Blogs from Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 3

Having opted for the 6:40am train to again fit the most possible into the day again we were up at 5:30. Sassi had found another tuk tuk driver willing to take us to the station. Just a short hop it wasn’t worth getting out of bed for, so it was a job for an early riser. We’d met the guy, he seemed nice but when he said he’d pick us at 6am we weren’t entirely convinced he’d show. We waited until 6:05am then not prepared to miss the train and to have got up that early for nothing, we started walking to the road. A 5 minute walk up the dirt road proved our gut feel right as he still hadn’t passed us. The main road was pretty quiet but it still only took a few ... read more

Today we begin our long journey home, but not until much later; we leave for the airport at 9.30 pm. First a day in hot, dirty, polluted Colombo. We decide to pay for another night at the hotel so we don’t have to check out until evening. After breakfast we plan a walk along Galle Face Green. It’s a British style seaside prom. There’s even a memorial from its opening by Sir Henry Ward in 1859 where it is ‘recommended to his successors in the interest of the ladies and children of Colombo’. Poor Henry would be turning in his grave if he could see it now; it’s a stinking mess of garbage and sewage and makes me long for the pristine beach of Bournemouth. Next we head for the lake, in theory. In practice, the ... read more

“Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta So its been about 6 years since my last blog entry. It’s good to be back! I’ve done my fair share of travelling since then from European countries to the Caribbean to Asia but all much shorter trips to fit in around work and parenthood. I’ve ticked another few countries off my bucket list taking my total number now to 68 (as Easter Island and The Galapagos don't count as separate)! But to date, Sri Lanka has eluded me. Now I find myself in the middle of Sri Lanka as part of the Mumpack Travel Club – a group of mainly Mum’s (although there are a couple of Dad’s in families) who have come together under the organisation of one ballsy ... read more

Day 14: Sunday 17 September - Colombo After breakfast, we began our journey back to Colombo. Our guide, Fernando showed us many, many buildings that were destroyed by the Tsunami and have never been rebuilt. We saw a Japanese-style Buddha which the Japanese built as a memorial. We also saw another memorial on the beach side with its concrete carved mural depicting the tsunami tragedy. This was where 100s of villages crowded in the train thinking that his would be a safe place. Most were washed out to sea and drowned. The whole experience of seeing these memorials was very moving and surrreal, and hard to imagine what it was like. I hope I never find out. After, we continue to Colombo. On arrival, we embark on a city tour of Colombo. We explored the Fort ... read more

Our final breakfast was Sri Lankan of course with the added bonus of listening to Elvis on vinyl. We chatted with our host for sometime before he pointed out that we didn't have much time to see Colombo. He did warn us about scammers who claim there's a Buddhist festival happening and will guide you there in their tuk-tuks to take photos. I'm not sure where they take you in the event that there are no festivals happening but you get charged a whole lot of money to get back.. We weren't let down either because not long after we had wandered around Independence Square and Cinnamon Gardens, our first scammer found us on Galle Main Road, telling all about the amazing festival we could go to. It sounded amazing but unfortunately we said we had ... read more