Colombo

Here at last.

We arrived on Monday and after a very smooth and quick customs and passport process (big queue for visa on arrival, but we already had our 90 day visa stamped our passports - ha!) we stepped into the steamy Colombo afternoon.

Our hosts lovely home.

Our airport pick up was waiting and whisked us of in a very small mini cab to our AIRBNB home stay in Borella, in the Colombo suburbs. We were greeted by our hosts, Nelun and Luxshmanan who live in a very charming, very old indoor / outdoor style house.

Our room at our Colombo homestay.

We have our own bedroom/bathroom and seating area. It's very charming. Breakfast is included and every morning we have enjoyed some exotic (exotic to us that is) Sri Lankan food such as red rice and spicy sambal; four leaf green soup, hoppers and egg).

Yes we have a meter, no its not working.

We've been blatting around the city by tuk tuk. They're very cheap - even though it's surprising how many times their meters "don't work" but at $2-$3 a journey - who's complaining?

Galle Face Hotel.

We spent the first day enjoying the colonial charms of The Galle Face hotel. It's a bit faded now and is currently under going renovations but the bar/restaurant area is still absolutely delightful. With the waiting staff in their white evening jackets and old fashioned manners and the salty, cool sea breeze gentle washing over you, it's a very pleasant way to wile away a few hours.

Galle Face Hotel Verandah bar.

Sam the Galle Face catapult man.

Richie got far too much pleasure watching the chap who's sole job appeared to be scaring away the crows with his trusty sling shot. Rich was wondering if he could bring the said chap back to Australia under a 457 visa!

To continue the colonial theme we also had dinner at the Old Dutch Hospital. We didn't plan to, but got trapped by the rain and a GIANT pitcher of beer. 

Colombo's colonial history is very evident and very unspoiled. It's very much like Singapore before they turned it into one big shopping mall. 

We've also managed to fit in a foot massage every day so far. The ayurvedic spas are pretty costly but we found a little place called The Foot Spa (courtesy of trip advisor forum) that offers one hour foot massage for 1000rps (under $10). It's on corner of Vajira Lane and Galle Face Rd, about 3 blocks from the Majestic City shopping centre.

Beira Lake.

Beira Lake is about 10 mins by tuk tuk from our home stay. It's the perfect place for an evening stroll and great for people watching.

Beira Lake, we brought our own shade.

Ooh what to choose, what to choose?

$6 and delicious!!!

We found a little craft market offering an astonishing

number of home made cakes. Best of all was the outdoor food court. Fantastic hot spicy food at very reasonable prices. We followed the meal up with a couple of cold ones at the lake side bar. Sooo civilized!

Contemplating at Beira Lake.

We spent an enjoyable evening at the Loft Bar at the Courtyard Hotel, Alfred House Avenue, off  R.A .Del Mawatha Rd, a couple of blocks from the "House of Fashion" (super cheap clothes - not so fashionable!).

The Loft Bar is on the 2nd floor and overlooks RA del M. Rd. It had a great happy hour from 5.30 to 7.30 and a jazz band. Seems like a popular place with Sri Lankans for romantic interludes, judging by the couple next to us who spent the whole evening snogging!

The hotel is full of very eclectic artworks designed from old bicycle parts. Richie asked to look at some rooms - which were really nice - big beds , coffee machines etc. We were thinking about a couple of days at the Galle Face Hotel at the end of our journey but now think the Courtyard will be a better bet.

Watching the kites fly at Galle Face Green.

We've had a very chilled out week in Colombo. It's not a city with many "sites" as such but it's great for people watching and  generally letting the pace of Colombo life wash over you. We were going to visit the museums but changed our plans at the last minute and instead of being indoors admiring dusty bronze statues, we hung out at Galle Face for the afternoon and soaked in the colour and vibrancy of Colombo people enjoying their lovely city.

Enjoying the sunset at Galle Face Green.

It's all happening at Galle Face Green.

Roof top bar Colombo City Hotel.

The roof top bar at the Colombo City hotel, next to the Old Dutch Hospital offers very reasonable drinks and a spectacular view of the city. They also have a questionable Marachi band, but we managed to escape before they surrounded our table.

Roof top bar Colombo City Hotel.

Today is our last day in Colombo before heading off to Kandy, so we are planning one more foot massage, lunch at Beira Lake and drinks at the trendy, upmarket Kingsbury Hotel roof top bar at the top end of Galle Face Green.

Finally I got to try my first Kottu dish at the Galle Face Green food stalls. Kottu is a Sri Lankan dish of madly chopped rotis with vegetables and chicken or cheese or fish etc. 

First chicken kottu in Sri Lanka - too good to wait.

It was really good - so good infact we scoffed it before we could get a photo. 




We also discovered our new favourite hotel, Colombo Courtyard, has a very cool roof top bar. Definitely staying here when we come back to Colombo next.

Colombo Courtyard Hotel roof top bar. Great spot for happy hour 5.30 to 7.30pm.

The 2.5 hour train ride to Kandy from Colombo was delightful. It was like Business class air service without leaving the ground. They even served tea and coffee in mugs - fortunately health and safety isn't an issue 'cos the train was rocking like mad when they served it. The male cabin attendant took a huge liking to Richard - I'm sure he was giving him the eye!