Day 289 – Sri Lanka to Miami, USA

34 hours a day! 

We arrived at the airport yesterday, as our flight was leaving at 3.15am. Security at the airport has been significantly relaxed, despite all the crazy news reports going round. 

After we went through immigration we decided to have some tea. The shop we went to was out of tea (which would have cost $5 USD / $7.35 AUD). However, the staff member gave us a good old Dilmah Tea bag instead, which is typically for the staff only. He then refused to take payment or even a tip from us. An extremely nice person and just a lovely way to leave Sri Lanka.  

Once the plane took off, I drifted off as I watched Aquaman and awoke to the breakfast service. I was super happy as I tend to remain sleeping during food service. The omelette was really good. 

Transit  

We landed in a very busy Doha airport with massive lines for transferring. Once we got through, we went to the gate to get our onward travel boarding passes to Miami. 

The plane was slightly delayed for just under an hour. Otherwise great service as we flew over Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. 

Miami, USA 

At Miami Airport, my wife remembered that she left a book on the plane. The airport staff were helpful and got someone to retrieve it for us. Once we went to immigration, we had to wait quite a while. However, the immigration officer was friendly and had a short chat. 

We looked for a SIM card, but at a money exchange office a SIM was $70 USD / $102.93 AUD and near the metro rail it was $65 USD / $95.57 AUD. We didn’t get one. 

Then we caught the free shuttle/train to the metro and car rental office. From here we used the vending machines to buy bus tickets for the metro bus. Tickets were only 2.25 USD / $3.31 AUD per person. And a bonus, the bus arrived as soon as we walked downstairs towards the stop. Bus stops at platform 10. 

We got off the bus a few blocks away from the hostel which was in Miami Beach. The street was full of activity with lots of loud music and cars. 

The hostel, Blue Ocean Hostel was hard to find despite having a prime location on the main strip. It has a small entrance to the side of the Voodoo night club.

Inside the mixed dorm room there was 12 beds. It was decent. But even during the day there was very loud music from the club below. The rest of the beds were full of friendly locals. 

We had a simple dinner along the Miami Beach strip at Colosseum Cafe e Pizzeria. And then we bought a gallon of water…which is 3.78 litres from a convenience store.  

Last time I came to USA with a friend, we made the mistake of drinking tap water everywhere and we were sick everyday. When we stayed with some local friends, they were all drinking bottled water. That was our “OH” moment. Since then, I only drink bottled water in USA.  

Also, I had a Chilean guy point out that an American should refer to everyone in South and North America. He was technically correct, so hence why I am trying to avoid calling the locals, Americans. I know a few Americans read this blog, so please feel free to enlighten me in the comments below if you agree 🙂 

This ends the longest day of my life, which I calculated as 33.5 hours long, due to the changing time zones. We were both out instantly when we got into our beds.