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!

 

[Flyfrequently]

Some lovely family moments there @Seat0B and have brought tears to my eyes, especially the photo in the pool

 

[Seat0B]

We took three excursions away from the drop and flop part of the holiday. I'll do a bit of a run down of these in the next few posts.

First Excursion - The Great SIM Card Adventure

We had a great experience with Airalo e-SIMs in Thailand and Europe, so were very confident when we also purchased one each for Sri Lanka. This we did not bother with any of the multiple local SIM sellers at the airport on arrival. Turned out to be a serious travel mistake.

For whatever reason, neither of us could get our Airalo e-SIM to connect to the local network. More than 30 What's App messages later (thank goodness the villa had workable wifi), Airalo solved the problem by walking away - they just cancelled Mr Seat 0A's SIM and gave him a refund. Which solved their problem, but not ours. And not only that, there was so much trouble, so much, trying to get a refund for my SIM, that it took another 40+ messages and several days before that happened. Here are a few samples of the exchanges, which were almost certainly
driven by AI on their side. Useless.



It took almost the entire holiday in Sri Lanka to get the refund processed. But of course, this left us "SIMless in Sri Lanka." So we embarked on a trip into nearby city of Galle by tuk tuk om search of SIMs. The scenic fishing boats and fish stalls we had passed on arrival day in our air conditioned bus were still there, looking scenic, but with the benefit of the open air tuk tuk, they smelt very very fishy. Yuck.

We survived the hectic traffic, and were set down at the Galle Bus Station, which was just totally chaotic. People everywhere, some with luggage, some with various parcels and packages, some touting for business to sell various wares, aggressive stall holders accosting passers-by to make a purchase for their busy bus journey. Buses everywhere, idling or revving their engines, tooting or blasting their horns, and not a hint of any air conditioning in the steamy, sweaty weather. What a scene of colour and movement, and above all, of noise.



Anyway, we found a SIM shop and they eventually located the tourist SIM plans, so all good - but they only took cash and we didn't have enough. So they directed us to a money changer a couple of buildings down. Back we went into the heat and noise and walked to the building, but no money changer to be seen. So we tried another phone shop, in case they took credit card. Not only did they not take cards, they ere not even sure of the tourist SIM plan - "new program, may not connect". Frustrating. Hot. Over it. An older gentleman hanging about the shop offered to take us to the money changer, which was indeed in the original building - but masquerading as a jewellery shop. Of course. Changed our cash at the very good rate of 186 rupees per AUD1.

The money changing process was hilariously Sri Lankan. A young guy served us, did the calculations, counted our AUD and then passed the cash and the calculations to the man next to him, who did nothing other than pass it to the next man in the chain, who in turn passed it to the cashier. The cashier counted it again, ostentatiously, and then selected our rupees and counted them out with a flourish. The rupees and the paperwork were then passed back through the two middle men to the young guy, who counted it out for us, and insisted that Mr Seat 0A also count it before leaving.

Back to the first SIM shop and bought our SIMs for about AUD5 each with 15GB for 7 days. Plus they worked instantly as the kind lady would not let us leave the shop until she was sure the connections had been established.

Cashed up, we were ready for a coffee, but no luck. Coffee isn't much of a thing here.

So we caught a tuk tuk to the big Spar supermarket we passed on the way in, charged with buying lunch, snacks, drinks etc for the tribe. Local foods were quite cheap, but anything western or imported were VERY expensive. I found it illuminating to look at the price of tea.

My favourite brand in Australia, Dilmah, is produced in Sri Lanka and the local price was quite good (about $3.50, I pay around $4.80 at home)).



But you could buy 45 "London" teas for only LKR4,800 or AUD 25 ish.



A tuk tuk to Galle cost LKR800-1000 ($4.30-$5.50), with a car costing $5.50-$7.00 for the same distance. We took a car home, with all our shopping bags.

Missions accomplished!

