Tag Archives: lanka

Negombo – Anuhradhapura

Sorry guys for delay but no internet conncetion availabe during last days.
Last night we went out for dinner, restaurant is recommended by our travelbook. And it was great. Fishermans platter for 2 persons, salad and for sure our new favourite drink “Lion Lager” beer. A lot of food and we paid 20 bucks but it was more than ok, service was excellent and the dishes taste great. Next morning early check-out before 7 a.m. We got a breakfast box each of us, cheese-sandwich, hard-boiled eggs and fruits. And as you may know, life is a challenge we took the morning train from Negombo to Colombo…. yeah. Rush hour, from Negombo go to work in Colombo by… make an educated guess… right, by train. We stood among the people, no space to fall. One hour skin-to-skin contact…. I couldn’t get my camera to take a picture because I was unable to move my arms. After that the central railway station Colombo. You still have in mind that this is the capital…. We went out for smoking but a friendly guy told us smoking is not allowed we have to go inside to the (so-called) cafeteria where upstairs smoking is allowed. But we can breathe there so we returned outside. Than we asked the counter officer for tickets to Anuhradhapura, price was 290 Rupies each and the next train leaves 40 mins ahead. Ok. Only 2nd class tickets available and as we entered the train… it was like going back in ages….. 3rd class in Thailand looks better. So we opend the window, occupied 4 seats for us and our lagguage and were looking forward to a 6 hours ride. But after a while it seems we missed the express train. The train we were in was a slow train with a stopover at each small station….. and there’re a lot of between Colombo and Anuhradhapura. Finally the ride takes 8.5 hours. Plus 1 hour from Negombo to Colombo. A trip worse than hell. A driver dropped us off at the Shanili Hotel ( I gave them a call in advance for a room) but 3.500 rupies for a small room was too much. So we went on the drivers advise (sure he got a commission..) to another guest house. Room was small too but only 2.000 rupies. Excluding breakfast. The highlight was a woman from Ottawa we met. She works as a urban planner and is travelling since last October by herself to Asia and Southeastasia. Great. We had dinner together and a nice chat. I’ll keep you informed how the story continous……

Sri Lanka – first contact

After a smooth flight we arrived in Colombo. Abd our lagguage as well. Don’t know why Qatarairlines won the award and is named a 5-*-winning airline. From our point of view not better than Emirates or Ethiad. We charted a very old toyota cab and it takes a 20 min ride to the hotel. 8 a.m. but we got a nice room 1st floor with private balkony and fan. Pretty much enough. Because we run on a jetlag we decided to hire a so-called 3-wheeler (like a tuk-tuk) and went to Negombo downtown. Crowded and loud. Driver guided us through the “main area” and best we found were Samusas (which is a srilankan name for Samosas..) spicy food, like it. Cigarettes are a big deal here. Supermarkets sell only Dunhill for 380 rupies a box. Damned expensive. So we drove to a small store, owned by sister of our driver. She told us she have other labels like BH and Marlboro, but it’s a little bit of illegal to sell coz such cigarettes from duty free. Price was btw the same. Back at hotel we took a rest and went to bed for few hours. Later I got a massage, relaxing style like they provide it here as a typical Auryvedah massage. Cost totally 20 $. Well, not so cheap as we know it from Thailand. Went out for dinner wiht some surprises. Close to the coast we want to go for seafood, sure. First restaurant too far. Hotel next door offered seafood as well but nobody was in and so made our decision to leave urgently. The small restaurant opposite to our hotel was more friednly but they won’t accept US $. We forgot to exchange money at airport so we havn’t any Rupies. Actually we had dinner at our hotel coz we can charge the dinner to our room. Food was nice until I signed the bill…. 23 $ for 2 starters, 2 large beer and 2 currries. Jesus christ what a surprise. But it’s a hotel mainly for tourists and not a backpackers hostel….

Last hours. Online check-in done with some trouble but at least worked. We´ll start tomorrow from Munich to Doha first and after a short stopover we´ll reach Colombo on Sunday morning…. keep u informed :)