Sangz came up with this unique title. Originally I had "Sri Lanka - the Borrowed Land" or "Go-Lanka" or some such heading inorder to ensure that bloggers succeed in finding this post while running a search, but these titles were turned down by my better half saying that they were either too bland or maybe flicked from some other website heading. The heading is supposed to be interpreted as either "Save the tourism of Lanka" or "Sangeetha (SA) & Venkat (VE) in Lanka" - Quite a bore I know but nonetheless.
It all started in January 2007. I had just returned from London after a 2 weeks system training session. The only plus point out of that travel was that I got to travel by Lufthansa, not that I am a big fan of that airline. There was a different underlying reason behind it – I had enrolled into the Frequent Flier program of Jet Airways (called Jet Privilege). You get to earn points out of every travel done either on Jet Airways directly or through some partner airline – Lufthansa being one of them. My onward and return trip via Frankfurt saw me earn a good 14000 points into my kitty bag.
After I returned we decided to use those points straightaway in redeeming them for free air tickets. After browsing through their website, came to the conclusion that a trip to SL would be affordable, of course we arrived at that conclusion after comparing prices on other airlines as well. Would like to recommend here that if you are looking for the cheapest air travel to SL then you ought to take Air Sahara – it costs approximately 8000 INR inclusive of taxes for one person both ways. The only flip side to it is that the flight starts and lands (both ways) somewhere around midnight. Although we were successful in getting air tickets out of those points earned we still had to spend around 15000 INR to pay out the air tax as the points are only helpful in substituting for the basic air fare payment.
Once that was settled we next decided to do a bit of homework around SL as we were traveling to a foreign land. Although we had heard that it was like a second Tamil Nadu there was the underlying fear from the LTTE. Incidentally there were news reports of the LTTE having bombed one of the air stations situated close to the International airport in Colombo. This naturally alerted us including our immediate kith and kin, meaning our parents. After a strong undying battle we succeeded in convincing them that nothing would happen (which we sincerely hoped) to us whilst there. Sangz decided to use her net browsing capabilities (I must say she is very good at this) to find out all the information required about SL – places to visit, list of economical hotels, travel, food, etc. After a one month long debate, argument and discussions we finally decided to shake hands and agree on the following itinerary –
Apr 2nd – Arrive at Colombo and proceed to Kandy.
Apr 3rd – Visit Sigiriya, Dambulla and Habarana and return to Kandy.
Apr 4th – Proceed to Dalhousie from Kandy.
Apr 5th – Trek to Adam’s peak and return to base. Then proceed to Nuwara Elliya.
Apr 6th – Sight seeing in Nuwara Elliya.
Apr 7th – Some more sight seeing in Nuwara Elliya.
Apr 8th – Proceed to Colombo.
Apr 9th – Departure from Colombo.
One look at the plan and I am sure that you must be thinking that we are more of the inland type. None of the places mentioned are next to the coastline along a beach. Not that we don’t like the beach but then we have been to so many beaches (including our very own Marina and Eliot’s beach) that we decided to skip the pleasantries of staying next to some sand, surf and sea (I would also have mentioned swimsuits but then my wife is reading).
Well the plan was laid out and the next steps were to finalize on the accommodation and other arrangements like transport. One of the travel experiences that we had in mind was to travel by the SL Railway service on our return journey to Colombo from Nuwara Elliya. The highlight of the rail journey is that it takes a mountainous path through bridges and tunnels enabling one to see the landscape and virgin beauty of SL, through a first class observatory car attached at the end of the train which is more like a compartment with glass walls which enables you to see the entire scenery without any interruptions from the back of the train. The added advantage of traveling by a train in SL is that it is dead cheap when compared to other modes of transport there. But then all good things come with a price, at least this one did. The bookings weren’t open until ten days before the travel date and you really had to use your influence in getting those coveted seats. We understood later that most of the railway officials used their influence in getting seats as a treat for their families and despite our efforts in using some inside help we couldn’t get the tickets. But then we were thankful that it didn’t come through for reasons stated later.
Finally the D-Day arrived. April 2nd (incidentally my bro’s birthday) saw us all excited. Imagine Sangz getting up at 6am – that should explain everything. We had to arrive at the airport at 9:30am exact (3 hours before departure time). Meeting that time did reap us rich rewards. By a stroke of luck our seats were upgraded from Economy (hey don’t think we are poor, just that Jet Airways didn’t have any Business Class seats to offer under that scheme) to Business Class. I nearly did a back flip excited at the experience awaiting us. But as they say – “Pleasure is only an interval between two pains”, our pleasure was only to be short lived. I mean the Business Class travel was superb (but it got over very soon – the flight takes only around 1.5 hrs to reach Colombo) but what was in store for us at Colombo was something that we could have never imagined.
