Hotel Omega Inn Wellawatta

Just overnight here, as my sister organised her flight for the wrong day. Didn't really explore, just wandered around and visited the Thai embassy to find out about VISAs.

Picked Rebecca up at the airport the next morning and we organised a car to take us around for the our whole trip. This took quite a lot of negotiating, but was actually worth it ...

... of confused looks. Later, while Jae was getting a massage, I went out to check out the prestige cinemas of the capitol city. First I walked down to "Ricky's DTS Theater", where a Sri Lankan film called "Leader" was showing. It was a huge old movie house in pretty bad shape. Different prices for different locations in the theater, but I splurge and paid about $1.40 for a balcony ticket. (150 Sri Lankan rupees, which are not the same as Indian rupees. The film had no ...

... and it is a large hotel. Though 4*, the signs of wear and tear are obvious throughout - the white sheets not so crisp, small repairs left undone. The 'shopping area' - a block of 4 units - has only one occupied business, and even that was closed for almost the whole of my visit. The business centre is closed. A combination of tsunami and civil unrest has caused a dramatic downturn in tourism. That evening a large group of Europeans arrived ...

... year? Maybe.I get you wife! He's totally serious and I try to be polite not wanting to just brush him off.He wants to know my preferences for age and skin color. Do I require fresh? (virgin). Finally we narrow it down to around 30-33 years old, light brown color and "fresh" not mandatory. He gives me his address and wants me to send him 2 photos and a bio and and he will write back to me.Eventually the train comes and he shows me where the second class car is and I get on and find ...

... underway during dinner, accompanied by a crowd of exotic crows who had colonised one of the containers. We're still very lightly loaded - we picked up only 5 containers in Singapore and maybe a couple of dozen at Colombo, by appearances. [Later]: It's my birthday! I had thought to celebrate, but with less than two hours shore leave in Colombo, it is confined to a very gingery ginger beer at the Seaman's Club! (To whom much thanks.)

... developing world with access to fresh water, free education and free health care. The king, a seemingly benevolent one, seeks improvements in GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness) rather than GDP. The local Red Panda and Druk Lager improved our GDH. Nepal was next. Where Bhutan is calm and orderly, Kathmandu is wild and woolly (especially during the ...

... We could see the dog running and could hear some squealing so we ran over to the Tuk Tuk rank and all of us shouted "follow that dog" ( it did not sound funny at the time but as I type it I can only think what we sounded like ) We jumped into the Tuk Tuk whose driver was more than up for a dog chase and he went as fast as he could (they don't go that fast but he gave it a good go) as we came level with the temple we spotted the dog running towards the ...

... or "Lion rock". He stayed there for 16 years, until one day his royal brother returned from India...with an army ready to fight for his title of King. I think the rest of the story is half myth and not really reputable...but it is still told. The two brothers are ready for battle, with the royal brother and his army charging towards the palace. The royal brother and a few other generals are sitting upon elephants ...

... again today. Another guest told a whole group of us in the Ladies' Room that you don't put paper in the toilet. That explains everything! There's only a tiny little bit of water when you flush, never enough to move paper, so our toilet paper in the Ladies kept accumulating in the toilets, with each of us apologizing to the next user, after flushing and flushing and flushing. It turns out that the sprayer next to the toilet is for your personal hygiene (like a ...

... Lanka, the Galle Face Hotel. Leave it to say that the "decaying elegance" that our guidebook used to describe it was 100% accurate. Parts of the hotel were historic, elegant and utterly charming while other aspects were just plain decayed. All in all though, fun for a night and certainly worth a visit next time you are in Colombo! I'm going to leave it to Katie to tell you about the unreal NYE party we attended at the hotel and our shopping experience in ...