 

[Seat0B]

Excursion 2 - Galle Fort Walking Tour

This walking tour visited key parts of the old Galle Fort which was started by the Portuguese, then enhanced by the Dutch and finally had more additions and enhancements during British colonial era. The tour was interesting enough, but the guide had a really annoying habit of starting his commentary before the whole group had arrived at his location, so I missed quite a bit and had to use wikipedia to fill in the gaps. plus, it was very hot and humid and I was soon sweating. I hate being sweaty. Plus, our guide was very pinged with us because we were late in arriving for the tour, even though we sent him 3 texts to advise that we would be late because our (Mr Seat 0A, Seat Son and me) rideshare car (pickme) was involved in an accident with a motor scooter on the way to the fort .

The driving here is totally chaotic and makes Thailand look positively sedate and organised - Johnny, all is fogiven . There are cars, tuk tuks, scooters with/without the whole family on board (best effort we saw here was mum, dad and 3 kids, all on one scooter, and no helmet or shoes on any of them ), bikes loaded with all manner of things, trucks and buses all drving wherever they could find a gap, on whatever side of the road that gap may be. Scooters and tuk tuks passing up the inside of, tuk tuks, scotters, cars, turcks and buses all passing slower traffic. Roads so narrow,, only wide enough for 1 car in many places. Main roads choked with traffic. And constant, incessant toot tooting on the horn - "move over", "I'm overtaking", "go faster" "I'm coming through", "I'm coming around a one lane bline corner, keep out of my way" alonf the the usual quota of "you're a jerk mate."

Anyway, in all of this mayhem, our car driver managed to collect a couple on a scooter who were trying to pass up the inside, and down they went with a terrible noise, a terrible silence, and then terrible wailing. Lack of any protective clothing meant there was a lot of gravel rash, and looked like maybe a couple of broken bones. Luckily it was at quite a low speed. None of us fully saw what happened as we were chatting in the car. It was my first ever car accident overseas. First instinct was to leap out to see if we could help. But Seat Son, more used to being out of Australia, suggested that as we had in fact not seen anything, we should keep well out of it until it was all sorted between the locals, or else we might be spending hours at a local police station making statements, and may even be expected to make some sort of payment towards the injured. The riders were taken off to hospital in some bystander's car, and our driver told us that he had reported to the police by phone, eho told him to complete our ride and then report to them at the hospital. He was a nice young man, just trying to make a living in a very difficult place, and he was quite shaken by the whole event, as well as anxious about the damage to his car. He told us that he will be required by law to make a payment to the injured. This sat with what Seat Son thought. So even though we were very late to our tour because of the accident, Seat Son gave the driver a big tip and said he hoped that this could assist with the costs the driver now faced. The poor driver was overwhelmed, and hugged Seat Son warmly, shook his hand, and looked like he might have had a tear in his eye.

Anyway, the fort walk was OK, but I soon tuned out and just did my own bit of people spotting. It was a very moody, overcast afternoon, and the place was very very crowded.





I noticed a wedding taking place, and by smiling and pointing first to my heart and then to my phone, obtained the bride's shy nod of acquiesence to taking a few photos of her big day. Her dress was spectacular - heavy velveteen type fabric, covered in gold thread embroidery, and it was 35 degrees and humid as all get out. Not a drop of sweat to be seen on her! And look at that henna work on her hands. She won't be doing any housework for weeks with that!



I also enjoyed the banyan trees, which are everywhere.


And finally, some absolute real estate fixer uppers. Apparently, wealthy people from around the globe want to live in teh Galle Fort area so much that they are paying outrageous sums of money for these little projects. There is strange beauty in their decriptude.



Finally, we had a nice dinner of curry prawns at the upmarket restaurant "The Bungalow", which we follwed up with a delicious gelato from a local shop. I tried vanilla (OK, bit icy), pistachio (very good) and cinnamon flavours (also surprisingly good, and not hot like cinnamon jelly beans etc), but I did not like the tamarind flavour.

 

[Seat0B]

Excursion Number 3 - Tea Plantation and Factory at Handunagoda 1 January 2025

Happy New Year!!

A couple of days ago, we decided to go visit the tea plantation and factory at Handunagoda, and the best day for all of us (Almost DIL's sister had an assignment resubmit to complete, her dad had a work thing - he works FIFO into Saudi Arabia, so it was not regular holiday time for his workplace) turned out to be New Year's Day.

