Last Day

We travelled up to Colombo by train yesterday. There was a bit of confusion about our seat allocation. Bob believed he had booked 2nd Class Reserved seats but when we found the seats there was Sri Lankan woman occupying one of them. She would not accept that our ticket showed 37A and that she was occupying it. Being the 7.15 am train it was not heavily booked so we managed to find two seats together but the woman had the plum seat with full window view and open to the breeze. We waited until there were Rail Staff nearby and then Bob explained the problem.They then explained the cause. Our ticket was for seats 37&38 Car A ie 1st Class. We had to get our bags ready and when the train stopped at the next station get off the train and scurry along to the next car with the staff herding us saving "hurry, hurry". So we ended up with slightly more comfortable seats but windows that were dust and rain streaked but which we couldn't open because it was air conditioned. It was only a 2.5 hour trip so we were soon back in Colombo. We then cloaked our luggage and hired a Tuktuk to take us for a drive around Central Colombo. We have been booked into accommodation both times out near the airport in an area called Nogombo. As such we have explored this area and not been in to the city. Our driver took us to a brief stop over at the Botanic Gardens which were pretty but didn't rank as high Kandy. We then saw a bit of the city scape as we drove to Independence Square and back to the Railway Station. We then used "Pick Me" to hire a car and driver to take us out to Nogombo. Pick Me is a local cheaper version of Uber which was recommended by our first hostess and which has been highly reliable. By 3.00 pm we were ensconced in our accommodation and had nothing more to do than have a rest and walk down the street to dinner. This morning we caught a succession of Tuktuks to go out to the Nogombo central shopping area which is quite a long way. We explored a couple of the department stores and then went out to the beach to watch the fishing boats, the young people surfing and have an ice cream. The weather is quite hot now and because of the humidity we sweat a lot so it was very pleasant out there in a breeze and watching the hawker trying

to earn his living. He had quickly realised he wasn't going to get anywhere with us even though he had modified his stock of necklaces to include some without shells or wood. We have late checkout at our accommodation so we can stay here until we leave for the airport. So tomorrow morning we will be back in Perth and it is over and out from me.