Blogs from Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka, Asia

After about 420 kms of riding our last full day was a 150 km drive to Colombo initially along a new toll road to the outskirts of Colombo where traffic slowed to a crawl. Brief stops made at Independence Square & Parliament as well a brief orientation drive around the old town before lunch & browsing at the Barefoot Fairtrade store, a showcase of handicrafts from around the country. After lunch we took a walk through the bustling Pettah Bazaar. Colombo is now a big modern city set on a huge natural harbour where office blocks stand shoulder to sholder with Colonial-era buildings reflecting the different eras of the Portuguese, Dutch & British empires. China is now the new empire, building huge new towers plus a massive sand reclamation of prime land around the port so ... read more

After researching the many ways to see the sights of Colombo, from the budget version of the negotiated tuktuk to the super expensive jeep, we all decided to do the City Sightseeing tour, in the red open top bus. It seemed quite pricey for where we are, 30USD, but it picked us up from right in front of the hotel and dropped us back here 4 hours later. We had to go to breakfast at 7am and it wasn’t even a school day. It arrived at 7.45 and drove up to the Galle Face Hotel where we had to wait 20 minutes for some Aussies who’d been given the wrong pick up time. 2 more got on at the next hotel and that was it, 7 of us. We first went round the Fort area and ... read more

So every day has been off to work by taxi and back by tuktuk, or today, as I finished early, it was time to give the local bus a go. My colleagues were finishing ,after and prefer the far more relaxing option of a taxi home too. I am determined to try every transport option going. The taxi this morning took a detour over to the beach road, as it was rammed on the one way system. The train line runs between the road and the sea, and a commuter train came by, literally with people hanging out of the doorways. It was amazing to see. The sea has been very rough the whole time I’ve been here so far and now is the start of the rainy season. I’ve been practising the head wobbling (ear ... read more

Today my colleague and I decided to go to the much mentioned and recommended Barefoot Cafe, which has 3 locations, the one at 704 Galle Road being the one with the Sunday lunchtime jazz. You really need to book, all the tables under cover we’re reserved and we ended up outside huddled in the sort of shade of a tree, way out of reach of the fans. It was very hot. To get there we trotted through the Crescat Mall to the front where the tuktuks pull up, but the first ones weren’t metered. We decided to give the Pick Me app a whirl, said where we were and it came up with the driver’s name and reg number. He was a bit of a way away. We walked to the road and it looked like ... read more

Despite not particularly enjoying staying somewhere so formal/expensive, there are advantages, like coming back after a day’s work and finding fresh fruit in the room. A glass of wine would be better, but that’s never going to happen. And the breakfast is such a joy, although the Chinese stuff is a bit odd. There are up to 4 weddings a day in the central area, non-stop matrimonials here. Last night my working buddy and I thought we’d give the Noodles restaurant in the hotel a go. The prices didn’t look too bad for food, with the option of a starter sized portion of a lot of things. Being very partial to a bowl of Vietnamese pho I thought it would be right up my streeet. It wasn’t. The noodles were instant and tasted like a pot ... read more