We spent quite a while on pickme (the local rideshare app) trying to get a van to seat 7 with no luck. But then, out of nowhere, a driver accepted our booking for 7 and we were in a scurry to gather up all our things and wait at the compound gate as he was only a few minutes away. When he arrived, it turned out that the van actually only had space for 6 - one in the front passenger seat, and then a bench seat for 2 and another bench seat for 3 in the back. What to do? Well, when in Sri Lanka, do as the Sri Lankans do! So we all squeezed in - Almost DIL, her sister and I all sharing the seat for 2, and her Dad, her mum and Mr Seat 0A on the back bench seat for 3, with our biggest person, Seat Son, crammed into the tiny passenger seat with his knees around his ears! Hilarious. And not in accordance with any Australian road rules, but hey we weren't in Australia and we wanted to go. Luckily, the trip was only about 40 minutes. Unluckily, it was on Sri Lankan roads (full of pot holes, narrow, winding and crowded with other vehicles); and the aircon in the van struggled to keep pace with the temperature.

Our driver stopped for fuel and paid LKR10,000 for 31 litres of fuel (about $1.75 per litre). This is exhorbitant for Sri Lankan people, and sheds light on the number of tuk tuks and scooters on the roads.

We travelled through the countryside and soon enough arrived at the tea plantation parking lot, where we were met by a tour guide, who was astonished that we had all fitted into that tiny little van! He laughed his face off when Seat Son said "yes sir, we are almost Sri Lankan now!"

We embarked on our tour of the plantation where we learnt a few things about tea and how it grows from our guide.


Things we learnt:

• Plants basically cease economical production at about 25-20 years of age.
• Best quality tea is harvested before dawn to avoid the moisture of dew on the leaves.
• Only the newest tip leaves are harvested once every 15 days.
• Hand harvest gives a finer tea than mechanical harvest, which often picks the older (and more bitter) leaves.
• Green tea and black tea are the same plant - the difference is in the drying, roasting and oxidation processes.
• This coastal plantation is at the top end of the temperature range preferred by tea plants (10-35 degrees), but has rich soil. The other Ceylon teas produced in the highlands are at the bottom end of the temperature range, and this alters the flavour of the tea.

They just pick these 3-5 leaf buds for each plant once every 15 days. This is black/green tea.


This is rooibos tea
The tea plantation also does companion planting for some of their flavoured teas and chais - this particular one below was vanilla vine growing with the tea it would flavour. They also grew cinnamon and cardamom with tea plants.


It was hot and sweaty work tromping around the tea plantation, so it was well appreciated when we stopped on the shady verandah of the owner's home to be served a cup or two of their premium "sapphire oolong" tea, and served a piece of chocolate sponge cake by a very smiling tea lady. She took a real shine to Seat Son, who wheedled extra cake and a third round of tea for us all with a big smile, a pantomine of him being big and starving, and a couple of words of Sinhala that he had picked up from the barber he visited a couple of days back.




Took the opportunity to visit the ladies room, and it was absolutely beautiful - not a comment I would generally make about the toilets in Sri Lanka



The next part of our tour was the tea factory.

 

[Seat0B]

Tea Factory and Tea Tasting

We continued on to the factory and saw the various stages of drying, sorting, cutting, roasting and oxidising the tea.



And also some cinnamon bark being prepared for drying


The factory used very old machinery, and the work health and safety standards were nothing like Australia. No PPE, not even shoes, worn anywhere in the factory as the machines chopped, roasted, seived and ground the tea. Although I did spot one pair of safety thongs . And it was even hotter in the factory due to the tea roasting.



It is a lot of work to bring tea leaves to your tea pot!

The final stop was tea tasting and shop. The teas were all pre-brewed and presented in a large brandy snifter. They were arranged from the most delicate through to the most robust, and then the flavoured teas. It looked absolutely beautiful. Each person was given a soup spoon and a shot glass for a free tasting. You took a spoonful of tea, poured it into your shot glass and then drank. The little white cannisters contained a sample of the leaves that you could inspect, sniff etc. There were large vessels at each end of the table to collect the dregs. I tasted every tea on offer, and generally preferred teas without added flavours, although thevanilla tea was nice.


I confess to spending quite a bit of money (about $125) buying beautiful leaf teas for friends and family (and a few for me too!)

