"Ayubowan":) to our notes. The first Sinhalese word we learnt. This is warm greeting you get from every Sri Lankan you meet and means "Live a long life".
Day:1 (19th December '09)
Our journey started at 6AM 19th Dec 09. The Bangalore Airport looked like Majestic bus stand with long queues everywhere. We took the Jet Airways via Chennai and reached Bandaranaike International Airport (Negombo) at around 2PM. The first thing I saw in the airport was a big Buddha statue which reflected peace. I started taking pictures with my new camera standing in the immigration queue. A security guard walked to me not to take photos. The LTTE pictures flashed my mind as I thought through it. We stepped out of the Airport and found a man holding a board Subramanya Brahmanda (name as in passport) written on it :) . We walked with him while he greeted Praveen alone :) . He asked us to wait for 5 min while he brought his car from the parking lot and we kept ourselves busy watching the crowd around. We then saw a silver colored BMW 7 series arrive with the chauffer smiling at us. I was totally convinced that he received us. Praveen n me got shocked for a moment and we started walking towards the car and the porter started loading our luggage into the boot. I was thinking of the pics I can take of the car once we reach the hotel :) . Suddenly a man comes running behind us saying this is his car :) . We came out of our dream immediately and laughed at what happened. In 2 mins our Chauffer arrives with a Red Lancer and we got into the car. I need to mention that this car was very comfortable to go around in Sri Lanka. The Chauffer introduced himself as Mr. Kapila and told us that he was appointed by Asian adventures to be our guide for 8 days and we will be toured in his car. Praveen started asking about our hotel in Colombo and the plan for the day. I was busy looking at the roads n instantly noticed that coconuts are orange in color and autos are in every possible color (red n black , green n black ,blue n black ). I immediately asked Mr. Kapila if the color code signifies anything. He laughed n said nothing in particular Mrs. Praveen. Then I introduced myself " I am Madhuri :) ".
On our drive to the hotel we found out that Colombo was divided into 15 sectors for administrative purpose and our hotel was in Colombo 1. The hotel Grand Oriental was right behind the Police head quarters and next to the Colombo harbor. Mr. Kapila left us to rest for the day but we walked towards the petta street in the evening as there was nothing much to do. We stepped into the room and we were quite disappointed at the first sight of it. TV was the only interesting thing in the room. One memorable thing in Colombo is the restaurant, It has a very beautiful view to Colombo harbor.
World Trade Center (Colombo)
Did YMCA come first or YMBA?
Days 2 & 3
Beruwela was our destination for day 2 & day3. This place was a 90min drive from Colombo and we checked into a beautiful sea resort Riverina. The resort is a perfect destination for leisure. Private beach, big pool , club house .. . what else can make a better holiday :)
We visited Bentota town and went around looking for water activities either in Bentota river or in the sea but none of them were too exciting and they cost a whole lot, so we decided not to take them up and spend the time in the private beach of the hotel. It was very calm and beautiful beach. The sunset in the sea is very picturesque. There was an Indian fancy dress show organized by the resort in the night and we being the only Indians around had good time in the audience ;). The food was ok in fact this was probably the best food we tasted during our trip to lanka. Madhu fell sick the second day and we spent the whole day in the hotel playing TT , watching India - Sri Lanka cricket match on TV and going for a long walk on the beach.
We stayed in Riverina for a couple of days but one day should be good enough at this place...
The water looks so pleasant yet can get very wild as it happened the second day when it rained heavily.. Truly magnificent and serene atmosphere...
The feet together ...
Another boat....
Boat sailing in the sea.. Pleasant sight
Finally the Sunset
Part 1 ends on Day 3.. We'll continue the journey in parts 2 & 3 ...
Day:1 (19th December '09)
Our journey started at 6AM 19th Dec 09. The Bangalore Airport looked like Majestic bus stand with long queues everywhere. We took the Jet Airways via Chennai and reached Bandaranaike International Airport (Negombo) at around 2PM. The first thing I saw in the airport was a big Buddha statue which reflected peace. I started taking pictures with my new camera standing in the immigration queue. A security guard walked to me not to take photos. The LTTE pictures flashed my mind as I thought through it. We stepped out of the Airport and found a man holding a board Subramanya Brahmanda (name as in passport) written on it :) . We walked with him while he greeted Praveen alone :) . He asked us to wait for 5 min while he brought his car from the parking lot and we kept ourselves busy watching the crowd around. We then saw a silver colored BMW 7 series arrive with the chauffer smiling at us. I was totally convinced that he received us. Praveen n me got shocked for a moment and we started walking towards the car and the porter started loading our luggage into the boot. I was thinking of the pics I can take of the car once we reach the hotel :) . Suddenly a man comes running behind us saying this is his car :) . We came out of our dream immediately and laughed at what happened. In 2 mins our Chauffer arrives with a Red Lancer and we got into the car. I need to mention that this car was very comfortable to go around in Sri Lanka. The Chauffer introduced himself as Mr. Kapila and told us that he was appointed by Asian adventures to be our guide for 8 days and we will be toured in his car. Praveen started asking about our hotel in Colombo and the plan for the day. I was busy looking at the roads n instantly noticed that coconuts are orange in color and autos are in every possible color (red n black , green n black ,blue n black ). I immediately asked Mr. Kapila if the color code signifies anything. He laughed n said nothing in particular Mrs. Praveen. Then I introduced myself " I am Madhuri :) ".
On our drive to the hotel we found out that Colombo was divided into 15 sectors for administrative purpose and our hotel was in Colombo 1. The hotel Grand Oriental was right behind the Police head quarters and next to the Colombo harbor. Mr. Kapila left us to rest for the day but we walked towards the petta street in the evening as there was nothing much to do. We stepped into the room and we were quite disappointed at the first sight of it. TV was the only interesting thing in the room. One memorable thing in Colombo is the restaurant, It has a very beautiful view to Colombo harbor.
World Trade Center (Colombo)
Did YMCA come first or YMBA?
Days 2 & 3
Beruwela was our destination for day 2 & day3. This place was a 90min drive from Colombo and we checked into a beautiful sea resort Riverina. The resort is a perfect destination for leisure. Private beach, big pool , club house .. . what else can make a better holiday :)
We visited Bentota town and went around looking for water activities either in Bentota river or in the sea but none of them were too exciting and they cost a whole lot, so we decided not to take them up and spend the time in the private beach of the hotel. It was very calm and beautiful beach. The sunset in the sea is very picturesque. There was an Indian fancy dress show organized by the resort in the night and we being the only Indians around had good time in the audience ;). The food was ok in fact this was probably the best food we tasted during our trip to lanka. Madhu fell sick the second day and we spent the whole day in the hotel playing TT , watching India - Sri Lanka cricket match on TV and going for a long walk on the beach.
We stayed in Riverina for a couple of days but one day should be good enough at this place...
The water looks so pleasant yet can get very wild as it happened the second day when it rained heavily.. Truly magnificent and serene atmosphere...
The feet together ...
Another boat....
Boat sailing in the sea.. Pleasant sight
Finally the SunsetPart 1 ends on Day 3.. We'll continue the journey in parts 2 & 3 ...
4 comments:
Wow...sounds like a fun trip and the place looks good. Srilanka has become one of the popular tourist spot these days! How much did it cost? :)
Nice pics btw..
yep its much cleaner and neater due to the lack of tourism for the last decade or so due to the war..
Answer to the question : which came first, YMCA or YMBA ? - YMCA
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