7. In Negombo

Helen writes,
Life in Economy wasn’t so bad! After a short while on board we were given food and drink.
All was fine until the plane converted to Sri Lankan time and after only a few hours sleep in the darkened plane the lights were turned on and cold flannels distributed to all of us to wake us up.
I looked at my watch. It was 2am.
We were served breakfast then we landed. In local time it was 8 am. We were very jet lagged! We definitely needed to relax and acclimatise.
Our driver, Neil, met us at the airport and took us to our first hotel called ‘the Beach’ at Negombo.
It is spectacular! There are palm lined beaches and a crashing surf beyond. We explored the hotel and the local beach, enjoyed fantastic local cuisine and cocktails in the evening on the terrace.
May had a King Coconut, which is a whole coconut, pierced and drunk through a straw into the fruit.

 

The three intrepid travelers take time out for a welcome pedicure. Dad just foot the bill.

Today our Sri Lankan friend, Chuli da Silva, came to see us.
She stayed for dinner in the evening and we enjoyed a Sri Lankan buffet on the terrace of the hotel. She thought the food was great so we feel we’ve been eating the authentic cuisine.
It was great to see her after 20 years.
She is about to start work in Dacca, Bangladesh where she is curating/ organising a huge event in photography. She’s just as enthusiastic as I remember she was all those years ago when we first met in Brunei.
She took lots of photos, especially of May and Roshan. She’s always been very interested in their lives as she was instrumental in our adoption of them originally.
We may see her again in Galle as she’s there at the same time as us - fingers crossed.