On the trip back to our villa, Seat Son and Almost DIL and her family spontaneously decided to jump out and seek out a better beach (later reports "not worth it, we should have stayed with you guys"). Mr Seat 0A and I decided to hop out at the Unawatuna tourist zone for a coffee and lunch. It was a hot and sweaty 15 minute walk until we reached Skinny Tom's the preferred coffee haunt, and we ordered 2 iced lattes, a fish burger with chips and a chicken pesto chees toastie thing - delicious.

We tipped our van driver generously, and thanked him for working for us on New Year's Day. The total cost of the trip, for 7 people for 1.5 hours of driving and 2.5 hours of waiting, on New Year's Day was around $60. We tipped him a further $50 - so about LKR 20,000 (enough in total for a full tank of fuel). It is always good to remember how privileged we are to be taking these trips, and we are grateful to be able to spend our money with people who need it and work with dignity for it.

Then it was back home, by tuk tuk for less than $5, and a lovely lazy afternoon in the pool, reading and finishing the puzzle, before packing our bags ready to depart "home" to Dubai tomorrow.

After dinner, Seat Son's phone dinged a few times, and he was surprised to see that it was a message from our driver thanking us for the generous payment we had given him. He said it was very much appreciated, and would really help him support his family, and that he wished all tourists were as understanding of how hard it is to make a living in Sri Lanka at the moment. Awwwwwww. A feel good ending to this trip.

 

[Seat0B]

Thursday 2 January 2025 - Back "home" to Dubai

Final day - up for early breakfast as requested so the ladies could strip our rooms and turn things over for the next incoming guests who were also hoping for an early check in. We were supposed to leave at 1030 for the airport, but our villa appointed driver "forgot" until we made anxious calls at 1100, whereupon he said he would be there immediately (for that read at 1130). Not to worry, he made up most of that time by speeding (130km/hr on the freeway) and refusing to stop for food, drinks or comfort breaks on the 3 hour trip. Enough said.

Mr Seat 0A had arranged to meet up with a former work colleague, let's call him Kev, who was randomly in Colombo today on one of the seven cruises he has taken in the last 12 months since retiring. Kev was his usual effusive self, and we enjoyed a good 2 hour catch up with him. Waved him off and then headed to security (which was before check in) etc at about 1600, looking forward to a couple of hours to relax in the Sri Lankan Business lounge.

Formalities were reasonably smooth, if a little crowded. But the lounge was extremely disappointing - a total dark dungeon with cold fluorescent lights and sweaty vinyl seats, gave off a soviet vibe. The food was a couple of vats of mystery slop at tepid temperature when we arrived. It was untouched by us, or the other single guest using the lounge the whole time we were there (a couple of hours). Also untouched by any staff either. A recipe for food poisoning for sure. Oh well, maybe a shower. But the shower (singular) was in another windowless room, with no extraction, and no noticeable air conditioning. The mould growing in the grout however, was quite easy to spot. So I passed on that too.

I tried my luck at getting into a couple of other lounges, but I was all out of luck. Oh, yes OWE, you can use this lounge. Boarding pass please. and then, as soon as they saw the Sri Lankan boarding pass, the previously unfurled welcome mats offered to me were hastily retracted and I was directed back to the dungeon. Seems everyone there hates on Sri Lankan. I tried to argue the point a couple of times, but it was like talking to a brick wall.

By now I was feeling a bit hungry too - early breakfast and no lunch, so thought I'd check the terminal's food options. Hmm Burger King or Pizza Hut. Both of which wanted USD15 for 2 pieces of pizza or a plain small burger+chips. I hate being gouged more than I hate being hungry. So instead, Mr Seat 0A and I set about eating all the cheese that was provided ( about 6 mini portions in total) and then requesting more, and more, whilst drinking our body weight in alcohol. That helped the time to pass!

Seat Son and the HLOs had gone into a credit card lounge while we caught up with our friend, and said that they had a similar experience with dreadful slop on offer, but worse still, their lounge was totally dry. So none of us was in a good mood when we caught up at boarding. The less than stellar experience continued with and excessively early call to the gate (over 1 hr before departure), additional security at the gate with a massive line, insufficient seats at the gate, no priority boarding, a full plane and a late departure.

