Oh Babushka - trips within a trip - Thailand, UAE, Oman, Spain, Portugal, UAE again, Sri Lanka and Singapore

[Seat0B]

Thursday 26 December 2024 - DXB-CMB on UL226

Took two ubers to the airport (Terminal 1), with the Seats +Almost DIL in one and the rest of her family (let's call them the HLOs) in the second. We had agreed to meet up after security and immigration, as they were sure that they would be faster than us as they didn't have to check in luggage.

Let's just say that travelling economy on Sri Lankan is a very different experience to Business on Emirates! Immigration was busym but the e-gates kept things moving along. Security was a cattle crush of humanity pushing and shoving and shouting and trying to queue jump. It's not usually like this when you use the premium check in area in Terminal 3!

Still, there were a few good parts:

• The check in clerk let me check in Seat Son and Almost DIL at the First Class check in line (OWE privilege), even though they were on a totally separate booking to us.
• The Ahlan Business lounge in Terminal 1 was actually quite nice. It was very busy, but staff were circulating frequently clearing away used plates and glasses and topping up the food offerings, so it was quite a pleasant experience. We enjoyed a snack, a glass or two of bubbles, and added a fe cans of softdrink (ginger ale and coke) and some bottled water to our bags for future use.
• Our whole party of 7 was given OWE boarding privileges, despite being on three separate tickets, so everyone managed to get some overhead locker space - a benefit which proved to be very valuable in the event.

We actually made it to the lounge before the HLOs did, despite having to drop our luggage. This is because there was no line at all at the First class check in, and so the whole process probably took less than 5 minutes. I was able to guest Mr Seat 0A and Seat Son, and Almost DIL could use her credit card for lounge entry. The HLOs also accessed this lounge on credit card benefits as they have no FF status.

We headed down to our gate all together when boarding was called at 2240. Flight will clearly be late as it was due to depart at 2310.

I asked at the gate about OWE boarding privileges (no signs anywhere for premium boarding) and was really surprised that the whole 7 of us were instantly whisked to the very front of the long line waiting to board. This was expecially appreciated given the absolutely crazy amounts of hand luggage that people were bringing with the. This was way beyond having too many bags. People were carrying boxes with small kitchen appliances (like rice cookers etc, so not really small boxes, not like a toaster ) and some had slabs of bottled water, others were carrying 15kg (clearly marked) bags of rice. it was total mayhem. So the HLOs were thrilled to get on board early in the process and get their luggage up into the locker before having to deal with all that.

Our aircraft for this flight was a very tired and elderly A330. It smelled very strongly and unpleasantly of stale curry, and something else pungent that I could not identify (no it was not durian). The flight was packed and the downside of my aisle seat was that almost every person banged their excessive hand luggage against me as they worked their way down the back. The seats were very close together. Remember I am only 165 cm tall, and whilst not skinny, I'm not large either and it was too tight for my comfort. My knees were about 1 cm from the seat in front. I don't know how taller people like Mr Seat 0A (at 180cm) or some of the even taller people on here manage this.



As soon as possible, I put on my noise cancelling headphones, and closed my eyese. Reclined my seat as soon as the seat belt sign went off, put on an eye mask (thank you Emirates), declined meal service and tried to sleep. This was a serious challenge with lights on the whole way, except for the 20 minutes before landing when the cabin lights were dimmed. Plus there was a fair volume of aisle traffic which continued to bump into me because of the narrow aisle. Still I managed a couple of decent snatches of nap.

Despite the late departure (at 2330), we still arrived on time, so the already short 4:20 flight was even shorter, which actually was a small mercy as I really struggled to get comfortable.

Anyway, I will appreciate my upcoming flights DXB-SIN on Emirates in Business class all the more for this experience. NOT looking forward to the equally anti-social hours return to DXB though.

 

[Seat0B]

Friday 27 December 2024 - Colombo to Unawatuna

We were through formalities quite quickly and were outside the terminal in high heat and humidity looking for our shuttle bus by around 0515 local, which was before sunrise. I felt unpleasantly dizzy and a bit woozy, which was definitely a lack of proper sleep.

I was not alone in feeling ruined! The party of seven zombies was soon installed in the transfer van, and hit the road for a roughly 3 hr trip.

Several of us were keen for coffee, so our driver took us to the first place he know of about 20 mins away, which did not sell take away. So we agreed to stop at another place he knew of, allegedly about 30 minutes away. Well, we arrived there after 1.5 hours, which was perfect as it gave all of us time to nap. We paid a premium price of 720 (`$4) rupees for a decidedly average coffee, and 40 rupees (~25c) for an extremely average toilet, but needs must.

