Hotel New Amirtha , Pure Vegetarian Restaurant Colombo

To be honest, we struggled with food somewhat in Colombo.  Although we saw at least two McDonalds restaurants, we found it difficult to find other restaurants because they weren't well signposted, and there were only a few on the map we were given by our BnB.

We tried to eat at Barefoot, at 704 Galle Road, a funky café close to our BnB, and attached to a groovy clohes, fabric and souvenir shop.  Unfortunately, on the night we went, it was closing early at 5pm, so we had to search further afield.

We ended up a short walk away, at the Hotel New Amirtha ("hotel" meaning "restaurant"), a South-Indian style pure vegetarian restaurant. 

The restaurant was pretty basic to look at, but it appeared to be clean.  It offered both dine-in and takeaway options, with a large supply of supply of pre-prepared snacks at the front door. 

We opted for a dosai and daal, and some snacks.  The dosai was served on a stainless steel platter, with different sauces served up for dipping.  We rounded off the meal with tea.

It was a really nice meal.  We hadn't eaten properly for about 36 hours, so we were pretty hungry.  The food was fresh, and really yummy.

It was also really cheap: we paid LKR 230 (less than USD 2) for two people to eat.  It wasn't the flashest place around, but the food was good and the service was friendly.  

If you're in Galle, we'd thoroughly recommend Hotel New Amirtha, and we'd rank it 8/10.

Gangaramaya Temple, Colombo

The Gangaramaya Temple at 61 Sri Jinarathana Rd, Colombo, was on our list of key things to do in Colombo.  After our adventures at Colombo Fort, we headed there.

We paid our LKR 200 each for admission (this was to prove one of our cheaper Sri Lankan experiences), deposited our shoes on the racks, and went in.

The temple is more than 120 years old, and is packed full of interesting sculpture and other artwork telling the story of Buddha's enlightenment.   

The sculptures were interesting because of their almost-Renaissance style, and the way they seek to tell a story.   Unusually for a Buddhist temple, the sculptures depicted far more than just the Buddha.

The first hall, in particular contained massive statuary on the walls and ceiling.

As expected, Buddha is everywhere.

And, as in Thailand, there were some very cute friendly dogs and chickens. Mrs. H was curious what the conection betwen Buddhism and chickens, because in some of the Thai temples we visited they keep chickens inside too.

We were disappointed to see an elephant chained up front and back, so that it could neither move nor sit down.  We weren't sure why the Temple needed to do that, but it seems unnecessarily cruel.

How to go there ?, after book ticket from Fort Train Station we take tuk tuk meter and pay 250 Rupee to reached the temple.

We give Gangamaraya Temple rate 7/10 .

Bandairanke International Airport to Colombo Taxi Review

We arrived at Bandairanke International Airport, Colombo.  The terminal was clean, fairly modern and well-presented.  Immigration and Customs were a breeze.

We emerged into a hot and sunny Colombo day.  And couldn't find a taxi.

We had researched our transfer options pretty thoroughly.  There were three alternatives.  One was to catch a shuttle-bus to a bus station, and then a bus to Colombo. 

The second option was to catch a shuttle to the bus station, and then a bus to a nearby train station and then a train to Colombo. 

The final alternative was a taxi.  Given the complexity of changing buses/ trains, and an uncertain timetable, and the fact that Mr H had been travelling for 30 hours, we decided on a taxi.

Our pre-arrival research had indicated that the best deal on taxis was from Kangaroo Cabs - at a rate of LKR 1,750 one-way.   We had visited the company's website, and enquired whether there was a taxi stand at the airport or whether we needed to arrange a pick-up.  

We were told there were cabs at the airport - but, while we found lots of taxis, we couldn't find a Kangaroo Cab.  In hindsight, we should have booked, but a quick phone call had a car despatched to us.  It eventually arrived, and whisked us into town.

The car (a Toyota Prius) was modern and well-maintained.  Our driver was generally good (although he was a bit enthusiastic about trying to push through urban traffic jams with little thought to the quality of his paint job or the lives of pedestrians).  There was an expressway for much of the way into city - although this cost us an additional LKR 300 in tolls.

