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 !
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