Because I was starving, I ate most of an exceptionally spicy chicken curry with cucumbers, a cake and a coke. Then I binge watched Netflix The Perfect Couple with Nicole Kidman on my iPad. It was an OK who dunnit.

Arrival into Dubai was smooth and fast until the bags took over 30 minutes to arrive, and then we encountered a long and chaotic taxi line. But we eventually made it back to Almost DILs family home where we were all staying for the last night in Dubai. We were in bed by 0130. Big thanks to Almost DIL's sister for taking the couch so we could have her bed .

I quite enjoyed Sri Lanka, but I am not sure I would go back again - although I might enjoy a trip to the highland tea plantations.
I did not enjoy Sri Lankan Airlines at all. I did not enjoy travelling in Y, even for short haul. And I definitely did not enjoy the 2 red eye flights. lesson learnt is that I will do my own arrangements for any future side trips - and I won't be departing or arriving at midnight if I can avoid it!

 

[Seat0B]

Friday 3 January 2025 - Last Day in Dubai

Slept soundly and then headed out for a farewell brunch at Le Pain Quotidien in the Springs Souk. The food and the coffee were really great. I had shakshuka and it was fabulous - sorry no photos.

Back home and wrangled our suitcases into travel-readiness.

Next on the agenda was a trip to the Lekker (a South African butchery shop) to buy spatchcocked chickens and boerwurst for tonight's farewell braai in our honour. It was a lovely opportunity for a few last incidental minutes alone with Seat Son. Oh I'm feeling sad at leaving him all over again as I write this. I don't really like being and ex-pat's mum.

On arrival back to the house, almost as soon as I stepped inside, I had one of my dreadful coughing attacks - full larnygospasm along with the Darth Vader noises, vomiting, gagging and generally feeling like I might die at any moment. Horrible, and so very, very embarrassing. I was then, as usual, totally exhausted with a pounding headache, so I lay down with a cold compress on my forehead, took a couple of panandols and slept for 2 hrs. I felt I had to present myself to the farewell braai, but couldn't eat anything except a bit of potato salad. I was so upset to lose those 2 hours that I could have spent with Seat Son.

After all our holiday exertions and crazy travel, by the end of dinner people were visibly flagging, so we asked Seat Son to take us to the airport at 2230 instead of 2330 as originally planned for our 0315 departure to SIN. Kissed and hugged and waved him goodbye, hiding the fact that I was crying as he left.

Felt very familiar with DXB as this was our 3rd departure in 5 weeks! Emirates First entrance was magnificent as always. No lines anywhere, breeze of check in, straight through passport/immigration and security, where I was as always whisked to a private ladies only cubicle for a pat down occasioned by having 2 knee replacements. it was a very cursory search. I was back out before Mr Seat 0A had replaced his belt and shoes!

Took the train to the A Concourse, decided that we do not need any duty free anything, and were at the door of the Emirates First lounge by 2315. That means it took us around 20 mins from kerbside to lounge, including the train transfer. Amazing!

 

[Seat0B]

Saturday 4 January 2025 - DXB-SIN EK354

After arriving at the lounge, I felt hungry, but my throat was still a bit raw from all the coughing, so I contented myself with an omelette and a coffee. Mr Seat 0A had his usual wagyu steak and fries. Then with quite a while until boarding, we tried the Quiet Room in the lounge, for the first time ever. It was pretty good, although the couches were not as comfortable as they looked. I don't have a photo of my own, but this one is from the internet. The covering on the lounge was very slippery and I kept sliding down because the fixed pillow was too high for my head. Eventually I used my backpack as a pillow and worked out a way not to slide off. Set an alarm for 0200 and managed a good nap.



As soon as the alarm went I leapt out of bed so as not to fall back asleep and I felt quite wrecked. Enjoyed a nice hot shower and was ready to board at 0230. Our boarding was slightly delayed, but soon we were settled into our A380 seats 16E and 16F.

I snuggled off to sleep as soon as permitted after take off. Mr Seat 0A fended off the very early breakfast they tried to bring me and left me to sleep for a further 75 minutes. So in total, I got about 4.5 hrs on this very short (7:20) flight Then breakfast - another omelette and some fruit. Very good.