We were carrying with us currency notes in INR expecting to have them changed for LKR (Lanka Rupees). The Thomas & Cook Exchange counterman at Chennai airport said that we could exchange our money at Colombo but then when we arrived at Colombo we realized that INR was simply not the accepted currency anywhere in SL. What a disaster! They only accepted premium currencies like GBP, USD, EUR, CHF, etc for exchange. We almost fell over. We were left penniless in that instant and that too in a foreign land.
We then made hasty inquiries at the exchange counter for any place where they would accept INR. One of the guys seeing our helpless situation said that he knew someone in Colombo who illegally accepted INR. He was in fact even kind enough to write down the address and also gave us directions to reach that place. By stroke of luck I had exactly 19USD with me. Incidentally my Dad who had just returned from his project in Mauritius (another factor which proves that we are not poor) had some USD notes for which he had no use. He had given them to me for my use. Well it did come in use and we happily pocketed the equivalent LKR 1900.00 (the exchange rate then was IUSD = 100LKR) which would help us in affording a bus ride to Colombo and then trying to find for the particular place which at that time appeared as the last hope for our survival in SL for the next 8 days.
We started walking out of the airport and we had to go through a corridor lined up with shops advertising for taxi and hotel service. We decided to make one last frantic attempt and entered the last shop down the corridor. We were greeted by an old man whose face was consoling enough for us to pour out our grievances. He heard us out and his face brightened. He asked us to sit down and walked out of his shop. In a minute he was back with another man by his side. He explained that this man was a business man who used to travel to India and who was in use of INR. God bless him. The businessman asked us how much INR we had and said that he would gladly exchange for twice that sum of LKR (the exchange rate then was 1INR = 2LKR). And that was it – it was rags to riches all in a matter of five minutes, the quickest story ever. What a relief!
We then left the airport and walked towards the coach station to take a bus to Colombo from where we were to change buses to proceed to Kandy. Colombo is around a 45minutes bus ride from the airport and Kandy is around 4hrs from Colombo. This was the route that had been recommended to us but then it was later that we realized that the bus road from Colombo to Kandy passes through the airport which would mean traveling to Colombo was only a waste of time. We did not realize this until our cab driver mentioned it to us. When we reached the coach station, we were the first ones to board the minibus. The minibus wouldn’t start until filled to capacity which would mean another half hour to start. We then decided to splurge and take a taxi.
We returned back to the airport entrance and got ourselves booked into a cab for around 3500LKR. And then in the next 5 minutes we were both neatly tucked in the backseat of a cozy air conditioned cab zooming towards our first destination – Kandy. And before I could put my thoughts together at all that had transpired in the last one hour, I looked sideways only to realize that Sangz had fallen into a deep slumber with her head falling on my shoulders (well Sangz wanted me to mention here that it was I who slept in the car and not she but we all know better !!!). I gladly offered her my shoulder with my thoughts filled with anticipation and excitement about what Kandy had in store for us.
After I returned we decided to use those points straightaway in redeeming them for free air tickets. After browsing through their website, came to the conclusion that a trip to SL would be affordable, of course we arrived at that conclusion after comparing prices on other airlines as well. Would like to recommend here that if you are looking for the cheapest air travel to SL then you ought to take Air Sahara – it costs approximately 8000 INR inclusive of taxes for one person both ways. The only flip side to it is that the flight starts and lands (both ways) somewhere around midnight. Although we were successful in getting air tickets out of those points earned we still had to spend around 15000 INR to pay out the air tax as the points are only helpful in substituting for the basic air fare payment.
Once that was settled we next decided to do a bit of homework around SL as we were traveling to a foreign land. Although we had heard that it was like a second Tamil Nadu there was the underlying fear from the LTTE. Incidentally there were news reports of the LTTE having bombed one of the air stations situated close to the International airport in Colombo. This naturally alerted us including our immediate kith and kin, meaning our parents. After a strong undying battle we succeeded in convincing them that nothing would happen (which we sincerely hoped) to us whilst there. Sangz decided to use her net browsing capabilities (I must say she is very good at this) to find out all the information required about SL – places to visit, list of economical hotels, travel, food, etc. After a one month long debate, argument and discussions we finally decided to shake hands and agree on the following itinerary –
Apr 2nd – Arrive at Colombo and proceed to Kandy.
Apr 3rd – Visit Sigiriya, Dambulla and Habarana and return to Kandy.
Apr 4th – Proceed to Dalhousie from Kandy.
Apr 5th – Trek to Adam’s peak and return to base. Then proceed to Nuwara Elliya.
Apr 6th – Sight seeing in Nuwara Elliya.
Apr 7th – Some more sight seeing in Nuwara Elliya.
Apr 8th – Proceed to Colombo.
Apr 9th – Departure from Colombo.
One look at the plan and I am sure that you must be thinking that we are more of the inland type. None of the places mentioned are next to the coastline along a beach. Not that we don’t like the beach but then we have been to so many beaches (including our very own Marina and Eliot’s beach) that we decided to skip the pleasantries of staying next to some sand, surf and sea (I would also have mentioned swimsuits but then my wife is reading).
