Colombo, Colombo, Colombo… What can I say? A city anywhere in the world is almost the same and Colombo is no different other than it’s developing. So here is Colombo, as I see it:

Colombo doesn’t have much of a skyline as it’s still in its development stage. You’ll see some high-rise hotels (less than 20 floors, mostly) and the rest of the city is relative flat. It’s quite easy to get around Colombo in a tuk tuk but be warned that the traffic can be a nightmare and peak hours. Another thing that was strange is the between the hours of 2pm and 5pm, 90% of the city restaurants and café’s won’t serve you any alcohol. Something about school being over at 2pm and since it’s after school times, no alcohol will be served.

Colombo as a city, there isn’t much to do other than SHOPPING! Seriously, clothes and house hold wares are cheap. Really cheap! Almost all the big brands out there, are made in Sri Lanka; and you can purchase them here for super cheap prices because there might be a tiny mistake from the original ‘plan’ hence it goes on sale in the local stores. I found Desigual skirts going for Rs. 2700. 

“The train to Colombo Fort will arrive on platform 3 in 10 minutes”

I could just about hear that announcement over the PA system at the Kandy train station. On one side, maintenance work was being carried out and on the other, chatter from the crowd waiting for the train.

This morning, the station was full. With 2 of its platform under maintenance, the platform was packed out with tourist and locals alike.

For once, the train is on time! Just to be sure, I showed the stationmaster my ticket and he got me onto the right carriage, found my seat and settled in.

“This-a-train-a to Caalombo?”

    “No, it is just coming to Colombo and going to Dabulla”

Wait. Did I just hear that right? Did that lady just tell that Japanese tourist that this train is not going to Colombo?!

Kandy train station it was, with a take away breakfast in-tow. This station is organized and fairly sized compared to the few I’ve seen so far. The counters were spilt into two sections, reserved and unreserved seats. Now unreserved is usually cheaper but also unpredictable on long journeys as most trains are stopping over in Kandy to pick people up, hence the seats are normally taken. So if you were heading on a long journey like me, you would want to pay the extra for a reserved seat.

Plus trains tend to stall a lot and delay so a reserved seat is recommended. They cost about Rs.200 – Rs.250 more but it’s worth it especially if you are heading up to tea country during raining the weather! The train tends to go slower and delay a lot due to the weather.

“Hello. Where are you going?”

    “To Nuwara Eliya.”

“This is my granddaughter. I’m here to send them (daughter & granddaughter) off on the same train you are in to Haputale. I used to work in Nuwara Eliya as a tourist guide. It’s a nice place”

Mr Ravi and his granddaughter walked past me a few times before he started a conversation with me. He briefly told me about Nuwara Eliya and wished me a good journey and told me to stay safe as I was traveling on my own. 30 minutes later, the dreary weather seem lift a little and so did my spirit as the sunrays flooded the train station. 

A crazy night at a haunted house, I decided to treat myself to a wonderful room in the classic Royal Bar & Hotel. For USD 80 a night, I had a beautiful four-pollster bed, running hot water and most importantly, a place filled with people! I just needed to be around people after having no one around accept an invisible plus one that kept moving things around in the room to freak me out.

I got to Kandy pretty late, it was almost 10pm when I arrived at Castle Hill. Since I hopped into a car Kalum had arranged (it cost about Rs.7000), he too accompanied me on the trip down as ‘security’.

The drive up to the house was a little dark as the driveway was adorned by lush growth and it was dimly lit. As soon as I got into the house, the staff apologised for the electricity being out in the common room of the house, before getting me to sign the logbook and proceeded on to show me my room.

The electricity in my room was working fine but it was a huge room.  It could sleep 4 and had it’s own little dining table inside the room apart from a patio area outside. Huge! But it did feel a little eerie. Anyways, I was excited about the view I would get in the morning as this place is set on a hill over looking the city of Kandy. And the view tonight was beautiful, despite the downpour earlier; it was still a beautiful view.

After bidding goodbye to Kalum, I proceeded to get ready for bed. Now Kandy is pretty much hill country area so it’s a bit chilly compared to Colombo or the Cultural triangle. The staff told me that the hot water takes about 10 minutes to heat up. I gave it 30 minutes and nothing. Cold water. The best part was that I couldn’t even find the staff later!