Aug 31, 2024 – Negombo
We took the flight for Sri Lanka from Chennai. Chakrapani dropped us off at the newly redesigned Anna International airport early in the morning at 6.15 am. There was a long queue at one of the gates and Krishnan smartly went and asked the CRPF security person at another gate if we can enter from there. When he said yes, Krishnan told him that he will get his wife (me) …. The security guy, a North Indian couldn’t stop laughing at Krishnan’s sincerity in bringing his wife along.
We got to the check-in counter quickly and checked-in our light luggage and went for immigration. That also was done quickly despite a huge group on a religious pilgrimage also going through immigration. Security check was quick too and then we entered the terminal. We hadn’t had coffee or tea in the morning so we started looking for a place to have that.
On the right hand corner of the massive terminal, there is a food court and we saw Adyar Anand Bhavan. Quickly ordered breakfast and coffee. Note : A2B uses biodegradable plates and cutlery, no plastic.
We were having breakfast by 7.15 so just an hour after we got to the airport. This was after we walked a couple of times from one end to the other of the international terminal.
The new airport doesn’t have a lot of shopping options and food options are also limited but I guess it will get there. There are lots of sofas, chairs, loungers available so that people can get some sleep as required before taking a flight.
Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo
The flight to Sri Lanka takes just under 1.5 hours. We boarded the flight at 9.45 and landed in Colombo at 11.15. Everyone was served a veggie burger as a snack on the flight since it’s such a short haul.
At the Colombo airport, we entered the immigration queue and got out in less than 5 minutes. There is Visa on arrival for Indian citizens. If you opt for that, first get your visa and then get to immigration. One of those in front of us had not got the visa but stood in the immigration queue and was asked to get the visa first. After immigration, collected our bags from the baggage carousel. As we were walking to the baggage carousel, I noticed this display board and immediately took a picture.
Indians are spoilt …. we have nearly forgotten to pay for things using cash ever since the digital payment revolution happened. Everywhere one pays using GPay or BHIM or PhonePe or PayTm… How convenient. Thank You Modi Ji. 🙏🏿
After collecting our bags, we went through the Customs green channel as we had nothing to declare. Went out and Dhanushka was standing there with our name board. He took a picture of ours under the banner saying “Welcome to Sri Lanka”.
From the aircraft we could see the green cover in Sri Lanka and it was very pleasing to the eye. Also the houses etc are similar to the Kerala style houses with slanting tiled roofs.
From the airport it took us about 25 minutes to reach our hotel, Earl’s Regent in Negombo. Since we were early at the hotel, we could get the room only at 2 pm. I went outside and clicked a few pictures of the ocean… it’s less than 100 metres from the hotel.
Hotel Earl’s Regent – Negombo
Achini at the front office was pleasant and very helpful as we waited for our room to be allocated. The room is really spacious and spotlessly clean. Here are a few pics of our room.
The view from our room is breathtaking –
Dinner @ Koththamalli
Krishnan had done some research on vegetarian restaurants in Negombo and the reviews for Koththamalli were great. So we decided to walk down and have our dinner there. It’s a restaurant that’s part of the Jetwing Ayurveda Pavilions. Only vegetarian food is served here. We tried the Coconut Roti and a spicy fruit and veggie roll. Both were outstanding. Note : Rotis in Sri Lanka are made with Maida, not whole wheat flour.
Read more – Koththmalli by Rohan.
We had a lot of tuk tuk drivers asking us if we wanted to take ride as we were walking. Many of them spoke in Tamil. Almost everyone asked us if we were from India (my trademark saree was a dead give away).
Negombo is not very crowded. It’s laid back and a small beach town. Those who love seafood would be thrilled by the options they find here.
On the way back we stopped at the Sunshine Supermarket to pick up some water and snacks. We were thrilled when the shop owner asked us if we wanted to pay digitally using UPI. Ofcourse we said yes !!
Had a great day and slept with the sound of the ocean in the background …. very soothing.
Always a pleasure to read your travel blogs..