[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 5 August 2012. Minor edits have since been made from the original post to update some links and info.]
8 March 2012, Thursday: Singapore – Colombo (Sri Lanka)
After months of anticipation, the day had finally arrived. On 8 March 2012, I went to work as usual. I was supposed to work for half a day and go home early to rest and do my final preparations, but unsurprisingly, I only left office at around 4pm, rushed home for a shower and dinner before making my way to the airport, Terminal 2.
My check-in backpack weighed only 11.6kg. Plus my hand carry bag, which weighed around 4kg, my total load was around 15kg, not too bad for a start and for 30 days of travelling. After checking in, I bade farewell to my dear family, whom I was going to miss for the next 30 days (I would be meeting my parents in Hanoi 3 weeks later so it’s technically not 30 days without seeing them).
I boarded Singapore Airlines flight SQ 468 and took off at 10:50pm. The flight wasn’t full so I had the luxury of having the other two seats in my row empty. But it wasn’t a very long flight, only 3 hours 45 min, so I didn’t get to sleep much anyway. The flight was ahead of schedule so I touched down at Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo, at 11:45pm instead of the scheduled 12:05am.
Time difference: Sri Lanka is 2.5 hours behind Singapore
Exchange rate: 1 Sri Lankan rupee (LKR/Rs) = SGD $0.0113 / Rs 100 = S$1.13
9 March 2012, Friday: Colombo-Negombo-Kandy
After clearing the customs, I walked out of the airport to locate my friend YS, who had flown in a couple of hours earlier from Bangalore, where he is currently working. The airport isn’t very big, so I didn’t have much trouble finding him. We had trouble finding our driver though. I had pre-arranged for transport (Rs 2,200 / S$24.86) to pick us up from the airport to the guest house, but we didn’t see anyone holding up a sign that said “Beach Villa Guest House”.
After about ten minutes, we concluded that he had played us out, so we decided to go to the counter and hire an airport taxi instead. Beach Villa’s website promised a 10-min ride from the airport to Negombo, but we found out it was definitely not true. Furthermore, it was late at night and the streets were dark, and the driver didn’t know where Beach Villa Guest House was, even though he said he knew when we asked him before boarding his van. And by the time we reached Negombo, it was close to 1am, and we still couldn’t locate the guest house. The reason was mainly because Beach Villa Guest House is a very budget guest house, not one of the bigger, famous ones. I figured we were only going to sleep in for a few hours, so I didn’t want to pay too much for an expensive room.
We were officially lost. We circled around for quite a while before the driver stopped to ask some of the locals, who also didn’t know where it was. I whipped out my iPad and referred to my Lonely Planet e-book to consult the map. But it was very dark and there weren’t any road signs, so it wasn’t much help at first. Only after going up and down the same street a few times did I spot a guest house that was located on the Lonely Planet map, so that allowed me to get our bearings.
We finally located Beach Villa Guest House at 1:35am, at the end of the street in a nondescript corner, with just a tiny signboard at the start of a small road leading to it. The gate was locked so our driver got off the van and knocked on the gate. After about two minutes, a young Sri Lankan guy came out groggily and let us in, evidently being woken up from his sleep. Having accomplished his mission, we paid our driver Rs 1,700 (S$19.21) and said goodbye to him, thanking him for his help. I felt a little bad for him because he had to work “overtime”, circling around for more than 40 min in the dark, expending his fuel.
I asked the innkeeper why the the driver didn’t turn up at the airport, and he didn’t have a clue. He wasn’t expecting us at all. I figured he might have got confused about our arrival date since my flight arrival timing was just past midnight, so he might have though we were arriving the following day instead. In any case, I had booked a ground floor double room at Rs 1,500 (S$16.95), but he said it wasn’t available (!), and gave us a room upstairs at Rs 2,500 (S$28.25) instead. It was right at the corner, probably their biggest room available, so YS and I called it the “Presidential Suite”.
We dropped off our stuff, took quick showers and went to bed at around 2am, which was 4:30am Singapore time. It had been a long night. Well, it wasn’t the smooth start that I imagined, but certainly a memorable way to kickstart my trip!
Beach Villa Guest House
www.beachvillanegombo.com [Update: As of 3 October 2017, the website is no longer in operation]
3/2 Senevirathna Road, Negombo
6:45am: Morning Call
We woke up bright and early at 6:45am, having had less than five hours of sleep. However, we didn’t feel remotely tired, because it was just the beginning of the adventure. I was so excited and happy that I was actually in Sri Lanka. The trip really happened!
