Southeast Asia - Week of June 4: Sri Lanka Week 7

Welcome to my last week in Sri Lanka! This week we are traveling from Tangalle to Galle for a night, onto Colombo for my last two nights in Sri Lanka, then boarding a flight for Bangkok for four nights. Yes, four different hotels in a seven day period. Will be very sad to leave this amazing country! This was also a week of multiple blessings! The one important blessing that has greatest significance for me is the blessing of opening my eyes and having another day to see if I can get it right - haha!

Tangalle

I'm starting the week in Tangalle; spending the last two nights at the Golden Pearl. Tuesday morning I had a short walk to the bus station to catch my bus to Galle. The hotel manager advised me that there were luxury buses from Tangalle to Colombo that stopped in Galle. At the bus station I spoke with a bus station employee to confirm a luxury bus (with a/c) traveled to Galle. I thought he confirmed what I asked and indicated where I should wait for the 10:20 am bus. At 10:20 he came from his office on the opposite end of the station to where I was waiting to ensure I got on the right bus. Thank goodness he checked in on me. What he had confirmed was a local bus that had Galle as its final destination. I am blessed he checked on me as I would have missed the bus - Blessing #1! And I was off on the 2.5 hour trip (66 km) to Galle. Sadly, this bus was minus a sound system 😉. Same aggressive driving though!

Tangalle Sunrises

While I was in Tangalle I received:

A WhatsApp message from Pang from the Adelphi Grande Hotel (Bangkok) to confirm my Friday morning arrival details to ensure the car service (included in reservation) was available on my arrival. As I was expecting to be at the hotel by 8:30 am, Pang has also got her manager's approval for me to access my room as soon as I reach the hotel (at no cost to me)! Blessing #2
Confirmation from Sri Lankan Airlines that my business class upgrade bid was accepted. Given the flight was departing at 1:10 am on Friday morning, having business class lounge access in the airport is a true gift along with more comfortable seats for the 3.5 hour flight to Bangkok. Disembarking first is another benefit. Blessing #3

Galle

So I am now coming full circle on my Sri Lankan adventure by returning to Galle. When I arrived in Galle, I decided to make the walk from the bus station to my hotel - Deltora Villa (Galle). I thought I could use the exercise. When I arrived at the Villa the owner showed up to greet me. She was so pleased that I returned that she advised that I was going to stay the night for free (along with breakfast the following morning) and to cancel my Booking.com room booking! Blessing #4

Selfie - Team's idea

Deltora Villa Team Awesome

Colombo

As planned, I organized for Mahi, my Galle taxi driver friend, to drive me from Galle to the Cinnamon Red hotel in Colombo. An uneventful ride with Mahi from Galle to Colombo except when Mahi drifted across the shoulder white line. Yup, could feel my stomach tense up and mentally try to steer the car into the lane. We rode in his 2011 Prius that he had just purchased the previous week. He's gradually working his way up to a better car. Mahi gave me two homemade birthday cupcakes - his daughter turned 4 years old this week. Another Gemini baby! Arrived safely - Blessing #5

Mahi and his Prius

Birthday cupcakes

Cinnamon Red

I had the good fortune to find myself in a corner room on the 24th floor with a panoramic view of the ocean and downtown Colombo. I was also received a plate of fresh fruit delivered to my room on Wednesday afternoon. Blessing #6 (and i's only Wednesday!)

Colombo sunset

Afternoon skyline

Evening skyline

Infinity pool - 26th floor

I swam on the pool's left hand side; avoided
getting too close to the edge 😉

Room wall art

Great reminder for every day
Choose Happiness

New home for a close friend - Blessing #7

My traveling companion was tired of traveling.
He has now started a new life in a loving Colombo home
with Lakshi's son

The added bonus I discovered was there was a chocolate store within a five minute walk from the hotel. I'm truly blessed! Blessing #8

Airport

Good fortune continued to shine on me. Mahi was available to drive me to the airport. I'll skip over the somewhat chaotic episode of checking in. I did go through three different type of security screenings and stood in line for 90 minutes for the business class check-in. I worked very hard to suppress my alter ego (Airport Dave) who can be significantly unpleasant to be with if he is allowed to manifest. My reward appears below - a glass of 14 year old Glenlivet Scotch. BTW - I have limited myself to one drink/week while I've been traveling.

