I’m curious… when you think of Sri Lanka what do you think of?
- Cricket (many of my friends will say that)
- Great tourist destination
- Fabulous Food
- Wars in the 90’s (Tamil Tigers were mentioned on the TV news most nights)
- Beaches and Surf
- Elephants
I often have very specific thoughts about a country before I visit it. The are usually (nearly always!) broad generalizations based on either media exposure or from hearing about it from someone who has been there.
When my friend Leanne was talking a year or so ago about her Daughter who was holidaying in Sri Lanka, my ears pricked. The photos she showed me looked amazing and the experiences she described also whet my appetite to find out more.
When Dave promised a holiday gift for my 50th I considered a few options. A ‘significant’ destination with just he and I, or somewhere closer (read cheaper 😉 ) that the whole family could go to.
Family won out when a great special popped up in an travel email to Sri Lanka – and so here we all are: Dave, myself, Victoria, Will and his beautiful girlfriend Emma.
I got to Sydney early yesterday and after a rushed handover to a colleague of some current tasks, we headed to the airport. After the compulsory wander around the airport shops and a food court late-lunch we boarded flight SQ222 to Singapore on an A380. Singapore Airlines has a good reputation for service and I’d have to agree with that. We booked five seats with a ‘gap’ in the middle hoping we’d end up with a spare seat in the middle, which we did. I spend way too much time researching these things – more on that another day!
We landed a little ahead of schedule into Singapore, then hurried across to another terminal (well Dave and Victoria hurried and the rest of us followed behind!) and not long after boarded the 3½ hour flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka. By this stage we were all pretty zonked, but did manage to go another full round of airplane dinner, including the ice-cream at the end 😉 Some of us slept this leg (not me). The airport arrival, immigration, bag pick up and hotel transfer all worked smoothly and we arrived at a hotel just north of Colombo (Negombo) by about 12.30am (6am in Australia).
After the complimentary check-in tropical drink (was it Tang?) we headed to our rooms and were showered and were in bed not long after. The hard bed didn’t worry me and I fell asleep quite quickly under the powerful (think noisy) air-conditioner.
So I awake today a little tired after only 3-4 hours sleep but super excited and keen to see and find out more about this little country that we choose. I hope all of you that read this blog come along and enjoy the journey with us!
Menu from the plane:
Last year’s One Book One Wagga author, Michelle de Kretser, is orginally from Sri Lanka, so I have read a number of books at least partially set there. I am very keen to share your experiences!