First time in Colombo and we could not see much of the city in the dark. The van took us past winding roads to a seaside hotel called Jetwing Star. Opposite the hotel we could see rows and rows of shops and restaurants very much like Tanjung Bungah in Penang. Although it was almost 11 pm, the shops and restaurants were still opened. The hotel is a 5 star hotel located near the ocean. The moment we stepped into the cool interior, we could hear the roar of the ocean. It felt like the ocean was just at our doorstep! We could smell and feel the salty tang of the sea. The friendly receptionist and waiter served us a glass of papaya juice each and it was delicious. I loved papaya but papaya juice.....? This was something unique.
We were led to our room. There was a big comfortable bed almost 10 inch thick. It was a marvel because the bed was placed on a cement platform! We marveled at the bathroom. With its brown marbled floor and our essential toiletries in little gunny sacks, we were thanking Air Lanka for this special treat! The room itself was really 5 star by any standards. Unique lampshade accentuated the white marbled floor and brown wooden walls. We were told that dinner was free. We took some photos at the poolside and had dinner at the restaurant facing the roaring sea. We had fruits and cauliflower soup....again something unique to Colombo.
We slept fitfully and had to wake up at about 2.30 pm to wait for the van to take us to the airport. To our surprise the van driver could speak good English. However when we gave him RM5, he asked for RM10 instead saying that he can change it for 50 rupees. We said no! This was something we did not quite like about Colombo. Even in the airport toilet, the cleaning lady waits upon us to hand out toilet tissue and then ask for money!
Will we make a trip to Colombo? After the experience of losing my neck pillow in the van (I was very sure that I lost it while getting down from it), I will not give it a priority that's for sure.
An 8-hour flight took us to Heathrow. Why is it that whatever my meal choice for breakfast and lunch could not be accomodated by the air stewardess? On both occasions I was given what I did not ask for. Some kind of cheesy seafood with rice and vegetarian vermicelli which tasted dry.
We reached Heathrow Terminal 4 (I don't know why there were so many terminals). We were really tired after the long flight. We had to take a red Avis bus to Avis office to confirm our car booking. Avis allowed us to take the car from their office near Waterloo station on the 1st of August as coming back to Heathrow would be really troublesome. From Avis, we took the bus provided to Hatton Cross station at Terminal 5 to Picadilly Circus. From Picadilly Circus, we then took the tube running on the Bakerloo line to Lambeth North.
This was to be our routine for the next one week in London, getting on tubes, changing tubes, checking out the different colored lines on the signboards to find out how to go from one place to another. The most convenient and cheapest way to travel around in London is by the tube or the underground stations. You could get from one town to another just by changing trains. Trains run on different lines for e.g. Bakerloo, Picadilly, Victoria, Central London. Waterloo, Kew, Lambeth North and others. They are denoted by different colors such as white, black, blue, green, yellow, red. You just need to check out the different lines on the many signboards all over the station and then disembark and embark on the stations where the train lines intersect.
If you know English, you can never get lost in London as the signs are really really clear and are located everywhere in the stations. You only need a strong pair of legs and hands if you are carrying luggage as there are long flights of stairs to climb in order to change stations (not all the undergrounds have lifts or escalators).
At GBP7 a day, you can hop on hop off at different stations the whole day long and travel the length and breadth of London.
At Lambeth North, Tune hotel (our home for the next one week in London) was just a block away from the station. Facing the hotel was 2 chinese restaurants and a 24-hour convenience store. A very good location indeed!
For GBP 65 a night per room, Tune hotel is a bargain! TV is free for the first 24 hours, thereafter GBP 10 for the duration of our stay. Breakfast is GBP5 per day (we only paid for 3 days). New towels and toiletries will all be charged extra. London is expensive but Tune hotel is considered cheap compared with the other London hotels (some charged upto GBP 100 a day).
Our hotel room is windowless so we lost track of night and day. There was no wardrobe (we had to hang our clothes on racks above the mirror). The only was to keep our luggage and boxes was under our bed. However it was clean and the bed and pillows were super-comfortable. The toilet was very small but clean.
More coming up.....
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