Blogs from Sri Lanka, Asia - page 13

R: Polonnaruwa was a 90 minutes drive from Kandalama. We started the day with another Sri Lankan breakfast - hoppers, dhal, curries and bread. Mmmm. Then we hit the road. Polonnaruwa is an ancient city that was used by one of the kings of Sri Lanka as a capital when Annurhadpura became indefensible against the South Indian attacks. When this happened, they also had to move the sacred tooth relic which a new temple being built to house the tooth of Buddha that has been revered in the country for centuries. First stop - the visitors centre. Now we have learned that Ranjan doesn't like museums - perhaps because he wants to tell us all of the information himself. Perhaps he is worried that what they will say will be different to his version, or maybe ... read more

R: We started this trip in a way we were not accustomed to - a sign board in the airport with our name on. For the next 8 days we are being chauffeured around Sri Lanka by our trusty guide, Ranjan. We had had an overnight flight from London with Srilankan Airlines - a perfect opportunity to start the day with a spicy breakfast, and this was a sign of things to come. After accidentally misunderstanding the use of a decimal point in the currency, and subsequently ordering £1 in cash from the cash machine, we left the airport (*another transaction was also made after holding up the line for about 10 minutes). It was a 4 hour ride up to Kandalama Lake, our first stop. The drive was eye opening - and made me consider ... 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

Today was a working day, so not too much to report. More curry for breakfast, it was so good I was nearly moaning out loud! The mutton curry was a bit tough but hey, I’m not complaining. And I was sitting in a MUCH better position to put my illegal lunch in my handbag. Result! A taxi had been booked for my colleague and I and arrived more or less on time. Apparently the traffic wasn’t too bad, it took about 20mins to go the 5km to the centre. The cost was 460rupees, more or less. A kind of receipt was produced on a random bit of paper the driver found on the floor of his cab. Good enough! At the end of the day I was finished first, so decided not to wait. The taxi ... read more