The guest house is literally a stone’s throw away from the beach and sea, and from our window, we could see and hear the waves lapping up the shore. We washed up and went downstairs for breakfast. I ordered a cheese omelette, toast with jam and coffee, which was served in a pot. It was quite a simple spread but delicious nonetheless. I love my eggs and toast and coffee, so it’s really not hard to go wrong with this combi.
After breakfast, we decided to take a quick walk along the beach. It isn’t a very pretty beach with super fine sand, and the sea was quite rough, so it isn’t really picturesque or anything, just a normal beach. We didn’t have much time to explore very far, so I can’t really say that we saw much of Negombo. But from the little that I did see, I think it isn’t a particularly special place and I’m glad we only stayed for one night.
So we went back up to our rooms, packed our stuff, checked out and made payment:
Room: Rs 2,500 + 10% service charge = Rs 2,750 (S$31.075)
Breakfast (for 2): Rs 1,050 (S$11.865)
We departed Beach Villa Guest House at 8:35am and went for a short walk along the main road to see a little more of the town. As it was still early, most shops weren’t open yet. We found a tuk tuk driver by the roadside, and hired him for Rs 1,500 (S$16.95) to send us from Negombo to Veyangoda, where we would then catch the 11:30am train to Kandy. The tuk tuk was quite small but we managed to fit ourselves and our backpacks quite snugly. I love taking tuk tuks, as long as the air isn’t too bad. The ride took slightly less than an hour and we arrived Veyangoda at 9:40am.
The train station is quite old and crowded. We went to the booth to purchase our tickets. There were only second class tickets left so we bought those, costing Rs 140 (S$1.582) each. For a 3-hour train ride, it was cheap. We had slightly more than an hour to spare before our train’s departure, so we explored Veyangoda a little, carrying our backpacks with us. It is an ordinary little town, certainly not a tourist spot. Most tourists would only go to Veyangoda as a stopover, to catch the train to Kandy or to the other Hill Country stations. There wasn’t much to see so we popped into an ice cream cafe and bought ourselves a Minute Maid orange juice drink (Rs 40 per bottle / S$0.452) to rehydrate ourselves.
At 11:30am, the train pulled up at the station and we got onboard. It was an old school train that chugged along quite loudly, and there were overhead racks for us to store our luggage. Our second class carriage was not air-conditioned, but the seats were quite decent and there was a breeze coming through the windows, so it was really quite enjoyable.
Throughout the journey, there were hawkers carrying baskets of food streaming up and down the carriages, advertising their snacks in sing-song voices. You could always hear them before you see them – chanting “wadi wadi wadi, wadi wadi wadi” in rapid bursts. Some of the food smelled real good, but I didn’t want to risk getting a stomach upset right at the start of my trip, so I resisted the temptation. YS told me he didn’t dare to try the food because he saw that the hawkers’ hands were very dirty – handling both the food and money, and also grabbing the poles as they squeezed through the carriages. And they wrapped the snacks in newspaper too. I think the food is definitely appetising, but unless you have a strong stomach, I suggest you don’t try it.
After chugging along for about an hour, the train came to a halt in the middle of nowhere. It stayed still for a while, so people got curious and started sticking their heads out of the windows to see what was going on. I saw that many of the locals got off the train and walked towards the rear. From my window, I couldn’t see what had happened. We only found out when one of the locals from our carriage, who went down to check it out, returned and showed us his mobile phone – he had snapped a picture of a man on the railway tracks, with his head lying a foot away from his body!
It wasn’t what I was expecting at all! YS and I were both quite shocked of course, but from what we could tell from the local’s demeanour and body language (he didn’t really speak English), it seemed to be a common occurrence. Or at least, it wasn’t unheard of. I only saw the picture for about a second, but from the way the head was so cleanly chopped off (it wasn’t mangled or messy), I surmise it wasn’t an accident, but that the person had committed suicide.
The train carried on after that, and when we arrived at the next station, I saw some of the guys unloading the body (and presumably head) from the train. It was wrapped up in cloth. I thought it was a nice gesture for them to transport the body and not just leave it by the side of the tracks. That was quite an introduction to Sri Lanka that we never imagined, but very memorable indeed!
After a 3 hour-10 minute ride, we arrived Kandy at 2:40pm. Upon disembarking, I remember just feeling elated that we had made it to Kandy. I was still getting over the fact that the trip had indeed happened.