Arrival formalities in Singapore were very simple. We had already done our electronic health arrival card, the requirement for which caught out many fellow travellers.



And our bags were literally first onto the carousel. Wow! There was absolutely no interest in my codeine, for which I had a permit. No staff on the "declare lane", no one cared less as I just walked through.

Once outside, we decided to get a heart starter coffee at Starbucks, but found that easier said than done as there was no way to take our 2 trolleys laden with luggage up one floor. OK, Mr seat 0A waited with the bags and I went up and joined a humungous line for coffee. But it was worth it! I'm so tired I don't know which way is up!


Next adventure ws getting a taxi as we had too many bags for a regular taxi, so we had to get a large car. This was beautiful and cost SGD60. Bad news was I had another severe coughing attack while waiting for the car to arrive, which again was embarrassing for me, and made the taxi staff very stressed. Mr Seat 0A had to be quite forceful in declining an ambulance. So once again, I felt like total carp with a sore throat and severe headache in the aftermath.

We are staying at the Singapore Pullman Orchard Road, which is nice but has a kind of weird electronica vibe in the public areas.

Anyway, after a bit of a lie down, I sparked up enough to go for a drink and snack in the Archive Club, and then back to the room for a long hot shower and into bed at 2130 local.

edit: to delete unused photo

 

[Seat0B]

Sunday 5 January 2025 Singapore
Woke to the alarm at 0900. Felt bad, so back to sleep until 1000 and down to breakfast where I had ... another omelette. fast becoming my go to comfort food item.

After breakfast I still felt poor, so back to bed for a couple more hours sleep.

Mr Seat 0A went out exploring, and found some tunnel (Fort Canning Tunnel) that is a hit with all the influencers because you can see a tree through a hole or some such thing. When he was there, there was a long line of them waiting to snap the perfect shot - which he was able to do without all the palaver by simply walking up the public stairs in the tunnel and stopping part way up for the shot


He then visited the WW2 bunkers for a tour, which he said was great. He said it put a lot of meat on the bones of the story of the British withdrawal from Singapore, and gave him a new admiration for the military tactics employed by the Japanese.


When I woke from my further 2 hr nap, I went down to the Archive club and sat with a coffee for a while, trying to motivate myself. By now it was mid afternoon. Mr Seat 0A returned shortly after that, and we treated ourselves to a glass of bubbles to celebrate our last night away. The we went for a stroll down Orchard Rd, which is literally wall to wall with upmarket store fronts and malls. Grabbed some "street food" stir fry and satay sticks in the food hall of one of the malls and that was today.

I know I have been feeling quite unwell, but I am not really sure what people do when they come to Singapore for a few days stop over. I kind of felt like there was not much that I wanted to do here. Given that I need to make a stop over in some intermediate port during DSC offers so I can use QF to get out of Aus before picking up Emirates to the UAE in roder to maximise the DSC from this usually expensive trip, I'd be glad to hear how people pass their couple of days here.

Edited to correct to WW2 as per @VPS good pick up

 

[I love to travel]

Sunday 5 January 2025 Singapore
Woke to the alarm at 0900. Felt bad, so back to sleep until 1000 and down to breakfast where I had ... another omelette. fast becoming my go to comfort food item.

After breakfast I still felt poor, so back to bed for a couple more hours sleep.

Mr Seat 0A went out exploring, and found some tunnel (Fort Canning Tunnel) that is a hit with all the influencers because you can see a tree through a hole or some such thing. When he was there, there was a long line of them waiting to snap the perfect shot - which he was able to do without all the palaver by simply walking up the public stairs in the tunnel and stopping part way up for the shot
View attachment 446709View attachment 446710

He then visited the WW3 bunkers for a tour, which he said was great. He said it put a lot of meat on the bones of the story of the British withdrawal from Singapore, and gave him a new admiration for the military tactics employed by the Japanese.

View attachment 446711View attachment 446712
When I woke from my further 2 hr nap, I went down to the Archive club and sat with a coffee for a while, trying to motivate myself. By now it was mid afternoon. Mr Seat 0A returned shortly after that, and we treated ourselves to a glass of bubbles to celebrate our last night away. The we went for a stroll down Orchard Rd, which is literally wall to wall with upmarket store fronts and malls. Grabbed some "street food" stir fry and satay sticks in the food hall of one of the malls and that was today.

