Sri Lanka is an island off the southeastern coast of India.
I have never thought I would be going to Sri Lanka so I have just very little information on it (actually, just the geographical location and it's capital). It was a 4-day business trip so my agenda is mostly in our client's office. I just tried to at least explore some of the areas near the hotel.
First things first... visa. It's not that hard to get a visa to Sri Lanka, you can apply for it online. You can also for a visa on arrival. However, since this is a business trip, I want to have an approved ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) before I continue with my preparations. Tourist and Business visa fee valid for 30 days cost US$30.
There are no direct flights to Sri Lanka from the Philippines so the flight booked for me had a stop in Singapore. Total travel time (including layover) is 10/11 hours. Add to that 2-3 hours that you have to be at the airport before the flight. That would be a total of about 13 hours travel time.
Afternoon of Easter Sunday, I was already at the airport for my flight. I got out of Colombo airport around 1AM. At this time, the temperature was at 29C and very humid. Good thing the taxi contracted by the client is already waiting for me. It was a 1 hour ride to city/hotel.
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| Sri Lanka arrival card |
I have some free time that Monday morning so I went outside to get a feel of the city. I exchanged some US dollars for local money. Exchange rate: PhP1 = LKR3.11; USD1=126LKR
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| Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR) |
I've decided I'll just walk around the area. A few meters from the hotel somebody approached me regarding a gemstone exhibition just nearby and told me if I have time I could visit it since they give discounts for the day as it is the first day of the month. Well, got curious and asked for directions. At that moment, he hailed a tuktuk and told him to bring me to the exhibition. Ok, so I thought it's still up to me if I'll buy something. The tuktuk brought me to a small store. They have different kinds of gemstones here. The cheaper ones are up front. I'm not really interested in the other stones, I'm only interested in sapphires, which they said was one of the 'products' Sri Lanka is famous for. That one is on the inner part of the store. They explained the different cuts and grade of sapphire. To make the long story short, I bought one and had it put in a ring. I paid for it and asked them to deliver it to the hotel. It is only when I got back to the hotel that I checked on the gemstone business in Sri Lanka and found out that local's approaching tourists regarding a sale/exhibition is common here (some say it's a scam). I just hoped that I didn't get conned. Anyway, I got my ring and hopefully the value is really what they told me.
The tuktuk waited for me outside and asked if I wanted to go around and visit a temple. Since I still have some time before I go to the office, he brought me to one. The thing is there is a 'donation' of LKR75 per person here and when I was 'paying' for it, they told me it was LKR150 since there are 2 of us. Yikes! So, I also have to pay for the tuktuk driver. And since I don't have exact LKR150 and they don't give change, I ended up giving LKR200 as donation.
And so I got to get around the temple and here are some pictures I took.
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| An elephant in the temple premises |
After the temple, I asked the driver to take me back to the hotel. Why am I not surprised when he told me I owe him LKR1000. That's the fee for taking me to a 'tour' around the city (even if I just went to a temple). It was just supposed to be LKR100 for taking me to the gemstone exhibition and back. From that time on, I hadn't taken any tuktuk ride in Colombo.
After that less than half-day tour, it was mostly business for me. I just had time to go to Galle Face ('beach' as they call it) which is walking distance from the hotel. It's like Manila Bay, where people watch the sunset and just stroll around. They also have food stalls here for those who want to take some bite.
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| Flag Retreat Ceremony |
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| Galle Face |
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| Galle Face |
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| Sunset by the 'beach' |
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| Galle Face |
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| Food stalls at Galle Face |
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| Food stalls at Galle Face |
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| Kites at Galle Face |
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| City view from Galle Face |
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| President's House |
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| Galle Face Court 2 |
On my last day, instead of just waiting for a couple of hours at the hotel (for my ride to the airport), I walked the stretch of Galle Face again and further to the Kingsbury Hotel area.
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| The Kingsbury Hotel |
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| World Trade Center |
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| Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct |
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| Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct |
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| Inside the Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct |
Alas, it is time to go home. The airport transport came promptly at 9PM. We got to the Bandaranaike International Airport/BIA (also known as Colombo International Airport/CMB) almost 10PM. After check-in, I had my dinner at Coffee Bean. Yes, they got CBTL here.
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