I arrived in Colombo around midnight, following a long bus ride from the Airport. I had booked a budget hotel in advance and after avoiding the many touts en-route I was happily asleep in my small box with a fan.
The first day in Colombo I did my best to explore the streets and get a feel for the city. My first impressions of Sri Lanka was that it is much calmer than India. It's hard to compare Sri Lanka with India, although every country should be judged on it's own merits. Sri Lanka and India have much in common although it seems that everything (noises, smells, colours, flavours) is a little toned down.
Colombo is a nice city with a great deal of colonial architecture and modern luxury hotels. One of Colombo's nicest features it the Galle Face, a seaside park where locals go to enjoy to enjoy the evenings.
The first bar that I went to in Sri Lanka was an odd experience. In a large dimly lit room men, only men, sat around tables chatting, presumably about their day or week. I suppose what was most unusual for my north american mindset was the lack of music, TV's or any entertainment at all. I must assume that for Sri Lankans, eachother's company is entertainment enough. I went to two of these local bars that evening, the second of which had a much younger crowd many of whom were keen to talk with me. An enjoyable evening although an early one as I had to be back in time for my hotel's 11pm curfew.
The following afternoon I boarded, what I had been told would be, a scenic seaside trainride to the south. This, however, was a Saturday, meaning the train was sardine-can-packed with weekend travellers and commuters. I was pinned against a wall for the first 1.5 hours of the 2.5 hour journey and only able to catch a few glances of what I was sure to be a beautiful seaside view.
The train took me to the southern coast city of Galle. From Galle, I boarded a local bus to the popular beach resort community, Unawatuna.
Unawatuna did not disappoint, the sandy beach and turquoise sea provided a perfect backdrop for a cold beer on the beach. Unawatuna is also famed for it's nightlife and as it was a Saturday I was ready for whatever it had to offer.
Following a few lonesome beachside beers, I was walking towards the next bar when a group of young Sri Lankans invited me to sit with them on the beach and share some local liquor. I cautiously obliged, insisting one of them first take a drink from my glass. I spent the rest of the night with these guys, attending a beach party late into the night.
The next morning I, with a headache, headed into the city of Galle to check out their main tourist attraction; the Dutch Fort. The well-preserved (restored?) fort walls are impressive but the interior is packed with guesthouses and souvenir shops which detract from the overall experience.
After another evening spent on the beach, I boarded what would be a 7 hour train ride to the hill station of Kandy. This train ride was far less crowded than my first Sri Lankan train experience and I was entertained by the scenic seaview for half of the journey.
Kandy is a pleasant town with cool temperatures and many old buildings reflecting Sri Lanka's colonial history. The most renowned attraction in Kandy is Sri Lanka's holiest temple, the Temple of the Tooth. The temple is said to contain a tooth of Buddha's and it is surrounded by a large complex of temples and shrines. I found the temple to be altogether unimpressive and overpriced.
From Kandy, I set off early in the morning for a daytrip to the ruins of ancient Sigiriya.
The only bus travelling directly from Kandy to Sigiriya departs at 7:35 daily, meaning I was up bright and early and aboard the bus. I reached Sigiriya around 11 am and began the hike up to the palace ruins which are perched atop a massive boulder that reaches high above the surrounding landscape. Reaching the top required a strenuous climb up hundreds of stairs but the 360 degree views from the summit were more than just reward.
I was highly impressed by Sigiriya; it exceeded my expectations and was certainly a highlight of my Sri Lanka trip. On the way back to Kandy from Sigirya I stopped at another of the region's ancient sites.
The painted caves of Dambulla are a series of buddhist temples carved into caves high above the city of Dambulla. The caves are filled with buddha statues and the walls and ceiling painted colorfully. The caves were a worthwhile addition to the daytrip to Sigiriya but, in my opinion, would not have been worth going out my way for them.
Once back in Kandy, I spent one more night before hopping back on the train back to Colombo. The train journey between Kandy in Colombo is another that is famed for it's scenic views. Despite the fact that I had a reserved seat in second class, I chose to sit in open doorway of the train taking in the view and enjoying cooling wind.
Back in Colombo for one night, I spent my time exploring some more of the capital before I took a bus up the coast to the beach-side city of Negombo, made popular by it's proximity to the Airport.
I had a relaxing final two days in Negombo, while checking out the local sites and enjoying the beach-resort atmosphere of the town.
While in Sri Lanka I made an effort to only eat in small eateries where locals actually eat. I attempted to try as many of the local specialties as possible.
Sri Lanka's most popular meal is rice and curry. For less the 50 cents you can have a plate of rice with 4 or more vegetarian curries (meat comes at a small extra cost). The curries cover a wide range including jackfruit, spinach, onion flower in addition to simple dhal. Every curry I tried was delicious.
Another Sri Lankan favourite is the hopper. Hoppers are bowl shaped rice flower pancakes that can be eaten with curries or sambal. For an additional treat one can order an egg hopper which contains an egg fried in the center of the crispy pancake bowl.
A personal favourite of mine is a very filling dish called kottu roti. Kottu roti is a stir fried dish of thin stips of roti flatbread fried with mixed vegetables and egg or meat. The resulting dish is much like pasta and makes for a cheap and filling meal.
