Negombo DIY August 17/18
8/17
Arrival in Colombo Fort at 4.30.
At first glance it seems a bit complicated to figure out where to buy the ticket to Negombo. I ask, however, first to railway workers, and then to the other passengers. I have to turn left immediately after the exit and walk a few meters, there are numbered doors, each serving a different line. The lines are very long, employees are slow. Better double check the correspondence counter / line, or queue will be useless.
Trains to Negombo have only the third class, cost is 40 LKR.
The first useful one is at 5.40, the wagon is a mix of goods and passengers, tables and other furniture are stacked in the middle, along the walls are arranged benches where users sit. Newcomers throw in turn their luggage over the others one, and sit where they can. Big smiles everywhere. We also pass near the airport, Katunayake.
We arrive in Negombo, at 7.30, I share a tuk tuk with two guys, and I ask to be left in Lewis Place neighborhood, on the innermost parallel street, Cemetery Road. An American jogger informs me that here the pensions cost less than Lewis Place, which is beachfront. After a while I spot the Sri Devi Guesthouse, 031 2224497, 3000 LKR, where I take a spacious room with a large covered terrace at the first floor. The bathroom is outside, but it’s just for me
I settle my things, shower and do laundry, I decide not to go to bed despite the overnight train, and I venture to discover Negombo. The area is purely touristy, there are no hotels for a cheap breakfast, so I decide to buy snacks at a store.
I meet Aileen, the Chinese girl from Jaffna, and we decide to spend part of the day together. The weather is grey, but even if it was sunny today my priority would be souvenirs and not the beach
I decide to spend a couple of hours shopping and meet again with Aileen later on. I deliberately chose to buy everything at the last minute to travel light, but now I am bit distressed. Tripadvisor members reassured me there are more souvenirs shops in Negombo than Colombo, but the prices I see are expensive, and then regret not to have profited in Kandy, for clothing, or Polonnaruwa. Attended this formality, I reach Aileen at her hotel, the Lion In Guest, which is not bad and is much cheaper than mine. 1200 LKR the walk-in price, if she had arrived with a tuk tuk, with the commission she would have paid maybe 2000. The Chinese people always get the best prices, they are like mastiffs when they bargain, tenacious, never give up, sometimes even aggressive, I’ve observed them in the shops. It’s part of their cultures, but perhaps Sri Lankans with them start with lower prices. We decide to go to the city center, Aileen already knows the area, so I just follow her, we take a bus (20 LKR) which takes us to the terminal . Another peculiarity of theirs I have discovered talking with the Sri Lankans : they have great difficulty in adapting to local food, some bring with them their noodles, and ask if they can cook them in the hotels kitchens. Aileen makes me understand that she does not appreciates curry, but we agree to have lunch at the Hotel Raheemya, the one with the circular façade, which has really a huge menu. I spend 180 LKR, 100 LKR for rice and curry and 80 for a fruit salad. Aileen orders fried rice. The portions are huge. After lunch, we walk in the port area, stopping for a long time to talk on a bridge, Here the wind blows pleasantly and mitigates a lot the heat, it’s nice not to sweat, some time
With a bus, 20 LKR, we return to the Lion In where we eat fresh fruit in the courtyard in front of Aileen’s room. After the snack Aileen and I still do a shopping trip, I spend, she assists me. Going to the beach we see a huge crowd and go to investigate. It sounds like a country fair, but I think people are simply gatherings to talk with friends, eat cotton candy, fly their kites
I read in the diaries of travelers who have been in this vast country that the Chinese living in China are very different from those who emigrate. The more I talk to Aileen and the more I feel she is very similar to me. I’m sorry to leave her and I’m sorry not to have met her before, or not to have in-depth knowledge in Jaffna. She is really a nice person and I am sad when I greet her. I hope to see her again, one day..
Her fried rice was too much so for dinner she will eat some fruit in her room. After being left alone, I let myself be overwhelmed by the “last day” syndrome, a bit unhappy, I buy some samosas. Go back to my guesthouse around 21.00, and I would go to bed immediately because my night on the train was not the most relaxing one, however I get blocked by the owner which involves me in some gossip discussion with some friends he invited. They are really nice. Finally, after an hour, I can leave and I slink off in my room. I sleep very well.
8/18
The next morning my tuk tuk is on time at the guesthouse waiting for me, and takes me to Bandaranaike Airport for the agreed amount (650 LKR)
I discover with joy that the transit area is full of souvenir kiosks and while awaiting I further fatten my hand luggage.
I leave Sri Lanka as I arrived, with a feeling of lightness, the same one of the kites I saw flying the night before