The accommodation at Kandy was booked by YS and they didn’t offer pickup from the railway station. In any case, once we exited the train station, there were plenty of tuk tuks and taxis waiting for our business. We hopped onto a taxi van (Rs 500 / S$5.65) to bring us to Nature Walk Holiday Resort, which was perched at the top of a hill. It wasn’t that far away but the traffic was a little heavy, but still it took only about 15 minutes to get there. Two young Sri Lankan men greeted us upon arrival and carried our backpacks to the lobby area. They wore huge smiles and were very friendly.
Nature Walk Holiday Resort
http://naturewalkhr.net
09, Sangamitta Mawatha, Kandy
YS had booked an A/C double room with forest view and balcony on the top floor for US$45. It was very clean and I liked the room a lot. In fact, it’s one of my favourite accommodations for my entire trip. Outside our room, there is a large and spacious common area where you can chill out or mingle with other guests. And of course, we had a great view of Kandy as well.
After a quick wash up, we explored the town of Kandy on foot. The resort is located on a hilltop so walking down is alright. It took us only ten minutes to walk to Kandy Lake, which is the central point of the town. The lake by itself is not that spectacular, maybe because of the many buildings that have sprouted up all around it.
We snapped some pictures along the way, but we were hungry by then and itching to get some food into our stomachs. We consulted the Lonely Planet and decided to have lunch/early dinner (4:30pm) at Lyon Cafe, which is supposed to be one of Kandy’s most famous restaurants.
We ordered a plate of seafood rice and mixed grill to share, and Coke, which would become my favourite drink on the trip. The portion was huge and hungry as we were, it was too much for the both of us. It was quite tasty but the squid was a little too hard and the ribs were not very tender. So I felt it was just ok, maybe a little over-rated. The meal cost us Rs 2,200 (S$24.86).
Having filled our bellies, we decided to check out the famous Temple Of The Sacred Tooth Relic, located just beside Kandy Lake. The admission fee is Rs 1,000 (S$11.30) per person, and you have to deposit your shoes before you can enter the temple building, of which I later paid a tip of Rs 100 (S$1.13) to retrieve our shoes. It was around 6:15pm when we entered.
The temple is famous for housing Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic – a tooth of the Buddha. According to Lonely Planet, most Sri Lankans believe they must complete at least one pilgrimage to the temple in their lifetime, and worshipping at the temple is thought to improve one’s karmic lot immeasurably.
The shrine is a two-storey building known as Vahahitina Maligawa. At the entrance on the ground floor, there was a group of musicians blowing a high-pitched traditional instrument and two drummers who struck the drums very precisely and totally in sync. I was amazed at how precise they were, but YS said that they play the same tune everyday, so they’ve had lots of practice.
During pujas (offerings or prayers), the room housing the relic is open to tourists. But the tooth is kept in a gold casket shaped like a dagoba (stupa), which is around 3m away from the doorway. And the security guards keep the queue moving, so you can’t actually see the tooth up close. There are three pujas a day – at 5:30am, 10:15am and 7:15pm. The evening session was very crowded, and there was a long queue to view the tooth, so YS and I decided not to join in. We just took in the sights of the rest of the temple.
The temple isn’t very big, so we didn’t spend a great deal of time in there. After about an hour, we left the temple and walked a little around the town. Along the way, we stopped by a restaurant for drinks (Coke again for me – Rs 80 / S$0.904). The sky turned dark quickly and some of the areas weren’t very well-lit, so we hopped on a tuk tuk (Rs 300 / S$3.39) back to the resort, after visiting the supermarket and stocking up on two bottles of mineral water (Rs 155 / S$1.752).
Back at the resort, YS had to complete some work (!) so he brought out his laptop and began working away. We ordered a pot of tea, so while I relaxed, sipped my tea and Whatsapp-ed my friends away (there was free Wi-Fi at the resort), poor YS was working on his report for two hours. Such a dreadful boss he has.
It was a satisfying first day in Sri Lanka, even though I didn’t really like Kandy on a whole. I thought that it was a bit too crowded and congested – too many people and vehicles. After sunset, certain areas were quite dark and it felt a little unsafe to hang out by yourself. But I did enjoy our Nature Walk Holiday Resort accommodation. It was on a hilltop so it was away from the hustle and bustle of the main area near Kandy Lake. The staff were very friendly and the room was very comfortable.
End of Day 1, on to Hatton and Dalhousie next!