You'd think the caffeine would have perked us all up, but it didn't. Before long, only Mr Seat 0A and I were awake, and I soon gave up the effort too. I woke as we left the highway and travelled sown some very busy and narrow local roads, that became even narrower local lane ways, dodging tuk tuks, motor scooters, cars and even delivery trucks coming at us from all directions, all of them blasting away on their horns.

We arrived at our villa complex (Prana Villa) at about 0930, to the very welcome news that the previous guests had already checked out and our rooms would be ready in about 30 minutes (which, like all times in Sri Lanka became 1.5 hrs) which was much better than having to wait until 1500. So we were invited to sit in the dining pavilion and drink fresh watermelon juice and then tea, which we did with gratitude.

Prana Villa Unawatuna - Charming 4 bedroom Villa | Unawatuna

Set in Unawatuna, 1.9 km from Bonavista Beach and 2.1 km from Jungle Beach, Prana Villa Unawatuna - Charming 4 bedroom Villa offers free WiFi, an outdoor swimming pool and air conditioning. This villa has a private pool, a garden and free private parking. The villa has 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms...

www.hotelsinsrilanka.lk

The villa complex is very private, with a 2m high whitewashed masonry wall all around the compound, and ornate gates. The grounds are lush, tropical and manicured. The buildings are all white, with very high ceilings and constantly swirling fans. The bedrooms are instaworthy, with a four poster bed covered in gauzy white mosquito netting which were softly rippling in the breeze from the open shutter windows (no glass) and full height french doors out to the grounds. Very beautiful. The bathroom was rustic - concrete and pebbles - but functional. There is a beautiful pool, which is sparkling clean. And we have staff her to attend to our needs - 2 ladies who do cooking (we get breakfast and dinner each night) and shopping for our food (we give them an idea of what we want, they shop and we pay the costs, they prepare and serve and clean up after the meals); a security guard who works from sunset to 0800; and a groundskeeper who also looks after the pool).


We were delighted when we were given access to our rooms after about 1.5 hrs as the number 1 priority for everyone was a refreshing shower and then few hours sleep.



We gave the ladies some money and asked them to cook us something local for dinner.

After waking from our naps, we just chilled. Some sunbathed, some swam, some read books. And by reading, I mean I managed to get through 40 pages before nodding off to sleep again! Mr Seat 0A and Seat Son took a tuk tuk to explore some alcohol and snacks for pre-dinner drinks tonight and some lunch because as it was now about 1500 we were hungry. They were partially successful. They got beers and local whisky. And for food, a small packet of chips each - the locals don;t seem to be into snacks, or large sizes.

Ate my snack, drank some tea, and fell asleep again, a further 14 pages into my book. Somewhere in that, I managed to wake enough to transfer myself from the couch to the bed, and slept until woken for dinner.

We enjoyed a chicken curry (quite spicy, but all were able to eat it), rice, dal, a delicious beetroot salad and a similarly good green bean salad, pappadams and fruit juice. A very good meal.

A card game was started. I was too tired to follow, so excused myself to read. Managed another 30 pages and then asleep on the couch again. Woken by the others on their way to bed, so had another shower, and scrolled the news for a bit, thinking I;d have trouble sleeping after all those naps. But I did not have any trouble going to sleep at all.

 

[Seat0B]

Saturday 28 December - Unawatuna Sri Lanka

Slept through my 0830 alarm.
Slept through breakfast.
Slept through several rounds of urging to get up.
Finally arose just before noon, still feeling tired, and had a shower.
Gratefully devoured the plate of sweet, juicy, delicious tropical fruits set aside for me by Mr Seat 0A.
Drank 2 cups of delicious Ceylon tea.
Still feeling so tired, I was afraid to lie down and read in case I fell asleep again

While I slept the morning away, the others took a tuk tuk tour of the neighbourhood and found a couple of coffee spots and bakeries selling lovely little treats, which they brought back for a sort of lunch at about 1500.

We enjoyed the afternoon thunderstorms and rain, started a complex 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, played more cards, at a dinner similar to last nights and just relaxed.

So far it has cost about $10 USD per person for breakfast and dinner, which is pretty good for the spread we have enjoyed.

Off to bed to the sound of gentle rain falling. Lovely.

Drop and flop holiday is meeting the specification!

 

[VPS]

They must have finally realised that it wasn't coffee that they were serving there

Loving this TR Seat0B!

bAlt and my first trip together way back one hundred years ago was going to be Spain and Portugal, but we ended up on our first cruise together. Our second saw us briefly visit both on our way from Venice to Rio. The places you have gone to in both have been added to our holiday spreadsheet

My holiday spreadsheet is huge and never going to be achieved but I keep adding things to it. I've also found I can't achieve what I used to in a day

 

[Seat0B]

My holiday spreadsheet is huge and never going to be achieved but I keep adding things to it. I've also found I can't achieve what I used to in a day

You've captured my experience perfectly. Every time I read a TR on here, I add more places to my "must go there" list. Speaks volumes to the capacity of AFF members to share the essence of their various destinations.

