Sri Lanka - First Day, First Show

“Anywhere but there!” exclaimed my dad when Vashu and I told him about our painstakingly researched Sri Lankan honeymoon itinerary. No sooner did we convince both sets of parents that we weren’t suicidal to think of honeymooning in a war-torn country, we started getting disdainful reactions from everyone who heard of our choice of place. 

          “Sri Lanka mein kya hai?” asked Varsha. Rekha tried putting it a bit more delicately- “Did you take enough time to decide on a good place or not? Don’t be in a hurry; it’s after all a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

Both Vashu and I badly wanted to prove all the naysayers wrong. But I only hoped our "Great Expectations” didn’t turn out to be as drab as a Dickensian one.

Sri Lanka was completely a trip of firsts for both Vashu and I. Our first time on board a flight, first time abroad and not to forget our first few memorable days purely in each others arms.

Landing at the Bangaranayake International Airport at Katunayake, Sri Lanka, the first thing that struck us was the cleanliness. I’d never seen such a clean and well maintained public space in all my time in India. So used to large crowds everywhere, the airport seemed surprisingly less crowded.

Henry with his Pride & Joy

We met Henry, our great guide cum chauffer at the exit and promptly fell in love with his supremely comfy Toyota Corolla with its equally great number plate (WP JS 7878).

August 25, 2010

The first stop was Negombo, a city on the west coast, slightly north of Colombo.

We checked into the Camelot beach hotel and were led into a room that was, to put it kindly, uninspired. Burnt sienna and cobalt blue combination is really not my thing! 

Going down to the hotel restaurant, Vashu nearly had a fit seeing the buffet price tag- a whopping SLR 1300 per head! “Par kya kare? Bhook bhi to koi chees hoti hai!” 

Moral of the story- Look for food/ internet/ and anything else you require outside the hotel if you don’t need burnt pockets.

Bridge on River Maadhu

Fishing Boats, Negombo

Touring Negombo city was off-putting. Nothing much to see or do here. I could see our Great Expectations crumbling and could almost hear my friends loud “I told you so!”

Then came the silver lining to our dark clouds- Sigiriya, a world heritage site.

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Written By: Aarabhi

Photography By: Vasistha