Negombo

March 16, 2025

It was an early morning start to our day. A mixture of excitement for Neil and for me - a mixture of "oops what if I don't like it" or maybe Sharon you are right and we should travel according to our age rather than our shoe size! but we both were looking forward to the adventure.

Neil caught the train down to Melbourne which was 40 minutes late in departing and then the sky bus to the airport. Where as I drove the van down with Dad and the luggage. It was a very warm day in Melbourne - around 35 degrees. So Dad had the air conditioner in the van, unbeknownst to me, at 17 degrees so by the time I got to Sunbury I was absolutely frozen! So when he got his avocados at a roadside stop I decided to change the airconditioner to 21 degrees!

So you could say I was relieved to get out of the van at the airport just to warm up! Said goodbye to Dad in the drop off zone and then went in to checkin. On our way we crossed a pedestrian crossing and what do you know - Neil manages to have his first road kill of the trip and I have circled it below in the photo!

First road kill - a kids pink travel pillow!

He thought it was a great find and in hindsight it was a good find as he managed to sleep on the plane quite well with it on!

We were early to check in but once it opened it was a quick and easy process. Waiting at the gate for our plane to arrive and then we watched it being reloaded and all the luggage being loaded on -our 2 bike boxes were last to go on!

So the flight itself was ok - 10 1/2 hours long where most slept through the flight - lucky people, I think I managed 1/2 hour total while Neil got about 4 hours in total. There was in flight entertainment and the movies were varied but I did manage to see 1 foreign Sri Lankan one about a boy wanting a bicycle, 1 I had seen before - Last Goal Wins, 1 I can't remember the name off and 1 I didn't finish and will continue that one when I go back.

The plane was cool so we were glad we took our pants and merino long sleeve shirts. Once we landed and we got to the door you could feel the heat and humidity. So off came the long sleeeve shirt. However we were a bit too premature in doing that as we disembarked onto the tarmat and then onto a bus that had its airconditoner on and set to about -5 degrees, I kid you not! By the time we got to the terminal I couldn't get off that bus quick enough that I thought bugger the oldies in front of me and bolted pass them! (nah just kidding about barging pass the oldies!)

We had to line up at passport control as they don't have machines that read the passports. From there you go to pick up your baggage and it is there that you get to see what Sri Lanka is going to be like - absolute chaos and severely lacking order! Everyone is crowding around the baggage carousel and not moving from their spot until their luggage comes by- too bad if yours is there and you can't get at it. Our bikes came through at the start position of the luggage belt but they were difficult to manouvre around on the trolley to get the bags so it was easier to me to walk furtherest away from the start of the belt right to the end to get a spot to get our 2 bags!

From there you go to customs - if you have weapons and money to declare then you go through the red zone, if you have nothing to declare then go through the green zone - so that was us - green. You follow these signs and then nec minute you are out in the public zone without even realising it.

We managaged to get a taxi van to take our bike boxes so it costs more for us due to having a van - 6000 rupees which is about $32 Oz.

Outside the airport building more chaos was waiting and the crowds milling about! We only just managed to get the bike boxes in the van and Neil crammed in the back with them. I put into his phone the accomodation and then he uses the so called navigation system to get us there. It is about 11.30pm and there is traffic on the road and I can't seem much to the side of the road except a mixture of ramshackle houses and businesses all mixed in together.

It is a bit unnerving with Sri Lanka having aa somewhat unorthodox approach to driving here but the speed limit is 40km per hour so it is easier to cope with the chaos that is occuring. As per usual the driver got lost and I thought I saw where our accomodation was but he said no and spun around and turned down some dark alley road but 200m into that I said this is not where it is -the accomodation is on the Colombo rd. So he turned around and I took control of the navigation and promptly got us to the accomodation which was where I ssaid it was before he spun us around!

Rang the bell and the family came down to greet us. Paid the taxi driver and put the bike boxes in a spare storage room down stairs. The family live down stairs and upstairs has 4 rooms they let out to travellers. Our room is nice with a fan and ensuite, double bed and airconditioning but we didn't feel the need to use it (we are trying to acclimatise and be like the locals!) Forgot to get photos so will do that tomorrow. It is about 12.30am before we go to bed (after a cold shower). The accomodation has a mosquito net over the bed and has brekky for us a 9am in the morning (this is included in the price). The name of the place is Lilly Palace Guest Villa and it is about 4500 rupees ($24 Oz) per night.

