Back where we started

Tue 3 May 2016 - Return to Negombo

Today was our last day in Sri Lanka as we fly out of Negombo. For the last time in SE Asia and Sri Lanka, we jumped into a tuk tuk, and made our way to Weligama station to catch the express train to Colombo Fort This journey didn’t allow us to pre book and reserve seats so it was a hectic scramble between the backpackers and locals to find decent seats in the 2nd class carriages. Old hands at this now, smugly, we sat in front facing seats by a cracked window, which at least opened all the way, and managed to secure our backpacks directly overhead. The first part of the journey was a steady one to Galle followed the coastline passing the newer buildings and hotels which have sprung up since the tsunami swept away everything. The main town of Galle is a tourist hot spot and when the train arrived here the platform was 3 to 4 deep with locals running alongside to jump on before we’d even stopped to secure a seat with the poor tourists having to wait with all their huge suitcases until it stopped and the chaos started again with nationalities jostling for a place to sit.

The train from here took on its express service and we whizzed past many towns and stations making our way north through the countryside. When it did stop at stations, vendors jumped on selling coconuts, hot pasties, an assortment of drinks and walked through the moving carriages and hopped off at the next station or if onto another stationary train on the opposite track, freely walking along the railway lines in between the trains. One vendor jumped on selling balloons, beggars sauntered through the carriages and one elderly busker had a tin whistle and seemingly played relevant music to his foreign audiences. We had a christmas song.

The journey took a hot four hours with a puny ceiling fan whirly around with little effect and arriving at Colombo Fort with the carriages now full of locals standing in the aisles we had to push and shove our way out to the platform practically throwing our backpacks out before us. Collecting ourselves we made it to the exit and making it through the scramble of tuk tuk and taxi drivers we found our driver who drove us back to the Bridge hotel in Negombo, back to our first night hotel for our last night. 

Mr Niluk, the owner and his wife warmly greeted us and asked us about our travels. We all avoided mentioning Frederick our bad tempered driver who parted company with us the second day of our tour. We ate our last rice and curry, repacked our bags and had an early night. We leave at 2am for the airport ready for our next destination, Southern Africa. 

Joined by the clergy...

...and a coconut seller

One of the many rivers we crossed

Entering Colombo