Penultimate Transit

Another Sri Lankan train ride. 

We had reached the far Northern point of our Sri Lankan circuit and the time had come to return to the teeming city of Colombo.  From the Ancient Cities region and Anuradhapura, we boarded our carriage for the five hour trip south.  

The snack vendors sell all manner of treats, navigating the jostling train cars and calling out their wares in sing-song chants. 

Forty rupees will buy tasty udula dabai in a envelope made of recycled cast off papers. It doesn't pay to think too much about where the paper has been. 

One very cool thing about Sri Lanka is the street light switches.   In many parts of rural Sri Lanka the overhead lights, if they exist at all, have manual switches. If you are of a mind to do so you can simply turn them on.  I know that it works because of course I had to try one!!  This is an idea that would never work in the USA.  Imagine the chaos.  

Five hours of hypnotic train swaying later we arrived at the Fort station in Colombo. A quick train change and we were on our commuter to Mt Lavinia, our old neighborhood.    This would be easy, not like the last time.  Or so we thought.  As a bonus, our commuter train was early so less waiting......

Back on the familiar run along the Indian Ocean. 

Never a seat on this run.  The packed commuter train, busy even on a Sunday evening.  

Easy.   Yes, well, there was a reason our train was early. We sailed right through the Mt Lavinia station and four more before we stopped.  So, off the train and scrambling over the stairs to the opposite track, we caught the slow commuter back North, this time actually reaching  our stop.   Now the easy walk to the guesthouse. 

Easy.  Even though we know Mt Lavinia well, the guesthouse was a mystery. Up and down Hotel Road we trudged, finally stopping for a drink and wifi to double check the address.  Back down the hill in the dark, we found the right address but no guesthouse sign and no evidence of rooms for rent.  We had already booked and paid for this place or we would have given up.  Finally some gentlemen at a jewelry shop called the place for us as we do not have a local SIM card.   Out of the unmarked door popped a man who then walked us two blocks to our place, a guesthouse  which had a completely different name and location than the one listed on the Agoda website.   Vindicated that no one could have found this joint, we settled in, showered off the travel slime, and headed to our halal curry shop for string hoppers and roti coated in fiery red chicken curry. 

Travel the world and still lessons to learn. You won't always find the place, the train won't always stop here or there, people are generally kind and helpful and a sense of humour is an essential part of the journey. 

Soon we must fly back to Vienna, but not before savoring two more nights in Colombo.  As I write this, I am sitting on our veranda as lightening and thunder entertain us and the rain pours down. Our luck with traveling the rainy season has been extraordinary.   

Tomorrow:  Sticky, sweaty walk-about in 100% humidity.   I did not know there was such a thing but that is the weather forecast for the next week.