1. Sri Lanka - finding our feet in Colombo

 

Our 1,000 mile route around Sri Lanka

And so we begin our next adventure in Sri Lanka.

After a few days in Colombo just to settle in, the plan is to head up the west coast briefly and from there we'll make a short foray into the mountains. After that we'll head south to embark on an anti clockwise tour of the coast - all the way back to Colombo. 

Unlike our previous experiences, getting the bike through customs at Heathrow was very straightforward. This was good news although Max did comment that, had he known they weren't going to unpack it like they usually do, he'd have done a more thorough job of packing it (he'd decided not to bother this time as usually, once they've unpacked it, they won't let him near it again). You honestly can't win sometimes can you!

Waiting in the lounge at Heathrow

Unfortunately we weren't so lucky with our flight though as we ended up being delayed at Heathrow for over three hours and then missed our connecting flight at Doha. We were greeted as soon as we stepped off the plane and given a new flight (a five hour wait) and some food vouchers which we soon discovered didn't amount to much and could only be exchanged in the "economy" food court. Still, we'd been well fed on the flight from Heathrow and by this time all we wanted was sleep so we found some reclining chairs in one of the lounges and settled for a brief nap.

The next flight was on time and we eventually arrived at Colombo airport around 5pm local time (midday UK time and over 24hrs after first setting off). The bike appeared at the excess luggage station pretty quickly which pleased Max and, although we were initially stopped by security when they saw the huge bike boxes, once we explained what was in them they kindly waved us straight through 😅🎉.

Reunited at Colombo airport 🥰

Max had arranged an airport transfer via our hosts at Urban Bliss in Colombo and we just needed to get to a cashpoint and sort out our sim cards before being spotted 😉. We sorted both very quickly - and only paid £7 each for a SIM card with 20GB of data. Our first bargain bagged and while queuing our driver had found us, helped us choose the best phone company and we were on our way 👍.

We arrived at Urban Bliss and were warmly greeted by Suzette and her gorgeous little dog called Pebbles 🤩. She brought us tea and cake and we sat on the patio outside chatting to her for a little while. Instinctively I knew we'd fallen on our feet and found a lovely place to stay - a beautiful home situated in a quiet leafy lane in the suburbs of Colombo - and when she showed us up to our room we were both absolutely thrilled!

We quickly unpacked - well we travel light so that's done in a jiffy - and headed back out again just to explore a little and get our bearings. Although we were both tired we were trying to hold out a little as it was only about 8pm and we were hoping to avoid jetlag by not going to bed too early and then waking in the middle of the night 🫣. We found a nice little food court about ten minutes walk away and after a small snack and a cold drink wandered back to our room and were soon tucked up in bed and fast asleep 😴.

Breakfast at Urban Bliss was a lovely affair - we were fussed over by Suzette's two helpers and plied with so much food we needed a side table to act as overflow 😜. Max dives straight into the Sri Lankan style breakfasts - he can eat curry anytime of day anywhere - so he was very happy with everything on offer. Chatting to Suzette each morning was really interesting too. We learned that she was an Architect and had designed the entire complex. She told us how the area had first developed back in the 1960s when the government had built an exhibition centre and then drained some of the swampland nearby to build housing which civil servants were then given priority to buy. We talked about the current Sri Lankan Prime Minister - a woman who Suzette spoke very highly of - elected on an overwhelming majority because of her fresh approach/agenda. Apparently great things have already been achieved and she has somehow managed to unite the country behind her on a strong anti corruption theme coupled with high taxes to enable them to pay back the IMF (who bailed the Sri Lankan economy - possibly post pandemic 🤔).  

Over the next few days we pottered around and explored the surrounding area. We took a tuk tuk to the famous Pettah market in Colombo which we almost regretted; it was so chaotic - tuk tuks and buses everywhere, and the intense heat which we hadn't yet acclimatised to. Still, it was an experience and certainly got us initiated!

There's a new tower in Colombo - well it's been built since we last visited in 2015 -  called the Lotus Tower.  It's the tallest self supported tower in South Asia and the design, which is inspired by the distinctive lotus flower, means that when lit up at night it looks really beautiful and can be seen from pretty much anywhere in the city. It reminded us of the iconic BT Tower in London which, coincidentally we'd visited thanks to Kerry just before Christmas 🤩. We quickly learned that (just like the BT tower) there's a revolving restaurant at the top and Max sniffed out a really good deal for their unlimited buffet - which was an offer we simply couldn't resist! So we donned our best togs and hot footed it over there by tuk tuk one evening. It didn't disappoint and we were suitably impressed - so many different cuisines but our favourite was definitely the curry section 😋. All in all it was a top night out and marked our 23rd anniversary too 🤩.

Max was keen to see how well the bike had weathered the journey and so we went for a ride on the so called "green route" around Colombo. The bike seemed fine but unfortunately the ride didn't quite go according to plan. I was busy grappling with my new garmin watch and, unbeknown to me, Max had found a route which started from the centre of Colombo which meant we were navigating to the start point without any proper directions! After taking a wrong turn Max tried to get us back on track again but this involved doubling back - which I twigged when we approached a roundabout manned by the same two policeman we'd seen only 15 minutes earlier. As we shot past I wondered if they'd experienced the same feeling of deja vu that I'd just felt! Then, at about 15 miles into the ride, which should have been the halfway point, I  spotted a cafe that looked strangely familiar 🤔. It turned out we'd arrived back home having only completed have of the planned route 🫣. Still, the bike had proved itself and we'd survived our initiation into the traffic and smog so you could say mission accomplished 😉.

Our time in Colombo passed very easily and staying at Urban Bliss Studio was the perfect way to acclimatise and ease our way into Sri Lankan life before hitting the road. We'll be spending our last few days there too and Suzette has kindly agreed to store the bike box and a few other things (including Max's puffer jacket which he forgot to leave in the car at Heathrow!) for us until we return 🥰.

Just before leaving Colombo we heard from Quatar Airlines regarding our delayed flight and they've agreed to give us £520 compensation each 🎉. I'd say that more than makes up for the  inconvenience and I'm already thinking about what we can spend it on to upgrade our holiday experience 😉😂.

Outside the Lotus Tower 

The revolving restaurant -  a feast awaits

Max tucking into tasty curry 😋

Pebbles at Urban Bliss 🥰

The patio at Urban Bliss 

Our beautiful room at Urban Bliss 🤩

The first of many fruit and veg stalls 😂

Independence Square, Colombo 

He was very curious and excited to see us (the photo doesn't capture it though!)