified into a rich man's paradise here with enormous hotels and fancy retail outlets being built on reclaimed land and behind. I'm not sure this will be good for the locals as it may price property in Colombo out of the market for them. And do you really want a load of snobby, uppity posh people hanging around? It's not like they're going to wander down to the local curry and rice establishment and spend their dollars there now is it? There may be jobs for locals in the hotels and shops but I think that will be about it.
We then headed for the Pettah which is a frantic shopping area. I had visions of it being like a medina but it was streets and streets of shops and stalls often divided into areas such as textiles and jewellery. I had read that one area specialised in plastic flowers but we couldn't find this area as I'm sure it would be packed with people coming from all over the world just to buy plastic flowers. I'm gutted we missed it as this would have sorted all future presents for everyone I know forever. Ah well.
It was chaotic but not in the slightest bit touristy with nowhere to buy souvenirs or gifts. We wandered down one alley and we must have been the first Westerners ever to do so as we got some funny looks and then the cafe at the end was mysteriously closed when we got there. We left quite quickly.
We found an amazing looking Hindu temple and were then getting desperate to find somewhere to buy gifts and had to resort to Google maps. The place we found was expensive and didn't have half the things we were looking for but we were out of time and choices. The guy then had to handwrite everything we bought while he sat with a fan on him and we stood there sweating.
Eventually we were able to leave and decided that we should have something to eat. I found a cafe for a drink first and impressed the waiter by drinking three ginger beers. Claire had a water and the bill came to less than £1. The waiter shook my hand when I left.
We struggled to find anywhere serving roti or kottu as they apparently don't serve it until dinnertime here. We gave up eventually and I had a big plate of veg curry and rice for 70p while Claire tucked into 3 egg rolls.
We walked past the World Trade Centre towers and back down to the front so tuk tuk drivers could hassle us....or to look for a temple that looked interesting. So much construction work was going on though that we think it was hidden so we gave up and had more ice cream. Another walk along the now livening up seafront and we were ready to argue with tuk tuk drivers again.
We'd been told it should cost 500lkr to get back to our accommodation and, after some arguing and walking away, that's the price we were given and that's the price we paid plus a tip because the guy seemed nice.
After showering and taking tea and biscuits with our vinyl mad host it was time to leave. And not just because our host had just had an Eric Clapton LP delivered that day although that's as good a reason to leave as any.
We took a taxi to the airport and got caught in some horrendous traffic where we didn't move for about 15 minutes at one point. In the melee a motorbike rider knocked our taxi's mirror, straightened it up and drove off.
We eventually made it to the airport where we discovered something that needs to change if Sri Lanka wants to attract the rich. To get into the airport we had to show a print out of our flight details. Luckily I had printed it out but nowadays you just turn up with your passports if you haven't checked in online (or can't because the Turkish airlines website is crap and doesn't work). What if I hadn't printed it out?
You then put all your baggage through scanners and get searched. After that you show your flight details to another guy and then put all your baggage through scanners and get searched. You may now check in. You then go through emigration and are then confronted by another opportunity to get searched, yes a third time. So you queue up and then they tell you you're too early and you should come back later, as happened to many people. It doesn't say anywhere that these are the gates, they let you queue up first and then tell you to come back later. Almost as disorganised as Kos airport and nowhere near what rich posh nobs will want if they are to come here.
We waited and were finally allowed through and boarded our plane after an amazing holiday.
Sei Lanka has to be one of my favourite holidays and countries. It looks amazing, there are some incredible things to see and do and, apart from tuk tuk drivers in Colombo, the people have been fantastic. It's hard to belive that the civil war here ended just 8 years ago as they have built things back up quickly and admirably with the future looking bright for them.
While mobile phones are everywhere people still work the land and grow things with only slight nods of acquiescence to tourists. Kind of the opposite of Kos. History is everywhere, wildllife is abundant, I've always felt safe here, culture is dominant everywhere except Ella and I've really enjoyed the food too.
On an even more plus side I haven't been ill while I've been away. Anyone who knows me knows this is usually what happens-I lost a stone in weight in two weeks in India, I was so ill and in Turkey Claire had to get a doctor to see me. The list goes on...
The one thing I was worried about coming to Sri Lanka about was getting ill. Not sure why I didn't...was it the probiotics I tried this time? Was it the amount of water I made myself drink? Was it because I ate vegetarian food for two weeks? Or maybe it was because everything was okay to eat? Or maybe the virus is sitting there waiting until I get home....
Would I come back? Yes, there are places we haven't been to yet and would like to. But there are a lot more countries I haven't been to yet.....
A few years ago I missed a connecting flight at Istanbul airport because the transit section was so congested you just couldn't get through in time. The chaos is still there and we had to queue for a long, long time to get through while people pushed in and no-one controlled anything. How have they not learnt?
I understand the need for extra security these days but we were searched twice as transit passengers. Actually Claire was only searched once as the second search was at the gate and involved me getting things out of my bag, taking my ipad out of its case, me being searched and my things and me being swabbed. Only certain people went through this, unusually for Claire she escaped it. Does anyone know what the swabs do??
We have flown with Turkish airlines and they haven't been too bad, well who can be when compared to Qatar Airways? I tried to manage our booking and check in online back in England but the website was crap and wouldn't let me. This meant I couldn't book vegetarian meals for Claire. This was fine until one meal today when they only only a meat dish. One guy said he would see if he could find anything for her but never came back and so she had nothing at all.
Then the hot drinks serving stopped before us, packed up and we got nothing. And on the last flight we were given a meal but no drink. I had to shout them back because I was really thirsty. Nearly there Turkish Airlines but a little work needed.

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Comments

[RENanDREW]

Sri Lanka
I enjoyed reading this summary of your Sri Lankan adventures, and completely agree with your assessment of tuk tuk drivers in Colombo and the chaotic airport. Are you continuing your holiday in Turkey? The swab tests are usually used to check explosives residue; we have them at all our domestic airports and even though they are supposed to be random checks, I 'randomly' get picked 100% of the time :)

[Wadey1966]

Turkey?
Glad you enjoyed them and thanks for reading them. Thanks for your info on the swab tests as well. I guess they have to be very careful these days. We are not continuing in Turkey....I got very ill there so it may be a while before I'm brave enough to go back! We have short trips to Venive and Tromso planned with next year's big holiday probably being Laos and Vietnam.