Welcome to Sri Lanka

Hello everyone.

As promised, we are checking in after our first leg, the journey. We are completely exhausted. Due to the time difference, we basically stayed awake all night, but let me start from the beginning.

On Sunday, we took the train to Munich. Super easy and relaxed from Leipzig Hauptbahnhof to Munich City in just over three and a half hours. When we arrived there, we went to the hotel, which was about 400m from the train station. That was also our first test run with full luggage. Well...you could feel it.

Monday morning, accompanied by rain and snow, we headed to the airport. Again, very relaxed, and thanks to online check-in, we were there only two hours before the departure.

But the flight dragged on quite a bit. Munich - Dubai - Colombo with a layover of just over three and a half hours in Dubai. But what can I say. When you are welcomed by nearly 30 degrees and sunshine in the end, then all the effort is worth it.

After our arrival in Colombo, we withdrew some money and immediately bought a SIM card (called the Tourist Plan). Since you also need some patience here and the ATMs seem to have a life of their own, another two hours were added to the travel account before we could finally be picked up by our driver Leonard at the post office.

Leonard was great. He used the entire driving time to introduce us to the history and peculiarities of his home country - truly amazing. Even though you have to get used to Sri Lankan English. It's a bit like Indian English, just faster.

After that, we checked in and spent the first day sleeping, eating, and taking a walk on the beach.

Oh, by the way... it's really noisy and different here. Horns honk everywhere, music blares from open doors and windows, every other person talks to you and wants to sell something, tuk-tuks rattle through the streets, and the birds sit in the trees and make incredible noises. I'm already looking forward to the inland and the lonely hikes.

But I'll tell you more about that when we reach Kandy the day after tomorrow. Big kisses to all of you. See you soon and Cheers, Sina and Matti.