[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 29 September 2012. Minor edits have since been made from the original post to update some links and info.]
14 March 2012, Wednesday: Unawatuna – Galle – Colombo – Bangalore (India)
Morning Call: 6:30am
It was our last day in Sri Lanka and a pretty short one too, as most of the time would be spent on the road travelling. We had a fleeting idea of waking up early to go for a morning swim in the sea, but in the end we decided it was too much of a hassle to have to wash up and pack up all over again, so we went to the restaurant downstairs for breakfast instead.
Breakfast was the usual fare – you know the drill: a pot of coffee/tea, toast with jam and butter, eggs and fruits. My double sunny side up wasn’t as good as the previous days, the yolks were a little too cooked, but that’s just nitpicking, really. After breakfast, we took a short walk by the beach and returned to do our final packing.
At 8am, we checked out and paid for our room and the pot of tea we ordered the previous night. The bill was US$40 + Rs 950 (S$60.735) [we paid with a mixture of USD and rupees because we wanted to conserve our US dollars]. We walked back to the bus stop where we alighted the previous day and waited for our bus to bring us to the Dutch fort city of Galle. The bus arrived at 8:20am (fare: Rs 125 per pax / S$1.4125) and it was only a short 25 min ride.
After alighting as the Galle Bus Station, we hopped on to another bus to take us to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka (fare: Rs 140 per pax / S$1.582). The ride took slightly more than 3.5 hours as we travelled up north along the western coastline. It was a very warm day. As we approached Colombo, traffic slowed down considerably as the volume of cars, buses and tuk tuks increased, making it an uncomfortable ride. This is a problem that plagues every major city in the world – traffic jams. Give me Sri Lanka’s Hill Country and southern beach resorts any time. They’re much less crowded and cooler too.
At 12:30pm, we finally arrived at the Colombo bus station. I didn’t want to linger long in the capital city because based on my brief introduction to Colombo while on the bus, I didn’t like it much already. So immediately upon alighting, we flagged a tuk tuk to take us to the Noritake showroom. YS had Googled the address to the showroom and gave it to the driver, who didn’t seem very sure that he knew where it was. But thankfully, he did know his way and we arrived at 1:05pm.
Noritake is a famous Japanese tableware company renowned for their quality porcelain plates, teapots, teacups and saucers among others. We made a trip specially to the showroom because YS wanted to buy a tea set for his mum. Apparently the goods are cheaper in Sri Lanka than in India, according to YS’ Indian colleague who had been to Sri Lanka before and bought a set back home previously.
The showroom is quite big and it carries many different ranges of tea sets, all of them gorgeous and beautifully crafted. I could see their appeal and why YS wanted to get one. After enquiring with the sales person in depth, YS decided on his ideal tea set and paid for it. I can’t remember the exact price but it was more than US$150. They don’t come cheap, do they?
After making sure the staff had wrapped the tea set pieces carefully and packed them with adequate padding, we left our backpacks at the showroom and walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch, which was a huge plate of chow mein. It was a big Chinese restaurant with around ten staff members but there were no other customers. I wondered how they could survive as it was lunchtime yet business was dismal. The chow mein was actually quite tasty but the portion was incredibly huge, more than what the two of us could manage.
We then made our way back to Noritake to collect our backpacks and YS’ tea set, before walking a short distance to catch bus 187 to the airport (fare: Rs 100 / S$1.13 each). We departed at 2:48pm and arrived at a bus terminal at 3:35pm, where we had to alight and transfer to a shuttle bus for a 5-min ride to the airport.
After checking in, we had about three hours to kill before our flight at 6:40pm. The airport isn’t very big and most of the shops weren’t worth checking out. It’s definitely nothing like our ultra modern and well-equipped Changi airport. For my entire Sri Lankan trip, I had not bought any souvenir item yet, so I decided to pick one. Since Sri Lanka is famous for its tea, I bought a small box of 10 teabags (Rs 450 / S$5.085) – my only souvenir purchase from Sri Lanka.
We then settled down at Coffee Bean for some carrot cake and Ice Blended coffee (mainly to use up our remaining rupees), and tap into their free Wi-Fi. That’s one thing I like about Sri Lanka – there’s free Wi-Fi everywhere!
Before long, it was time to board our Sri Lankan airlines flight UL 171 to Bangalore, a short 1 hour 5 min flight. And that officially ended the Sri Lankan leg of my trip.
India: Bangalore
Time difference: India is 2.5 hours behind Singapore (same as Sri Lanka)
Exchange rate: 1 Indian rupee (Rs) = SGD $0.0262 / Rs 100 = S$2.62
We touched down at Bangalore airport at 7:52pm, and so began Leg 2 of my trip. It was my first time in India and I was excited. After hearing so many “horror stories” about India, I wanted to see first-hand if any of it was true. Well, I immediately found out that it is definitely not as bad as what people say, as the Bangalore airport is very modern and clean. It is actually not surprising because Bangalore is the emerging commercial centre of India.
Bangalore being YS’ home ground, my introduction to India was a much more pleasant one, compared to Sri Lanka. Getting our luggage was a breeze. YS led the way to the taxi stand and we were out of the airport by 8:16pm. After the bright lights of the airport, it was a little disconcerting to encounter the immediate change in scenery of the surrounding area. Most of the land is still undeveloped with no major buildings or dwellings nearby, and it was quite dark all around.
The taxi ride from the airport to YS’ apartment in Whitefield took an hour. As we got off the taxi, staff from the serviced apartment greeted us cheerfully and helped us with our luggage. It was a posh building, like a four-star hotel, with a nice lobby and 24-hour reception. We took the lift upstairs and YS rummaged for his keys. For one heart-stopping moment, he thought he had lost them, but thankfully he managed to fish it out from the depths of his bag.
Well, YS’ apartment is definitely very comfy and big – big enough for one person at least. Just beyond the entrance is the living room with a sofa set and a work table set up in front of the TV (which has all the channels you can ask for). Turn right and it’s the kitchen/pantry area, and next to it is his bedroom (with a queen-sized bed) and an attached bathroom. Not shabby at all! YS said he spends most of his weekends staying at home, and it’s not hard to see why.
To celebrate, YS brought out a bottle of local Kingfisher beer, which he had bought specially before the trip. We had a couple of drinks before YS plunged right back into work mode and settled himself in front of his laptop, checking his emails. He would be going back to work the following day. I tried not to gloat as I spent my work-free night packing my stuff and hand-washing my dirty laundry in the shower. I slept on the sofa that night but it was still comfortable as the apartment was fully air-conditioned. Here I was, at the end of Day 6, in Incredible India.
Closing thoughts on Sri Lanka
I enjoyed my six days in Sri Lanka immensely. It lived up to my expectations of what I had read prior to visiting the island country. The people are friendly, there remains a rustic charm to the country, and the scenery in the Hill Country is beautiful. Costs are still relatively low and the budget accommodations represent very good value for money, some of the most comfortable rooms throughout my entire trip.
Six days is not enough to experience Sri Lanka properly. I think a two-week trip would be much better, giving you more time to soak up each destination and explore more hidden gems in the Hill Country (like Nuwara Eliya) and coastal beach resorts (like Hikkaduwa and Arugam Bay). If you like the city life, Sri Lanka is not for you. It is best enjoyed on a leisurely pace, where can simply relax and do nothing – laze on the beach, or take a short hike around the many mountains, hills and waterfalls.
Will I return to Sri Lanka in the future? Absolutely! A return ticket costs around S$500 and it is less than four hours away. If you want something different other than the usual beach resorts like Phuket, Bali or Boracay, give Sri Lanka a shot. It’s well worth it.