Sri Lanka: Act 1 - The Story Unfolds

The best way to enjoy a trip is to begin the trip with less preparation. I mean, less planning but an open mind to take things as they come. However, it is important to be well informed. For example, you can convert local currency to US Dollars, buy an international mobile SIM card, pre-plan all the places you want to visit and even book a vehicle in advance. Or, you can do none of this at all. I would suggest the latter. This way your trip will be much more exciting and might turn out to be an unforgettable one. Beauty of life lies in the suspense hidden in the next second, isn't it?

Chennai to Colombo was just an hour of uneventful journey. But the fact that I was in a different country within just 60 minutes of travel started sinking in as soon as I disembarked the flight and strolled in to the airport. The Visa process was too simple and took just a couple of minutes. Next, I needed local currency. The official at the Thomas Cook Forex counter gave me a surprise look when I asked him if I could exchange some Indian Rupees for Sri Lankan Rupees. "No Indian Rupee sir. Only US Dollar. Or Euro. Or Pound..". It became evident that Indian rupee is of no value outside Indian border. I had to call up my guest house and inform my arrival there but I didn't have a phone. I had gladly switched off my mobile phone the moment I got in to flight at Chennai knowing that this SIM is of no use abroad. Nobody can call me for 5 days. But even I couldn't call anybody. I somehow needed to get a local sim card which I could use till I was there. There was a counter selling local Sim cards but they wouldn't accept credit cards or any currency other than SLR. So, I had to go out of the airport, draw cash from any ATM, come back in to the airport (thanks to the tough-looking-but-not-too-strict airport officials) and buy the sim card.

I, and my 2 friends who traveled with me, started feeling very hungry. But outside airport there was only a tiny restaurant with menu only in Sinhalese. It was a small place, kind of workers' mess. There were vegetarian buns, thankfully, but every inch of the place had the smell of fish. Just outside the hotel there was a pick up point from where the government operates free bus service, to drop people at the nearest bus station. The Bandaranayake International airport is at Katunayake, about 35 km north of Colombo city. Many tourists prefer to stay at a place called Negombo, which is just under 10 km north of the airport, where hotels and guest houses are plenty and are very cheap compared to Colombo. From the nearby bus station we took a local bus to reach Negombo. By the time we neared Negombo it started raining. An awesome welcome to us in to the tiny island nation.

A quick Tuk-Tuk (our Auto rickshaw) ride costing 200 SLR helped us get to our guest house at Lewis place, which is just across the beach. They say, behind every hotel there is a beach in that place :) . The route from airport to Negombo reminded me of Kerala. The place, trees, even the rain, was just like Kerala. But Lewis place was very much like Goa. Many foreigners, hotels serving European cuisines, beach, etc. So, we decided to stroll along the beach, look around Negombo and spend the evening leisurely.

(To be contd..)

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