Looking back on it, we were wildly optimistic. We somehow thought we could renovate our house, decorate that house, throw a huge party on Christmas Eve, host Christmas Day for our entire family, and still be ready for a vacation that evening. On Christmas night as the cab was scheduled to come and take us to the airport, we were still throwing things in suitcases and were not completely sure we had even packed our passports. We kissed goodbye to the family, and, of course, to Edie, and we took Uber to the airport.
Our flight was scheduled to leave Los Angeles around 9:30 in the evening on Christmas Day. The airport was not as busy as it usually is, so after making it through security we still had about two hours left before we were scheduled to board. John had decided to splurge this time and buy business class tickets. This allowed us to use the Emirates Airlines lounge while we waited. And waited. And waited. The flight was delayed by almost two more hours as they had to change a tire on the giant Airbus 380.
The best part of taking business class on these long plane is the fact that the seats recline into beds. And on a 16 hour flight, you really want to be able to sleep for at least half of the time.
As the plane had left Los Angeles two hours late, we were about two hours late coming into Dubai. There is a hotel in the airport itself in Dubai, but for such a short period of time we figured we would just spend it in the lounge. We were frankly a bit disappointed that the Dubai airport was not more wonderful. It was perfectly clean and comfortable, of course, but somehow we just figured that the airport here would be completely over-the-top. And likewise the lounge certainly was an improvement over sitting around in the gate area, but it was not particularly special either. I was a little surprised to see some Christmas decorations, however modest and commercial, here on the Arabian peninsula.
The flight from Dubai to Columbo was uneventful. We were on a Boing 777, so all the controls for the seats and the entertainment system were just different enough to be annoying. We were fed breakfast and then almost everybody went back to sleep.
The airport in Columbo is efficient but hardly elegant. We cleared immigration and picked up our bags easily. And once we walked through the “Nothing to Declare” exit we were met with by a cheerful man with a sign reading “Mr. John Pratt.” He took our bags and escorted us to his Toyota. He introduced himself as Tharindu. He is going to be our driver and guide for the next week or so.
We knew our first hotel was going to be the Lake Lodge, but we were not sure where it was. The guidebooks listed a rather nice place of that name in Columbo, but we did not remember scheduling several days in Sri Lanka’s largest city. Tharindu explained that we were headed to a hotel of that name in Dambula, a small town in the center of the island, about four hours drive from the airport. Both John and I had to suppress a groan at spending yet more time traveling, but we had no other choice.
It was not a not a particularly interesting or attractive ride. Most of the way the road was lined on both side with the usual cheap rebar and concrete buildings that seem to be found in every part of the developing world. There would be an occasional break in the near wall of buildings and through it we could catch a glimpse of a rice patty or a bit of forest. I dozed off at points.
We finally pulled up to our hotel as the sun was beginning to set. We were greeted warmly. The people at reception had us light a lamp as part of the traditional greeting ritual.
And our welcome did not stop there. We were greeted with a “welcome” made out of leaves on our bedspread.
And the sight of that bed was welcome indeed. We may have slept a lot on this trip, but we are still exhausted and have a big day of sightseeing ahead of us tomorrow.
