Day 0 – Leaving Aus.

The journey begins. We travelled to Sri Lanka on a direct flight with Sri Lankan airlines from Melbourne to Colombo on Thursday 23th of August 2018. At Melbourne airport there was no request to see my onward travel and the same in Sri Lanka. Potentially because I have travelled here so often. There was an unusual sadness as we said good bye to the parents for the next year.

The flight with Sri Lankan was good. With 3 servings of meals and plenty of liquids on offer from the friendly staff. (A word of warning. Be wary that some people would not be used to public toilets with locks. Therefore don’t push open the door expecting it will always be empty…I had the displeasure of opening the door to a older lady doing her business).

The plane’s seats weren’t overly comfortable due to the headrest position but strategically placing the supplied pillow and blanket behind, gave me a more ergonomic feel.

The airport has free Wi-Fi so we were able to message the family back home and in Sri Lanka. After immigration, baggage collection and customs (it’s been a long time since my bags have ever been checked in Sri Lanka) we decided to get a Mobitel (Dialog) mobile sim with 8GB (4GB between 9am to 12am, and the other 4GB between 12am and 9am) for 1,300 Rupees (or US$10 as the sign mentioned). I don’t know if it’s because of the late arrival (10.30pm) or not but we didn’t get much friendly banter or conversation at all with the guy we bought the Sim from. With the bare essential conversation made, we left for the pick up zone.

Leaving the airport to our awaiting ride (one of our cousins) the instant wall of heat and humidity hit us. It’s definitely not winter here. Luckily we didn’t have to wait long to get into the car for our hour ride home from the airport.

The benefits of staying with family besides the free accommodation was the rice and curry we had as a midnight snack. Tomorrow the family rounds with commence. For now sleep.