I sleep for most of the night and wake just before dawn. It is a quiet Sunday morning in the neighbourhood. I am absolutely starving and see that I have another 2 hours before my brekky is served! So I get out my plane snacks and have a small bag of rashuns to tie me over!

We decide to go for a walk to have a look around - not much traffic around for so early and there is no footpath to walk on so we take a locals lead and walk just anywhere we can!

Neil is sweating here - in fact we both are!

Even though there is very little traffic there does seem to be some order to how they drive or ride. One thing we quickly learnt was if there is a level of class system here it is reflected in their mode of transport - so walking = poorest, cycling = marginally a bit more wealthier than a walker, in a bus is next, in a hire tuk tuk is next = yeah still poor, we are undecided whether the motorbikes are next or the own your own tuk tuk is next, then a small car, medium car then a larger car is probably the top wealthiest echelon here! But this does not apply to us westerners - despite to their horror we were out walking and the amount of tuk tuk taxis that tooted and asked if we needed a ride somewhere!

no road or mtb style bikes- they are all the old style fixed wheel bikes!

I loved the buses and hope to go on one when here, will leave that until the end of the trip!

Looking at the shops everywhere they are a real mish mash of business types - day spas next to run down shops, alot of unfinshed buildings, little furniture shops, just about everything you need is some where along this road.

Since Neil didn't partake in my early morning bag of rashuns he became peckish so he stopped in this bakery. Had a few sweet things but alot oof savoury pastry type things so we got a vegetable pastry to snack on!

my vege pastry that was 130 rupees ($0.65cents Oz) it was spicy with bit of a kick but not blow your head off type kick!

As we started to go back we could see the traffic was beginning to pick up

Walking past the petrol station we took a photo of the price of diesel

286 rupee for 1 litre so that is about $1.50 Oz ... whats that Dad? you have booked you and your van to come over?!

We get back and brekky is being served for us and there is another young German couple there too. (there is also another couple as well but they are later risers!)

Brekky eac = 2 waffles (with chocolate sauce), 2 pieces of toast, jam, an egg then a fruit platter to share consisting of watermelon, pineapple and banana. We polish is all off with a small cup of strawberry flavoured black tea - yeah nice, different and it was unusual but we still drank it with no milk!

This accomodation is not in a tourist area and we do stick out a bit. Surrounding us is a collection of places - some nice, some in reno style and some just over grown with neglect.

looking forwards to the main road and the lane way that runs along the accomodation.

the neighbour to the front left - a lovely well kept yard just perfect to pitch a tent on!

To the left side is vacant but beside that someone has a plethora of fruit trees!

and the other side - in the middle of renovating - they have a house down below and are extening at the back and up - maybe future accomodation?!

The young German couple a brekky have hired a tuk tuk to travel around Sri Lanka!

While waiting for Neil to put the bikes together so I can pump up the tires I see some bird life and since it is so green here there iis plenty of flowers!

The bikes were quick to put together although Neil - who doesn't sweat was perspiring to say the least (I will put up of photo of him with is sweat saturated shirt tomorrow!)

After the bikes we decided to ride to the supermarket (about 1km away) to brave the chaos on the roads and it was ok! There is a method and despite or the beeping and tooting - they are just letting each other know they are there or passing you. I felt quite safe and yes I am glad we have our mirrors but all are going slow and you can easily manouvre around each other and it doesn't matter if the guy on the motorbike is riding on the wrong side of the road - he is just getting into position to actually move over for you!

Tomorrow we will find a dialog shop to get our mobile phones and internet sorted as they were closed today being a Sunday. As well as a ride to the beach in Negombo.

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Sharon O'BrienAwesome Janet & Neil , well done getting there & settling in to a very different country with diff rules & ways to Oz & NZ.
You guys will have a great time, meeting lovely locals, enjoying the buzz of all the noise & tooting lol 😂 the main thing is it seems a welcoming friendly place to bike ride, you will probably be far safer on the road there than in your Oz travels blogs 🤪 Happy riding Sis ❣️
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1 month ago

Leanne RobertsonA great start to your adventure. I thought it was Vegemite on the waffle!😆
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1 month ago