Blessing #9

Bangkok

The universe continued to share blessings with me in Bangkok. Whizzed through immigration. Car service was super smooth. Check-in was seamless. First task - starting washing all of my clothes. Yes, my room has a washing machine! Second task - walk over to see Jenny for a massage. I did get a massage, just with a different masseuses. I had to wait until Saturday for Jenny to return from a day off.

I volunteered to go to the Jim Thompson factory store to find an additional set of silk cushion coverings for my good friend Mike and his bride. Success - the white elephant cushion coverings are going to a new home. I also discovered a chocolate store the specializes in Thai chocolate that is a ten minute walk from my hotel

White elephant cushion coverings

Good selection of Thai dark chocolate bars
Blessing #10

Observations

Here are some quick thoughts/observations/facts about my seven weeks in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is an incredibly beautiful country - diverse topography, flora and fauna, easy to get around with transportation - just be prepared for your journey to be longer than what you would expect
Sri Lankan's are consistently warm, want to help you have the best time ever in their country and demonstrate extraordinary hospitality. Is a cultural norm I believe. I was sad to leave.
More often than not the chefs at the hotels I stayed at were checking in on my meals - great pride in the food being served. Happiness for the guest is important!
Communicating - As I mentioned in one post, many people I've spoken with English are reticent to travel to 'non-English' speaking countries for fear of the inability to communicate. I can reassure you that English is spoken throughout all parts of the country. Photos of what you want are great communication tools. More broadly, throughout my travels throughout the world I've found that communicating is, at best, a minor hiccup.
Wine Stores - alcohol is purchased through wine stores similar to the photo I lifted off the internet below. The relative inaccessibility of alcohol helped me limit my alcohol intake. You can readily buy alcohol/drinks/beer at hotels. While many restaurants are alcohol free, I have had staff go out to a wine store and bring back a beer for me.
Seems everywhere you go staff are busy raking the beach, raking the hotel grounds every day.
Ledgers, ledgers, ledgers - In a world full of computers it is striking how many transactions are being recorded manually. I experienced this in the People's Bank when I exchanged some cash as well as in the train station. The guy in the bank even commented about how much manual recording still goes on.
My hotel beds consistently met my expectations. The beds were clean and firm. What an enormous blessing. BTW - When I was in staying in an Addis Abba hotel I learned firsthand what the phrase 'Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite' means 😜
Hot water was consistently available throughout my trip. It was created using different methods and it was there!
Highway road blocks - the army and the police have barriers on the roads throughout Sri Lanka that people need to slow down for and drive around. The road blocks always have army or police at the roadblocks, however no one had to stop. That condition can change if the circumstances change.
Be prepared for uneven floors between the main hotel room and the bathroom areas. Sometimes the bathroom area will have different lips to contain the water. Showers drain into the floor, the small dips in the floor ensures the water stays in the bathroom area.
Wifi was available everywhere I went. Just had to be prepared for different router speeds. FaceTime and Zoom calls were challenging at times.
Tap water is undrinkable. Want to save the environment. I travel with a Grayl container (has a filter) that transforms tap water into drinkable water - 500 ml at a time. I purchased it from Mountain Equipment Coop for my 2020 trip to SE Asia (Grayl Water Purifier). Good for up to 3000 uses before you need to change the filter.

Banking Update

I now have my Scotiabank business debit card in hand. Thank you Lakshi! I am yet to respond to my small business advisor's request to connect with him so he can reverify my identify prior to sending the updated Scotia Connect agreement. My good friend Judy has convinced me that I should share my experience, in a constructive way, with Small Business VP and with the Scotiabank CEO. Stay tuned. May be more to come...

Next week

I'll start the week in Bangkok. Fly to Bohol in the Philippines, with a four hour layover in Manila International. Back on the beach; staying at the Alona Vida Beach Resort until Saturday. Figure out what's next after that. See you next Sunday!

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David's Great Adventure - 2023