Even with the snarl-up off the Expressway, it took us about an hour to make our way to our BNB in Galle.  The timing was pretty good and we recommend Kangaroo Cabs for those needing a taxi from Colombo Airport.

One word of warning though - there are metered taxis with kangaroos plastered all over them.  These are not Kangaroo Cabs, although if you weren't paying attention you could easily be fooled.  We didn't try these - but we heard that they were much more costly.

We did wonder why a Sri Lankan taxi company would name itself after Australia's most famous marsupial.  We never quite hopped to an answer.

We rate Kangaroo Cabs 8/10. Recomended !

Drift BnB Hotel Colombo - Review

Drift BnB in Galle, Colombo, is a funky kind of establishment.  It hides several flights up (although it does have a dumb waiter for carrying bags) and is basic, but well-appointed.   It's close to a small shopping centre and the beach (we loved the small beach view from the open windows in the bathroom), and it was clean and tidy when we visited.

When we checked in, the staff were really friendly and helpful.  They gave us a handy map of the area, complete with local restaurants, cafes, shops and points of interest.  

They told us how to catch a bus and what it would cost (LKR 30), as well as giving us an idea about tuktuk charges.  They were really honest and told us it would be about LKR300 to Colombo Fort railway station in a metered tuktuk - and told us not to bother trying to haggle with unmetered drivers.

If you want to take an early train from Fort Station, we think this is the best place to stay. Just 8 minute away from Fort Railway Station with tuk tuk.

We did an afternoon walk, and easily found a supermarket, the famous gift shop "Barefoot" and a shopping mall nearby.

For the first time visitor, it's bit difficult to find this hotel, because you access it from down inside a small alley.  A bigger sign on the outside would help people can find it easily.

We only stayed for one night, and left unsociably early to catch an early train north - so we didn't get to sample breakfast.  It would be great if the BnB provided tea and coffee facilities in the rooms to make it easier for both guests and staff, but we would stay here again, and give it 8/10.

Air Asia X Review - Kuala Lumpur to Colombo return - D7 182 and D7 183

To be frank, Mr Herbivore was a bit worried about flying on an airline with an alphanumeric airline code.  There's something faintly solid and reliable about airline codes like BA, QF and SQ.  He'd only ever previously seen alphanumeric codes on domestic Russian airlines flying old Soviet-era planes, so he was relieved to board a well-kept and shiny A330-300.

For Colombo we will fly with Air Asia X. It's different type of plane than the one we flew to Chiang Mai. Air Asia X has bigger planes and flies longer-distance routes like to Japan, Korea, Jeddah, Nepal and Australia.

You don't fly on the Air Asia family for service.  It's a budget airline.  You have to check yourself in online, and print your own boarding pass.  You have to select how much baggage you want at the time you book your ticket.

If you don't do these things, you have to pay an extra fee.  (We're not quite sure what the point of the check-yourself-in requirement is though: if you have checked bags, you still have to queue up for long periods to drop your bags, the staff still want to review your travel documentation, and on our return flight, they even gave us nice shiny new Air Asia boarding passes).

So Air Asia is a no-nonsense kind of airline.  It doesn't offer movies or entertainment, and it doesn't offer food (although you can buy food on the plane).  But it does leave on time.  Passengers know that if they are not on board at the right time, they will miss their flight.  Overall, this is a good thing. On D7 182, and our return flight D7 183, we left on time (although we were late arriving back in KL because of a strong headwind).

On the outbound leg, we had tried to eat breakfast and get coffee before we left KLIA2.  This had been a shambles.  We cleared Emigration before we ate, in order to avoid the queues, but while there are several landside cafes, the airside choice is quite limited.

We tried to eat at the airside food court, but despite being some of the very few passengers there, the service was extremely slow, to a point where we began to fear missing our flight.  We gave up trying to order coffee, after 10 minutes standing in a queue of three.

We knew we couldn't take bottled water through security at KLIA2, but we were surprised that once we were through, we couldn't buy a bottle of water.  The best you could do was buy a cup for MYR 2.  As the cups appeared to have a capacity of more than 100mls, we weren't quite sure how aviation security was advanced by this.

