The Tropic Inn staff gave us great directions to get into Colombo Fort cheaply. From the hostel we walked up to the main road, turned right to wander to the bus stop just past the temple and take the 100 or 101 bus. I found we didn't have to wander that far as simply making eye contact with the driver and giving him a nod would get him to stop anywhere you liked. Much to the peoples annoyance behind us we discovered that you don't pay the driver but a ticket collector on the bus. It only cost us 60 rupees for the 2 of us. Conversely on the way back we took a tuk tuk which cost us 600 rupees.
We got off at Fort train station and went into the tourist office there. Primarily because I needed the bathroom. We got quoted $705AUD for 4 nights from Colombo to Kandi, then the cultural triangle and getting dropped at a beach on the east coast. We've decided to buy a ticket to Kandi tomorrow and just wing it from there. I mentioned to him I might like to see North Sri Lanka and he attempted to subtly dissuade us whilst telling us he wasn't trying to dissuade us.
After trying to get tuk tuks to take us to some places we wanted to see and getting driven in circles for a while, getting dropped in completely different areas to where we wanted to be and getting lost we decided to try and the find Clancy's Irish Bar mentioned in our Lonely Planet Guide. I quite often find these are great places to meet expats and get some insider information and tips and tricks on how to get around the "foreigner" price hikes. Unfortunately upon arriving there we were told by an old local man that. Clancy's had shut down. We didn't check to see for ourselves but our driver dropped us off at a shopping district up the road and we found a fantastic tea place to eat and have a much needed strawberry iced tea.
The Ceylon Tea Moments cafe at the Grand Stand, Race Course on Reid Ave was very well priced, with a huge feed and great selection of tea drinks from mock tails to tea milkshakes, iced tea and of course hot tea. It doesn't do any other drinks apart from tea however. I had a Sri Lankan chicken curry with all the traditional accompaniments such as vegetable curry, rice, spices and a deep fried fish spring roll thing (I'm sure I'll learn the traditional names for these things before we leave). It cost us $18AUD for 2 huge meals and 2 iced teas.
Following that we tried out the the Cricket Club Cafe at 34 Queens Rd, Colombo. Great Colonial feel with large shaded verandas, gardens and old, dark wood interior. We had 2 wines and a beer which came to $18AUD, the same as our huge lunch, so not the cheapest of places.
We moved on to the Colombo National museum from here. Parts of this building date back to the 1800s and has a large amount of cultural relics and artefacts including the royal throne donated to King Wimaladharmasuriya II by the Dutch Governor Thomas Vanree who ruled the coastal area of Ceylon in 1693. Entry to the museum was Rs 500 for the 2 of us.
Following our death defying tuk tuk ride back to the hotel we wandered up the road to the Lions Pub on Galle Rd in Mt Lavinia. I liked the garden sitting area of this place. A cacophony of sounds from the crows, cats, people and the sound of the traffic on the main ride. Russell teased me mercilessly for using the word cacophony. I tried to point out that given he didn't know the word that makes him the loser but I had little success in my arguments.
We decided to wander back closer to the hotel for dinner. We went down to the beach and walked towards the huge white colonial looking building on the point (the Mt Lavinia Hotel?). The place at the end of the beach row before us appeared to be a great place for backpackers to go and watch the clouds over the surf. The owners were certainly pretty open in trying to get us in to join them but we politely declined over the lure of a nice meal back towards the hotel. We ended up eating at a place called The Shore by O! on the corner of College Ave and the beach. I loved this place as it had an upstairs dining area with views over the ocean, played 50s and 60s music with a bit of Elvis mixed in to give it that old beach scene feel and had a nice selection of drinks, including an Australian wine. They sometimes do live music and have an air conditioned separate lounge areas which they probably open up on weekends. Meals varied anywhere from 600 rupees for 'land' food, up to 3000 rupees for lobster. I had grilled fish with vegetables for Rp 850. The restaurant is also right next to the railway and it's fascinating to watch the trains go by in the evening, literally packed to the rafters with dozens of people clinging to the sides.
A wonderfully full and sweaty day out. Tomorrow we'll be trying our hand at booking tickets to Kandy. :)
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