And yes, I think it's time for me to realise that I am not a youngster any more, and settle in to enjoy a bit more "Slow travel". I'm up for it!

 

[Seat0B]

Sunday 29 December 2024 - Thursday 2 January 2024 - At Large in Sri Lanka

The drop and flop has been so successful that I passed up diary writing for a few days and then found it very hard to recall what I did on which day, so these next couple of posts are a bit of an amalgam of things we did over the visit.

Daily Routine
Most days involved sleeping late until 0830 or even 0900. The kitchen staff start work at 0830, and their first job is to make our breakfast. Breakfast each day is largely the same:

• plates of fresh tropical fruit, all deliciously ripe and full of taste. Slightly different offerings each day, including watermelon, mango, papaya, passion fruit, lychees, oranges, bananas, dragon fruit, custard apple, kiwis etc.
• omelettes (always with added chillies)
• cold, cold, hard as a tack toast. With butter. But no other spreads.
• a big pot of delicious Ceylon tea
• On New Year's Day we had hoppers with egg and bacon - these are made witha fermented rice flour and shaped into a little pancake thing to contain filling, in our case, eggs.

We gave up on coffee very quickly - it was the finest quality - International Roast - not even Moccona!!

Here are a couple of breakfast shots:



Most days after breakfast, the rest of the crew would head off to the beach in a couple of tuk tuks. I'm not a fan of the beach anyway, but on the first day I went for a look see and conluded that the local beaches were pretty disgusting - "muddy" sand, lots of litter, crowded with mainly Russian tourists, people looking to charge you for everything - minding your clothes, bringing a lounger (you couldn't really sit on the sand, it was kind of muddy), getting a drink etc. I went along a couple of times and spent time in the coffee shops/bakeries with my book, but I found this really hot and sweaty, so I soon opted to stay at the villa and do the jigsaw puzzle with a cup of tea to hand and the fans whirring away. The jigsaw annoyingly had 2 pieces missing!!



The beach crew would typically return about 1230-1400 each day, bearing pastries for lunch. After lunch we would all take a cooling dip in the glistening, sparkling pool timing it to beat the regular afternoon thunder storm that arrived between 1500-1530. Once the rain arrived, we would all retreat to the lounge pavillion, and read, play cards or do jigsaw, some drinking beers, and some hitting the Ceylon tea. A few of the dips were in the rain, if we thought the danger of lightning strike was low. There's something quite lovely about swimming in the rain. We also had a pool champagne toast in the rain to the newly engaged. I debated blurring faces for privacy, but in the end, I wanted to share the joy which is obvious by the smiles we are all wearing.



We ate at the villa most nights, with 2 nights out, which I will talk about separately.

Dinner was early most nights around 1730-1830 so that the kitchen ladies could finish at 1900. We had:

• Chicken curries of several varieties -spicy, but not too spicy
• a huge variety of delicious veggie dishes, both salads and curries involving beetroot, green beans, pumpkin, potatoes, eggplants, onions all with various spices
• yellow dal - simple and delicious
• rice, chapatis and pappadams

For New Year's Eve, we planned a BBQ with a whole fish and chicken. We asked the ladies to shop for these things, along with side dishes and relevant spices, and to prepare the meats for the BBQ. We said tha we would cook ourselves, hoping to eat a bit later than usual. Yes, yes, they said. But in the end, they would not let us cook for ourselves, and one of the male staff (the groundskeeper) was pressed to the task. We begged to cook ourselves - after all Almost DIL's father is the Braai Meister - but they said , no, no guests cannot cook. I'm pretty sure that it was their first BBQ as the usual rookie msitakes were made and persisted with, despite our attempts to guide the process. So the flames (wood fired) were raging as the meats were added, and soon scorched beyound all recognition, whilst simultanesouly being patchy raw in the middle. So it was that we endured a disgusting, inedible meal of the most expensive ingredients we had purchase. Luckily the side dishes were good, if not hugely plentiful enough to make a satisfyingmeal for everyone. No photos.

 

[RooFlyer]

settle in to enjoy a bit more "Slow travel". I'm up for it!

I think we discussed a cruise at some point . But hey, I've read your skiing TRs - you can't claim 'no energy' !

 

[Seat0B]

I think we discussed a cruise at some point . But hey, I've read your skiing TRs - you can't claim 'no energy' !

Yes we have our first ever cruise coming up in September this year. TR to follow.

 

[1022]

Just catching up. Terrific TR so far. Your dhow cruise pictures brought back memories of exactly a month ago to the day....warm sunshine, clear water, delicious food, true relaxation. Quite the contrast to a cold drizzly night at home in the Dandenongs after a busy work week with the first man flu of the season!