Anyway, because we hadn't eaten properly, had missed coffee and failed to get water, we decided to buy something on the plane.

We invested in a bottle of water, a cup of tea and some cashew nuts.  We would have had a Kit Kat, but they had apparently run out, so had a chocolate brownie instead.  It was actually quite yummy.

Coming back, we ordered pot noodles.  The vegetarian option wasn't especially tasty, and contained nasty monosodium glutamate.

Both ways, we would have ordered a more substantive meal - but vegetarian options are only available if you pre-order them online.  You can't order them once you are on the plane.

This was a bit disappointing, and we think that Air Asia could better service its vegetarian customers by having standard vege meals on all its flights.

Our flight back was memorable for the world's worst-ever cup of tea.  We think the flight attendant put a tea bag in a cup and then poured coffee into it.  It was undrinkable.  We would have complained and asked for another - except the cabin crew studiously ignored us for the rest of the flight.

But we still lucky to get the best view of sunset from our window.

Air Asia offers cheap flights (we pay 400$ for 2) - but provides no service.  That's kind of okay, as you get what you pay for, and it's okay on short-haul flights.  It wouldn't be much fun flying from KL to Melbourne though.

Tune Hotel Kuala Lumpur International Airport Review

Mrs. Herbivore, as a loyal passanger of Air Asia Flight got a good deal on Tune Hotel KLIA2 via Air Asia's direct marketing. It's a budget hotel for travellers that want to stay close to the airport in destinations served by Air Asia.

We had heard that, previously, one had to pay extra for basics like air conditioning and towels, but we got an all-inclusive rate at around USD45  for the night.  

As we were scheduled to arrive at midnight, and leave at 7 AM, we thought it was worth a go for a few hours rest.

One of the key advantages of Tune Hotel is that it is a very short walk from KLIA2 - maybe a couple of hundred yards.  It's easy to get to from the bottom level of the terminal (although we later discovered a covered walkway from the second level of the terminal).

The foyer of the hotel was bright and welcoming.  The people at reception were friendly, and there's a shop at the bottom where we were able to buy some snacks.

The room itself was basic and pretty average.  There were scuff marks on the walls and doors, but we thought it was okay for a night's rest.

The bathroom was functional, but a bit smelly.

It was late, and we went to bed.  Then the fire alarm went off.  It rang loudly enough to rouse us from our slumber and get our passports so that we could flee the blazing building.  Then it stopped.  

Anxiously, we opened the door and looked out into the corridor. There was no movement.  We looked out the window.  There was no sign of anyone, and certainly no sign of panicked guests evacuating.

So we went back to sleep.

Then the bells rang again.  Again, they rang for only a short time. Long enough to wake us up - but then they stopped.  Bleary-eyed, we opened the door.

This time, we saw a hotel employee cleaning the corridor.  We asked him what was going on.  He started at us blankly as if we were mad.  We told him we heard the fire alarm, and he shrugged and shuffled off along the corridor - and we went back to bed.

Overall?  An average hotel.  Great location if you are travelling via KLIA2, but not so good for a quiet night's sleep.  Our rating: 5/10.

Next Destination : Sri Lanka

Our journey continues.  Our next destination is Sri Lanka. We will spend 12 day travelling around Srilanka. Our plan is to start in Colombo, visit Sigiriya (near Dambulla) and the north Central Province, Kandy and end in Negombo city.

Map courtesy of freemapview.com

We arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) terminal 1 late on a Thursday night.  Our plan was to continue on an Air Asia X Flight to Colombo the following morning.

Because the Air Asia X flight left around 10.00 AM (from KLIA2), we decided to overnight at Tune Hotel KLIA 2.

We had to wait a while for baggage to arrive at the carousel from Lufthansa, then from KLIA, we  needed to take the train to KLIA 2.  This is a short trip (approximately three minutes).  

The trains are clean and efficient, and run every 15-20 minutes. The ticket price is 2 Malaysian Ringgits per person each way. 

(Inconveniently, there are no airside transfers between terminals at KLIA, so if you want to transfer between a full-service airline and Air Asia, you need to clear Immigration and Customs, and then do it all again at the other terminal).

To be Continued :)