DAY 1 IN SRI LANKA

A nice quick flight was had on Air Asia flight AK255 from KL to Colombo - approximately 3 1/2 hours. It was one of the best flights I've taken because the storm chaser in me got to experience something I'd never done before.  Fly right up next to an amazing thunderstorm as we flew across the Bay of Bengal not long after our departure from KL.  There were some sensational cloud to cloud strikes and the lightning was really pulsing quite frequently! We both nodded off a bit during the flight but did manage to watch a couple of episodes of Family Guy and had to stifle some serious laughs at times.  I noted to Andrew that during the flight because we were flying in a general westerly direction from KL we were effectively avoiding seeing a sunrise.  It wasn't until we got near Sri Lanka that it caught up with us. 

Upon landing in Colombo it really hit us that Sri Lanka is absolutely cricket insane.  They are clearly very proud to be co-hosting the 2011 Cricket World Cup (our reason for being here) with India and Bangladesh.  Everywhere you go you are bombarded with imagery associated with cricket. Andrew even managed to bump into very famous Sri Lankan cricketer Muralitharan in the airport.  He was a bit of a snob and didn't respond to Andrew's attempt at a conversation and just stood there with a weird look on his face!

Andrew and his mate Muralitharan

After being waved through customs, even though we had items to declare, we made our way to the foreign currency exchange counter and was promptly told by the young guys working there that Sri Lanka will most definitely beat the Aussies at the cricket tomorrow.  Cheeky! Everyone is so happy to chat to Australians, and as I already suspected after a conversation with a Fijian Indian taxi driver once upon a time, cricket is a language that is widely spoken in this part of the world. 

After a little wait outside the terminal, our driver Mr Uputu arrived and kindly drove us through the crazy streets of Colombo.  It takes an incredible amount of time to travel a very short distance here, which a Sri Lankan friend had told us, but after being awake for nearly 8 hours already, it probably felt a lot longer than it actually was.  We arrived at our accommodation after about 1 1/2 hours and I needed a little rest while Andrew went for a walk to stock up on supplies (also known as crap that I will want to eat and Milo UHT that I am obsessed with having in Asia).  Even though it felt about 4pm in the afternoon to us, it was actually 10.30 so we decided to go exploring. We grabbed a tuk-tuk for the pricely sum of 100 LKR (1AUD) and drove to the Mount Lavinia Hotel.  This is an icon of Colombo and reminiscent of the British colonial times in Sri Lanka's history. 

Andrew and a guard at the Mt Lavinia Hotel, Colombo Sri Lanka

By this stage we were ready for lunch, so we grabbed at table and placed our orders.  After having a beer and I had a shot of B-52 (Kahlua and Cointreau) our lunch arrived.

Far dish: Rare seared tuna with a pineapple salsa, Middle dish: Sri Lankan crab cakes with salad, Near dish: Pan fried prawns in a creamy coconut sweet curry sauce. 

Whilst we were enjoying the succulent meal, we were treated to a mini-airshow! An air-force jet did a couple of low passes and then a large helicopter did the same.  All whilst squirrels were running around the pool area.  Talk about diverse! 

Feeling rather full, we decided to walk along the Mt Lavinia beach back towards our accommodation.  We didn't quite make it as we discovered a fantastic little bar/restaurant called La Voile Blanche, where we literally sat at a table under a giant umbrella with our feet in the beautiful soft sand.  A few beers and a plate of scallops later we figured it was time to head back to our accommodation - and that's where we are now, having a little rest before we have an amazing evening. 

We have been generously invited to share an evening with the relatives of a Sri Lankan friend who lives in Brisbane, for a traditional Sri Lankan family dinner! It's not very often you get opportunities like this when you travel, so understandably we are both very excited.  

Tomorrow the cricket is on at 1430 (local time) and before hand we may venture in to a gem shop we have heard is worth a visit, and check out some Sri Lankan sapphires! 

Go the Aussies tomorrow!! That's all for now..

Guess he lost the bet.. ?

$2.50AUD tallies with my feet in the sand. Did I mention, I love Sri Lanka??

Forgot to mention, there are tuk-tuks driving around the local streets playing the same music we would hear from an icecream truck, however it drives around selling the most mouth-watering looking pastries. I think I am going to go carb-crazy!!