Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Jami Al Alfar Mosque

Off to Sri Lanka and we went and we literally had no idea what to expect. Probably because before we got there all we were thinking about was having a 10 hour overnight layover in Kuala Lumpur airport. Turns out if you ever find yourself in this situation the Starbucks seats are quite comfortable and you can get a decent night sleep there (well as best as you can expect). As you can imagine once we got to Colombo (the capital of Sri Lanka) we were tired and ready to get to our accomodation asap. We had organised prior to getting there an e-visa for the both of us for 35 USD pp. This allows you to stay for 30 days and it made it a breeze getting through customs (they literally didn't ask us anything and just stamped our passport). If you are too unorganised and haven't got an e-visa, don't fret. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries where you can get a visa upon arrival. 

Colombo airport is 35km out of the town. You have the option of getting a tuk tuk, bus or train into the city. We chose the bus, costing us 150 rupee each ($1.30 AUD pp). You just hop on the bus and take a seat. Once you get going the ticket operator will come to you and you can pay the price then.  The bus takes you to Colombo bus station. This is right next to the Colombo fort train station so if you are choosing to catch a train to any of the main tourist destinations (Hikkadua, Candy, Ella etc.) you can do it relatively hassle free straight after you arrive from the airport. Luke and I however organised to stay in Colombo for a few nights (only because we wanted to catch up on the sleep we missed at the airport). Here we stayed at My Little Island Hostel. To get there from the bus station we caught a tuk tuk for 3 AUD. Majority of tuk tuks in Colombo have metres so you don’t have to worry about getting ripped off which is a win. The hostel is super cute and has movie nights on a big screen most evenings which was a welcomed treat.

Galle Face Green (although it should be called Galle Face Dirt..)

Me ridiculously excited by all the colourful kites

Sunset on the foreshore

In terms of things to do in Colombo. There isn’t a whole lot. If I were you I would just use Colombo as somewhere to fly in and out of and maybe leave an afternoon to look around if you are that way inclined. Our favourite part of Colombo was Galle Face Green. In the late afternoons and evenings families come here to play cricket, eat food from street vendors and fly kites. The atmosphere is lovely and really family orientated. It’s so nice to see the smiles and excitement on kids faces from flying kites, so much nicer than watching kids with their eyes glued to iPad screens (i’m sounding more and more like a grandma everyday, I know). 

Other than that it's enjoyable to walk around Colombo Fort which is in old town, also known as Colombo 1. Colombo is divided into 14 areas and it pays to know which area you are in to help the tuk tuk drivers know where you are going. In Colombo 1 there is the Petal markets. Which sell everything from cricket bats, to phone batteries and fruit. Close by is the Jami Al Alfar Mosque which is a white and red checked mosque which is good to have a quick look at (literally all we did was take a picture and get on our merry way).

Colombo 1

Although Colombo is on the coast there is nowhere to swim at the beach.  Hence why we were ready to leave after a few days and head to a "real" beach. Our next stop is Hikkadua- we will let you know how it goes!

Love always,

Claire and Luke (Luke was lounging around in the hammock as I write this so he counts as a co-author too right?)

Luke living the hard life