My first proper day in Sri Lanka and I already have much to talk about.
I arrived in Sri Lanka at 6pm last night after a long and tiring 18ish hour flight. Having left Heathrow at 8.45pm I had a 8 and a half hour flight to Delhi, a four hour wait, then a four and a half hour flight to Colombo.
It is not really tourist season for Sri Lanka, and both flights were more than half empty. This meant I had the great luxury of a whole row to myself to lounge and sleep as I wished. Despite being forced to walk through the Business class area of the airport to get to our comparatively closely clustered seats, I felt we had a good deal.
We had a wide choice of movies and music to entertain ourselves and with eight hours I felt I was in for a good movie session. Gullivers Travels soon changed that plan and I was snoring away to my hearts content before very long.
The Guest House I am staying in is a Chintzy Kitsch dream. Pink, lace, and pink lace are the orders of the day complemented by two lovely sisters and a small white fluffy dog who immediate sniffed my crotch as I entered. I have a good room with an ensuite and all are very keen to serve me as much breakfast as I can eat in the mornings.
I ventured out into Colombo early this morning to extend my visa until mid-July. This invovled a convoluted queueing system that would make the British feel proud. After hours of waiting and queuing and a nod from a gentlement, swift payment and a stamp of the passport and I was free to spend the afternoon as I wished.
Odels is close to the Immigration Office and filled with high fashion items at a comparatively high end price. I flatly refused to buy flip flops for four pounds on the grounds I can find them cheaper elsewhere. This I soon found to be a foolish decision.
Lessons learnt today:
Cars may not beep constantly when white people aren't around.
Heavy leather shoes make blisters in hot places.
I don't like wood apple juice.
