Post #2. Sept 30th Getting there.
The Vancouver-Toronto flight was uneventful. I reserved an Uber to get to Judith’s place to prevent any emotional trauma from her having to navigate the 401 highway and the maze of on and off ramps at Pearson Airport. I did think it was weird that Uber charged me up front for my trip, but went with that. It was about 1/2 the cost of a regular taxi. The Uber driver and vehicle was all acceptable until I got a notice that Uber charged me again. I’ll be cancelling one of those transactions…
Judith had dinner ready to go when I walked in the door around 9:00pm. Jambalaya (with out crawfish pie or fillet gumbo for all you Hank Williams fans). Yum. The next day was pretty quiet as the get together with our friend, Debb, was cancelled as she didn’t feel well enough to meet. I filled in my free time with a couple neighbourhood walks by myself—Judith backs onto a great trail system around Lake Wabukayne Park, which in turn connects up to many other parks including Lake Aquitaine. I got lost both times but Google Maps came to my rescue.
The next morning we arrived early at the airport for our early afternoon flight. We had a nice conversation with our taxi driver who is from India. Judith asked him if he knew what people in India thought about the visa suspension to Canadians. It’s been a surprise on their end too and people there also hope that the issue will be resolved soon. He said who would have thought that India would be denying visas to Canadians?
Door to door, it took about 26 hours to get from Judith’s place in Mississauga to our hotel in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. Flights were great but it definitely involved many hours (17+ of them) of sitting or lying down. The lying down part made the trip way better than traveling in economy. The fold flat seats were excellent as they went as flat as a bed. On the 12+ hour flight to Dubai, they even provided a thin mattress pad that you could lay down on. The business class seats were very comfortable and I needed to take advantage of adjusting my chair forward so I could reach the footrest. The meals were very good and served on table linen with real cutlery. And no fighting for the bathrooms. On the long flight there was even a lounge area where I sat and ate a raspberry tart before going for a sleep. And the staff were friendly and attentive.
Emirates Airbus A380-800 taken at Dubai Airport. There are two levels of seating. First and Business classes were on the upper level and economy on the lower level with it’s own boarding ramp. Our configuration as room for 520 passengers.
On the Dubai - Colombo leg, we were in a smaller 747.
Business class seating. We had these pods that were enormous and you could stretch out. Kind of lost for someone as short as me, but would still be really comfortable for someone 6’6” and 300 lbs. The screen size was enormous for a plane (I’m guessing about 20 inches) and there was a separate tablet device for entertainment controls. Swag toiletry bag was designed by Bvlgari and contained their brand of designer toiletry items. Socks and eye mask were provided. The blanket was a generous size, fuzzy and one side lined with a soft fabric.
The Dubai airport was modern and sleek. Huge hallways and lots of designer shopping and a wide variety of food was available. Colombo airport was not but we only saw the arrivals area. We disembarked via a portable set of stairs to a waiting bus to heading which will take us to the terminal. We waited in line for immigration and when we got there, Judith’s immigration officer asked for a copy of the arrival card and pointed to the tables where people were filling them out, before getting into the immigration queue. We exited out of the lineup and went to fill out these forms. As we’re filling it out, we figure out that we’ve already done this online. Back into the immigration queue we go and managed to get through with our online arrival card.
After collecting our baggage, we left the arrival area and we found our travel company (Selective Asia) rep who presented us with some orchid leis.
We exchanged some money at the airport because you cannot purchase Sri Lankan rupees through our domestic banks. I think it’s because the currency is too unstable. The exchange companies will only exchange pristine US cash and they will reject used bills. So you necessarily go though making two exchanges: from Canadian to USD and then from USD to Sri Lankan Rupees. It’s not the cheapest way to exchange funds but there isn’t much of an option.
After completing the exchange, we were led outside and our agent rep called our driver/guide to pull up. His name is Sura which is a short form for his longer Sri Lankan name. The airport is a 45 minute drive north of Columbo We were whisked to the hotel and arrived there around 10:00 Sri Lankan time.
We are staying for two days at Galle Face Hotel. It was built during the colonial era around 1864 starting as a Dutch pub. In 1894 it became a two storey hotel under British ownership.. The hotel has undergone several major renovations. Judith enjoys hotels that aren’t your standard hotel chain style accommodation so we usually end up in some interesting places with lots of history.
Front of the Galle Face Hotel where Judith and I are staying. Our room is on the third floor just before the wing on the water side.
View from the terrace where we had breakfast. That’s the Indian Ocean
This our view from our hotel room window. We look out over the front of the hotel. There is a large rectangular shaped green space in front of the hotel. We were told this was used for racing horses.
We get to sleep in tomorrow. Just need to be ready for a 10:00 departure for a street market tour and an evening foodie tour.
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