Sri Lanka

Flight to Sri Lanka

On March 27, 2025, it finally began for both of us. We quickly packed the last few things into our backpacks, hoping that nothing important was forgotten. Then we headed to Frankfurt Airport.
Our flight was at 8:20 PM. However, I got my first shock at check-in when the man at the counter said he needed our return flight ticket. The problem was that we didn’t have one yet and didn’t even know when we would be coming back. Fortunately, the issue was resolved quickly when I inquired again. The man told me that our visas would suffice.
So nothing really stood in the way of our departure! Or did it?! Saying goodbye to family made things a bit harder. After we had hugged everyone and shed some tears, we went straight to security check. Just before the security check, I glanced at Jan and nervously said, “What are we doing here, actually?” - But eyes closed and onward!

The flight to Mumbai went by really quickly and pleasantly for me, as the seat next to me was empty, which allowed me to sleep well. Upon arriving in Mumbai, we had about a 3-hour layover. The connecting flight was direct to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.
We were already seated on the plane when the announcement came, boarding completed. Immediately, I switched seats to get the one next to Jan.
However, after half an hour, I was awakened because more passengers arrived. Unfortunately, I had to return to my old seat. I must say that the delayed passengers belonged to an Indian tour group, who all appeared to be over 70 years old. I sat down next to an older Indian woman who was on FaceTime. Immediately, she held the phone in front of my face and proudly showed me her grandchildren and her daughter. With gestures, she indicated that I should buckle up. Hardly had I managed that when the older man by the window urgently needed to use the toilet again. Everyone had to unbuckle and get up! Fortunately, another woman eventually asked me if we could swap seats. I was now sitting next to two nice German girls who wanted to vacation in Sri Lanka.

After the flight

First, we picked up our luggage, and I withdrew some cash. Then we wanted to take a bus to our first accommodation. So we left the airport and were already sweating in a matter of seconds. However, since we couldn’t find a bus stop and had no cell service, we decided to take an Uber to our accommodation.

In the evening, we explored the area a bit and bought some groceries. I immediately noticed that people were looking at us curiously. We were often greeted with 'Hello!', small children waved at us, and we seemed to be something special in this area. It should be mentioned that we were staying in a rather poorer neighborhood of Negombo, where there were no tourists. We decided to go out for a small bite to eat in the evening, and I had fried mushrooms, which were really tasty. In hindsight, I would have preferred not to have them, as I went to sleep with a stomach ache and had to throw up in the middle of the night.

Day 2 Negombo

In the morning, we slept in until around 11 AM, and thankfully I was feeling better again.
After breakfast, we took a tuk-tuk into town to visit two churches.
The first tuk-tuk ride was really exciting and interesting. Anyone who has traveled on the streets in Asia knows what I mean. We were also slightly shocked when we saw a bottle of vodka next to our driver's seat. Later, we noticed that almost every tuk-tuk had alcohol on board. This was used to chase away mosquitoes.
After visiting the two churches, we wanted to head straight to the beach.
We walked through the small side streets of Negombo and passed by many locals. At the beach, we quickly realized that we were not yet at the swimming beach. There were boats everywhere and small huts with fish nets. The people looked at us with amazement and amusement. The little kids waved again, spoke a few words of English with us, and followed us for a few meters.
After what felt like an eternity, we finally arrived at the “real” beach and went directly to the first beach loungers.
There we were immediately approached by Hermann, a man from Bavaria, who spent the cold autumn and winter months in Asia. Next to us were a German family and another German tourist. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so far from home anymore. After a relaxing day at the beach with coconuts, smoothies, and curry, we returned to our accommodation.

Things that I noticed in the first short time:

⁃ many street dogs
⁃ a lot of poverty and homeless people
⁃ as a white or pale Westeuropean, one really stands out here
⁃ the people are very friendly and interested

It was particularly difficult for me to look at the many street dogs. I would have loved to help every one of them and cuddle with them all. Fortunately, I got vaccinated against rabies; otherwise, I would likely have caught it right away.

Day 3 Colombo

On the third day, we headed to the capital Colombo.
We chose to take a bus to Colombo, which lasted almost 2 hours. The bus was packed to the last seat and, of course, had no air conditioning, so we were quite sweaty. However, we only paid 280 rupees for the ride, which is about 90 cents.
The first stop was the temple and the Petah market. We only viewed the temple from the outside since it opened at one o'clock. After that, we proceeded to the market. Here you could buy all sorts of things, from toys to various spices or food.
However, this market is not suitable for people with claustrophobia. The streets were bustling with people, and every few meters, a car or tuk-tuk squeezed through the crowd. After we crossed the market a bit, we decided to continue towards the city center. Along the way, we saw the famous Lotus Tower. Halfway to the café that I had previously looked up, we decided to take a tuk-tuk. The café was relatively expensive by Sri Lankan standards, and we paid almost €22 for both of us.
Afterward, we walked to a park and then started our journey back home.
That meant another 2 hours on a hot, non-air-conditioned bus. After the ride, we were completely soaked and looked forward to the shower.

In my opinion, you shouldn’t stay in Colombo longer than a day. The streets are extremely full, the air and heat are simply suffocating, and I didn’t find the city particularly beautiful either.

Day 4 Negombo

We spent the last day in Negombo again at the beach.
On the way to the beach, we quickly stopped at the bus terminal to inquire about the route to Sigiriya. Google Maps often does not list all bus connections. After that, we went to the same beach bar as on the second day and naturally met Hermann again, who is there every day. This time there was a woman with him, and he told us that he had met her on the beach and now just had to explain it to his wife at home.