Sri Lanka: 24.08.18

I have been in Sri Lanka now for 4 days, although I nearly didn’t make it at all!

I was happily relaxing in Singapore Airport, I visited the Butterfly Garden (how cool to have that in an airport!) had a wander around the shops, had some yummy vegetable fried rice, checked where my boarding gate was (thank god!) then I sat and had a coffee and chatted to the kids, meanwhile I have checked my paperwork several times and I keep seeing 21.30 but I think subconsciously I knew this was not correct because at 19.50 I went to have another look at the information board and it says that my flight gate is closing in big red letters! Shit, shit, shit! I leg it down the corridor arrive at the gate where there are no passengers, the staff rush me through more bloody security scanners and I finally board my flight at 20.00, which is scheduled to leave at 20.10! 😳 it is due to arrive in Colombo at 21.30…..😬 luckily for me they were running about 20mins late, still I made it.

I arrived in Sri Lanka at night, which is always a shame as you can’t really see anything. My B & B in Negombo was lovely, I had a glass of water and headed to bed.

After a restless nights sleep, and an early morning due to my alarm going off at 5am (time difference) I was awake and feeling tired and a bit emotional, missing my family, also still feeling a little apprehensive, I was back to traveling on my own. My travel plans for Sri Lanka have changed several times. Everyone who has been here and lots of people I have met on my travels, have offered thoughts and ideas of where I should visit, what I should see, best way to get there etc etc, I felt a little overwhelmed with it all. I had my first wobble of the trip and started to feel anxious and upset. I had breakfast, spoke to a couple of people, went for a walk, took some deep breaths and calmed down. I changed my plans again, and felt more settled.

Negombo is an interesting place, it’s close to the airport which has meant it become popular with people just arriving or just leaving the country, it has a beach which at first glance looks nice, but is actually quite polluted and covered in rubbish, apparently this is due to the lagoon which feeds into the sea here and brings debris from Colombo the capital.

I spent my time walking, or sitting by the beach reading and people watching, it was great!

The lady who runs my B & B,  Sriyani, is wonderful she is so kind and helpful. She got very upset that I had been ripped off over some cotton trousers I bought, she wanted to go and speak to the lady, but I said it was fine. She walked me to the beach on my first day so that I didn’t get lost (it is right next door to a big graveyard!) and just generally looked out for me, she also made the most gorgeous curry’s!! Sriyani arranged a massage at a spa, which was beautiful, very restful, she also organised a driver to take me to my next stop. The driver was her husband, Buddi, he was also really lovely, he runs tours throughout Sri Lanka. He was great during our drive down to Hikkaduwa, giving me lots of information, answering all of my questions. He took me to a Moonstone mine just outside Hikkaduwa, which was fascinating.  Having met and liked Buddi and discussed the sort of tours he does I have now changed my plans for the 200th time! And am going on a 5 day tour with him, going inland, doing a safari, visiting Temples, forts and also going to the east coast! I feel very happy with this decision! (at the moment! 😁)

Hikkaduwa and the hotel I am staying at are gorgeous! The sea comes right up to the hotel and when I arrived it was wild, with huge thunderous crashing waves! I love it!

I saw my first Sri Lankan sunset last night, it was simply stunning.

I am here for 5 days, so I’m going to do some trips out and about, relax and enjoy this beautiful part of the world.

Stay chilled. X

Author: hereandthereclaire

Hi, my name is Claire and I am 60 years young, welcome to my blog. I am new to the whole travel and blog writing world, so no judging! I recently made some big life changes, leaving my job in education and moving myself and my younger children to Newquay in Cornwall, I then started a business with some fantastic friends #coffeeonthecornernewquay. And now I am about to embark on my first big travel adventure...I would love to share this with you. Since starting this blog in 2018 I have made more changes, and now in 2024 I will be traveling full time for the next year! Please join me in sharing my Big Adventure! ❤️ View all posts by hereandthereclaire