"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #86 Galle to Colombo March 26, 2016 Saturday Heat wave hot Part #1 of 1 52 Pictures

Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2016 4:14:53 AM

Subject: Report #86 Galle to Colombo March 26, 2016 Saturday Heat wave hot Part #1 of 1 52 Pictures

Well, we sure could have slept later this morning, but we seem to be creatures of habit, waking up with the chickens. Actually, around 4 or 5am, we woke up to the familiar sounds of peacocks….same as chickens, only louder. There had been some strange calls during the night, and although we never saw these birds, they must be large based on the loudness of the yelps.

The plan for today was fairly simple. Breakfast at 7am, hang around doing more photo-downloading, pack our two pieces of luggage, then check out. After we would settle our bill, Lucky, our driver, should be outside by 10:30am for our transfer to Colombo.

So we headed to breakfast at 7am on the nose, and decided to compute how the a la carte items added up for our free meal. Having the same items we ordered yesterday, the total came to 9250 rupees, or $65.60 US. And that was for one only. Yes, we did get our money's worth.

Every morning before our food was served, one or two of the wait staff came and visited with us. Since we always have questions, they were most happy to share info with us. Mostly, the fellows wanted to know where we lived in the USA, and what's it like to live there. Much cooler, was our first response.

We had some time to kill after our breakfast, but it was already blistering hot to go for a walk. Nothing in the fort was open until after 9am. So we spent the time on the computer and a little time in the hotel library.

By 10am, we went to the lobby and checked out. Paying the bill was easy, since we only had two meals on it. The nice thing is that we were able to use US dollars. Using a credit card would have been just as easy, but cash was better. By the way, any credit card was accepted at this hotel. We filled out our comments (all positive) in their guest book. When we were done, the manager handed us a bamboo fan as a gift. Nice touch.

Back at the room we called for the luggage pick-up. One of our houseboys came and packed them up all of the flights of stairs. Funny there is no easy way to access these rooms. No elevators. Guess that would ruin the colonial ambience of this property.

Waiting on the veranda, our driver was one minute late. We knew he would be there, but one of our hosts insisted on calling him. A minute later, our driver Lucky showed up, while talking on the phone to the hotel host. Lucky apologized profusely, but it really was no big deal.

We left the bustling city of Galle, then proceeded to the fairly new toll highway towards Colombo. Lucky made a stop at a local gas station, where attendants still fill your vehicle for you. We calculated the price for gas per gallon was around $3.41 US. Wonder what the going price is at home right now?

The ride was so smooth, we slept some of the way. Being on this same highway last year, we did remember that the scenery was basically green and lush, mostly jungle. It was also the perfect time to catch up on writing the diary, while watching the countryside go by.

Around noontime, we had arrived to the outskirts of Kaduwela, where Lucky exited the freeway. We did not realize that the bulk of the transfer was over, as the ride was so fast with little traffic or horn-blowing.

This would not remain the same once we joined the Saturday morning traffic of the city folks doing their Saturday shopping. Originally, we were supposed to have a tour of a few of the major sights in Colombo. Most of these we by-passed, with our permission, such as the Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple, the Pettah area, Memorial Hall, Cinnamon Gardens, a park, church, and Independence Square. We could have passed the Gale face Green and the Galle Face Hotel. Since we have been there several times, we asked to be taken directly to the resort. It was still too hot to stop at any of these sites.

Expecting a hotel near the airport would be a basic hotel, we were pleased to find the resort in Kotugoda, north of Colombo, was a jewel hiding in the jungle.

The Wallawwa was one the country estate of the head Chieftan of Galle. Now it is a really neat property with an informal garden setting. There ws a veranda restaurant, open-air with ceiling fans, a spa room, a tiny not-for-profit shop, and special gardens with fresh produce that is used in the kitchen. The swimming pool was surrounded with lounges with a spacious lawn area down below.

Guess what? There is satellite TV in our room. Also good news….there was free WIFI throughout the complex.

The room was really cool, literally. It is 55 square meters, with a canopied bed, and over-size armchair, a window seat, and a private garden. There was the usual safe, a ceiling fan, tea and coffee making machine, and a hairdryer. Waters and sodas were all complimentary. We made good use of them.

The bathroom was really modern with terrazzo-lined floors and walls. In the center was a vaulted skylight, letting in natural light. The room itself was spacious with a writing desk and coffee table. However, there was little space for a lot of clothing. No chest of drawers or much space to unpack your cloths. There was a small space with a clothes rod, a shelf, with a few portable tables here and there in the room. For one night, it was OK.

We went exploring at 3pm. We needed to pre-order breakfast for this restaurant Sunday morning, since we would be leaving at 6:30am in order to get to the airport three hours before our fight. A long as we requested it, the restaurant staff promised to open up ½ hour earlier at 6am. That would give us plenty of time before we had to be ready to leave.

Exploring the resort, we met a family from England next door to us. They were on their way to Yala with their two kids for a leopard safari. They were more amazed at our tans, guessing we had been here for some time. Sharing our travels with them, they were really riveted when we talked about the camp we went to. They were headed to the same area tomorrow, and we could tell the kids were excited after hearing our stories. Sure hope they have as much luck with wildlife sightings as we did. It's the luck of the draw.

Going directly to the restaurant, we spoke to the manager to arrange our breakfast time and check out the menu. Again we would have a served breakfast of our choice, and not a buffet. We really like that much better. The food was quite similar to the meal we had in Galle. All very tasty and filling.

Sure hope we can order from the lunch menu at dinnertime, because we found some entrees we cannot live without. Pizza and burgers….nothing better than that.

In the meantime, while checking out the garden pool, tea was served under the veranda. How civilized is that? Peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies were put out, along with Ceylon tea with milk and sugar. Once the cookies disappeared, which was fast, since many families were here with kids, they brought out a tray of frosted brownies. We got ours before they disappeared too. This would definitely tide us over until dinnertime.

Since the pool was full of mostly teenagers, we chose to work on the computer and watch some TV. The only news feed was CNN, which had the basics. We watched a few sitcoms of Outdoor Man and other recently popular comedies.

Dinner was at 7:30pm, and by the time we arrived, the room was full. Only one table for two was left for us. And yes, we did order a margherita pizza to share (excellent), and two bacon cheeseburgers with fries (very good). No room for dessert, we went to sleep early by 10pm. It had been a long day, but all went smoothly.

Tomorrow, we will be in Dubai, and re-join the ship.

Bill & Mary Ann

Another day, another breakfast