Our long-awaited trip to Sri Lanka finally began on Tuesday.
In the morning we set off for Frankfurt. From there, we flew via Doha to Colombo with Qatar Airways. We assumed we would finally be travelling with a great airline. How wrong we were. It started with having to check in our own luggage. That wouldn’t have been a problem if the check-in process had worked for everyone. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, so staff were once again needed to help the hundreds of passengers. We were even called to the counter to show our visas a second time. Not off to a great start, that’s for sure. Next example: Our connecting flight in Doha. It was supposed to depart at 2:00 a.m. At 3:00 a.m., we were still stuck on the plane, hoping that we would be taking off soon.
We eventually made it to Colombo, albeit with a slightly broken suitcase.
At Colombo Airport, we met our driver, Sandun, from TravelnLanka. We received a very warm welcome and were even given necklaces as a welcome gift. He will be accompanying us on our journey for the next ten days. Right from the start, he told us a great deal about the country. We are very happy to have him by our side.
From Colombo, we travelled to Sigiriya. Since we were quite hungry after Qatar Airways’ rather strange meal schedule—who serves dinner at 4:00 a.m. but no breakfast before landing?!—we stopped halfway and enjoyed our first Sri Lankan curry, which was quite spicy. It was really delicious and very inexpensive at the equivalent of €3.90. On the way there, we visited the Dambulla Cave Temple, a Buddhist temple built into a mountain. It was very interesting, especially the fact that you first have to take off your shoes. After all, you are not allowed to enter a Buddhist temple wearing shoes.
After visiting the temple, we continued on to the Aliya Hotel. We were even lucky enough to spot a wild elephant by the roadside, enjoying its dinner.
