On July 17th we sat down the kids and came up with a list of things we wanted to remember about Sri Lanka. Here are some of the things we wrote down.
- Late night flight that we were 3 hours early for. We got Pizza hut and hung out in a comfy lobby where the kids played tag and hide and go seek while Ad and I read books or played on our laptops. Ady had a dirty diaper at the airport which I changed, but then pooped again and I ran out of diapers. We couldn’t find any for sale, or in any of the bathrooms, so we ended up changing her and letting her go commando with towels underneath her. However, as we were boarding Adam inquired to the airline about diapers and they were able to send someone back to the pre-security area to buy diapers for us. They had Adam wait at the check in gate while the kids boarded and we were able to get a diaper! Tender Mercy there!
- Arrived in Sri Lanka late at night and when we went to go through immigration we discovered that I had put in Adam’s passport number wrong on his visa application requiring us to RE-PAY $35 Again (so now $70) and have them give us an on the spot visa. We fought it but to no avail. Then they gave us someone elses credit card which we thought meant they had decided to pay for it and when Ad went to return it – it was discovered that they had given us the guy who had been ahead of us’s credit card. Ahhh. So we ended up having to refund his money and then use our card causing more delays.
- Once we got our luggage we found a taxi but couldn’t get a hold of our hotel to make sure our reservation had been confirmed and to get directions. Adam luckily had his phone and googled the address and after much frustration we were able to find the place (it was well after midnight by now). However, it was basically a backpackers dormitory with hard beds and no A/C (although in a super beautiful location). We slept horribly that night and had 3 out of 4 kids crying at one point because they didn’t like their room, but eventually we all got to sleep.
- Ad taught the hosts how to make french toast for the kids that morning but they made them with onions and tomatoes. ha. So I had to re-teach them and eventually we got some done the right way and put different jams on them (they even had strawberry and peach).
- We took a walk to the beach across the street which we were warned was not a swimming beach, but we were so glad we went because the sand there was as black as night which neither Adam or I or the kids had ever seen before and it was so sooo soft. The waves would crash on big rocks in the water (aka why it wasn’t a good swimming beach) but the kids had fun playing in the sand and jumping waves.
- Because there was no A/C at our backpackers house, we canceled our 2nd night and ended up going to another home where their was A/C. We got the “family room” which put us all together but had a door between us. Worked out great.
- We walked down to the beach and eat at a local restaurant which was 5 minutes away and then played at the beach all afternoon on a beach which that we referred to as “lovers beach” because it was filled with Sri Lankans under unbrellas kissing and snuggling. So funny. We made sand castles, played in the waves, and buried Branson alive. đ
- Home for naps, and then at 8pm we left for dinner in a tuk tuk and eat at a place where there were lots of tourists. It was super expensive and slow but it filled our tummies. Sri Lanka was having a holiday of sorts so most other restaurants were closed. They had a big beach party going on with music and food which we walked through and bought ice cream at and then took another tuk tuk home.
- Sunday we went to church at the local branch and met a member who does tours for a living. We were able to arrange an all day trip to Kandy which was a 7 hour drive round trip. We loved seeing the mountains and jungles on the way and breathtaking sites. We had lunch at our homestay and then left at about 2. We tried mangosteens and orange coconut juice, and some other foods and had fun just exploring the area. We went to a cave temple, a big Budha on the top of a hill, and a place the Sri Lankan king had built. Then back home to Colombo for our 1 am flight listening to the same Michael Jackson CD (didn’t know a single song though) about 9 times during the whole day. Needless to say we were soooo sick of it by the end of our trip. We ended up buying our tourguide and friend Shammika dinner as well as our driver Rohan at a local joint (super cheap and super good) and then headed for the airport.
- There were no seats when we got there so we ended up finding a wheelchair to sit in (which the kids had a ball pushing Adam and Ady all over in) and then I found a airport shuttle cart and sat on that. They eventually let us into the terminal where there was seating and we sat in there until our flight. Brans got a migraine and threw up in an airport garbage can.