10/4/22
So as night buses always do, I arrived in Colombo horribly early! I was dropped off at the side of a road and got an uber to my hostel. The uber wanted to check I could get in but I waved him away as I didn’t want to waste his time. I rang the hostel owner, but it rang out. The main gate seemed to be locked and I banged a long while (maybe twenty minutes) before noticing that there was a small door in the big gate. I looked around the door and found a latch at the very top. I flicked it open and got into the garden. The main house was still locked but there was an outside toilet which I used and I slept in a covered lounger.
A British volunteer, Mandy, found me in the morning and let me in, made me a cup of tea and even checked me in and showed me to a bed even though I hadn’t booked until the evening. It was absolutely hammering down so I had a short nap before showering and heading out for brunch. I headed to a nearby coffee shop which looked great on Google! I walked briskly with my hood up but was still pretty drenched by the time I arrived!! I chilled there awhile before catching a local bus into the city centre to see the local market and the Red Mosque.
The city was bustling, the market was tiring as it was already the afternoon and the mosque was very beautiful, but frustratingly wouldn’t let tourists in even though it said online that it was a tourist attraction and could be visited. After wandering past some shops overlooking a lake, I walked back to the bus stop to get the bus back. Unfortunately for me, the bus route was not the same there and back so I went way further than where I needed to be. By the time I realised, I was already pretty far off, so I tried to get a taxi back. The first taxi said no, the second said yes but then said he had no petrol, but wanted money even though he hadn’t taken me anywhere, and finally, the third agreed a price with me and raised it not once, but twice, at which point I got out of the taxi! I was very frustrated at this point and refused all of the taxi drivers shouting at me from the road. One young guy stopped his tuktuk to ask if I was okay and if I wanted a lift. I accepted and thanked him, but told him not to go out of his way. Maybe ten minutes later, he stopped to let me get out before he turned off the main road and continued on his way. My faith in humanity was restored a little! I walked the rest of the way to another cafe for a coffee on the same street that I started on.
Strangely enough, Nishan was also in Colombo for a family event so met with me briefly for a coffee before we went our separate ways again. Afterwards, I headed out for a final Sri Lankan meal. I went to somewhere super local and it was highly delicious – possibly the best food I’ve had in all of Sri Lanka!! I had hoppers (a kind of flattened rice case), which you fill with daal and other curries and spices. It was glorious and cost less than fifty pence! I tried to leave a big tip and they gave me all the extra money back! They were having none of it! Afterwards, I headed back to the hostel and packed. I chatted to one of the guys in my room who was just starting his trip before going to sleep.
11/4/22
I got up at 03.00 to get an uber to the airport for my morning flight to Nepal. I was pretty excited as it was my first direct flight in awhile, and it was under four hours! For a nice change, I had everything I needed for airport security and went straight through.
wanderingwelshie travels 