I know I have been feeling quite unwell, but I am not really sure what people do when they come to Singapore for a few days stop over. I kind of felt like there was not much that I wanted to do here. Given that I need to make a stop over in some intermediate port during DSC offers so I can use QF to get out of Aus before picking up Emirates to the UAE in roder to maximise the DSC from this usually expensive trip, I'd be glad to hear how people pass their couple of days here.

I am quite happy for a few days by the pool and shopping as a break from the Aussie winter. Hope you are feeling better

 

[Seat0B]

Monday 6 January 2025 Singapore -Sydney QF 292 Finnair for Qantas

Having a leisurely departure today with a 1400 late check out granted, so we slept late and then enjoyed an extended breakfast. packed and ready to go before 1200, so took advantage of the remaining couple of hours to drink some coffee in the Club, write up my trip diary (that is the source for this TR), catch up with family and friends etc. All the timings are a bit odd today. Our flight departs at 2030, so check in will open around 1630-1700. But we are likely to arrive at the airport about 1500 due to the check out timing. And even if we didn't have the problem of the luggage, that's not really very long to do anything at the airport. First world problems.

We took the same luxury large taxi (driven by Andrew) that we had used to get to the hotel, and the drive to the airport was very comfortable and civilised. Arrived early as expected, and got quite excited to see that there was some sort of early check in arrangement that we could use. But that was not to be, because it was something arranged by a third party, and there was no status/class of travel recognition, and there was a massive long line. So we repeated our arrival protocol and killed time with a final Starbucks and a visit to the Jewel Rain Vortex (which was closed for maintenance) before being able to officially check in at 1530. So that was good - at least an hour earlier than expected. Check in, immigration and security all very smooth and fast and we were seated in the QF First Lounge by 1600. Settled in to some good reasonably private seats to wait for our departure at 2030. This lounge was very nice, but again perhaps influenced by feeling unwell, I didn't really get the hype that others on AFF have posted about. I didn't like it as much as either SYD QF First Lounge or EK DXB First. there you go, I am officially a lounge snob!

We had a very decent meal in the lounge around 1800 before it got too busy. Salt and pepper squid, of course! Followed by Snapper with a red sauce for me and some kind of pork belly dish (I forget what it was exactly) for Mr Seat 0A. My fish was delicious and beautifully cooked. he did not like his pork belly - it was very fatty and the fat was soft and not well rendered. Then for dessert, a coffee and the mango panacotta for me, and a cherry choc brownie for him. He immediately had orderer's remorse as he didn't enjoy the brownie, so re-ordered a panacotta for himself. Not the first time that has happened!



Boarded our Finnair bird for home and again I found the service good and the Sky lounge seat comfy. Had a cheese plate adn some fruit and then off to sleep on this very short (7:55) overnight flight. Catering continued the sad QF tradition with very dried out and hard to eat breakfast - that egg yolk was like a golf ball - but I wasn't really hungry anyway.



Arrived on time and deplaned at a standoff parking area, then driven by bus to the terminal.

While waiting for luggage to arrive, a roving quarantine inspector was looking at people's arrival cards. I had ticked quarantine items to cover my Sri Lankan tea purchases and spices from UAE. He was not at all interested in these, other than to ask if they were commercially purchased/packaged, and when I said yes, he stamped my card "OK" and told me to go through the green channel. He didn't even want to see the items. So as soon as our luggage arrived, we were able to leave the area, fairly well ahead of the mass of other travellers. Even the dreaded transfer gate was running smoothly today, and we were at the SYD Dom J lounge before we knew it. I noticed that the lounge has been extended a bit by resuming some of the QP space from next door, and that there was a panini bar. I didn't try any, as I wasn't hungry, but they looked good. It was also good to see some extra toilet facilities, and what looked like new carpet and some new armchairs, which lifts the place a bit. We easily killed the time until our connection to CBR, which was by B737 this time. Again, the travel gods were smiling as everything just worked as it was supposed to.

We caught a taxi home and paid $100 including a "round up" tip . We are not in Sri Lanka any more.
Boy, our house is big!!!!

And, dear reader, that is it for this trip.