Well the plan was laid out and the next steps were to finalize on the accommodation and other arrangements like transport. One of the travel experiences that we had in mind was to travel by the SL Railway service on our return journey to Colombo from Nuwara Elliya. The highlight of the rail journey is that it takes a mountainous path through bridges and tunnels enabling one to see the landscape and virgin beauty of SL, through a first class observatory car attached at the end of the train which is more like a compartment with glass walls which enables you to see the entire scenery without any interruptions from the back of the train. The added advantage of traveling by a train in SL is that it is dead cheap when compared to other modes of transport there. But then all good things come with a price, at least this one did. The bookings weren’t open until ten days before the travel date and you really had to use your influence in getting those coveted seats. We understood later that most of the railway officials used their influence in getting seats as a treat for their families and despite our efforts in using some inside help we couldn’t get the tickets. But then we were thankful that it didn’t come through for reasons stated later.
Finally the D-Day arrived. April 2nd (incidentally my bro’s birthday) saw us all excited. Imagine Sangz getting up at 6am – that should explain everything. We had to arrive at the airport at 9:30am exact (3 hours before departure time). Meeting that time did reap us rich rewards. By a stroke of luck our seats were upgraded from Economy (hey don’t think we are poor, just that Jet Airways didn’t have any Business Class seats to offer under that scheme) to Business Class. I nearly did a back flip excited at the experience awaiting us. But as they say – “Pleasure is only an interval between two pains”, our pleasure was only to be short lived. I mean the Business Class travel was superb (but it got over very soon – the flight takes only around 1.5 hrs to reach Colombo) but what was in store for us at Colombo was something that we could have never imagined.
We were carrying with us currency notes in INR expecting to have them changed for LKR (Lanka Rupees). The Thomas & Cook Exchange counterman at Chennai airport said that we could exchange our money at Colombo but then when we arrived at Colombo we realized that INR was simply not the accepted currency anywhere in SL. What a disaster! They only accepted premium currencies like GBP, USD, EUR, CHF, etc for exchange. We almost fell over. We were left penniless in that instant and that too in a foreign land.
We then made hasty inquiries at the exchange counter for any place where they would accept INR. One of the guys seeing our helpless situation said that he knew someone in Colombo who illegally accepted INR. He was in fact even kind enough to write down the address and also gave us directions to reach that place. By stroke of luck I had exactly 19USD with me. Incidentally my Dad who had just returned from his project in Mauritius (another factor which proves that we are not poor) had some USD notes for which he had no use. He had given them to me for my use. Well it did come in use and we happily pocketed the equivalent LKR 1900.00 (the exchange rate then was IUSD = 100LKR) which would help us in affording a bus ride to Colombo and then trying to find for the particular place which at that time appeared as the last hope for our survival in SL for the next 8 days.
We started walking out of the airport and we had to go through a corridor lined up with shops advertising for taxi and hotel service. We decided to make one last frantic attempt and entered the last shop down the corridor. We were greeted by an old man whose face was consoling enough for us to pour out our grievances. He heard us out and his face brightened. He asked us to sit down and walked out of his shop. In a minute he was back with another man by his side. He explained that this man was a business man who used to travel to India and who was in use of INR. God bless him. The businessman asked us how much INR we had and said that he would gladly exchange for twice that sum of LKR (the exchange rate then was 1INR = 2LKR). And that was it – it was rags to riches all in a matter of five minutes, the quickest story ever. What a relief!
We then left the airport and walked towards the coach station to take a bus to Colombo from where we were to change buses to proceed to Kandy. Colombo is around a 45minutes bus ride from the airport and Kandy is around 4hrs from Colombo. This was the route that had been recommended to us but then it was later that we realized that the bus road from Colombo to Kandy passes through the airport which would mean traveling to Colombo was only a waste of time. We did not realize this until our cab driver mentioned it to us. When we reached the coach station, we were the first ones to board the minibus. The minibus wouldn’t start until filled to capacity which would mean another half hour to start. We then decided to splurge and take a taxi.
We returned back to the airport entrance and got ourselves booked into a cab for around 3500LKR. And then in the next 5 minutes we were both neatly tucked in the backseat of a cozy air conditioned cab zooming towards our first destination – Kandy. And before I could put my thoughts together at all that had transpired in the last one hour, I looked sideways only to realize that Sangz had fallen into a deep slumber with her head falling on my shoulders (well Sangz wanted me to mention here that it was I who slept in the car and not she but we all know better !!!). I gladly offered her my shoulder with my thoughts filled with anticipation and excitement about what Kandy had in store for us.
(…to be continued)
1 comment:
Woooo.... I like travelogs ...especially when the journey is planned by some so meticulous. I am waiting to read more on how the holidaying turned out to be .... and oh! don't forget to upload a couple of pics too.
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