The night before, I meet Sheung at the airport to catch the 1 am flight on Air Emirates. I can't really complain about the timing of the flight because it's a really cheap full-service air ticket -- we paid SGD$249 per person, inclusive of all charges and taxes. The journey to Colombo was uneventful.
We arrived slightly after 2am and out of the gates before 3am. Since we were arriving at such unearthly hours, we had made arrangements with the Dephannie Guesthouse for a fan room (Rs1000 per night, about S$13) and airport pickup (for Rs1600). We were met by driver at the gate and the drive to the guesthouse at Negombo was only about 15 mins.
We tried too catch some sleep before the long journey ahead, but was not able to sleep well. About 9am we went for a nice slow walk along the Negombo beach before heading out to the ancient cities in the middle of the Sri Lanka island.
At the Negombo bus station, we a meal of string hoppers, dhal and curry. We were curious about the local fruit "wood apple" and ordered a juice of it. We decided one try was enough.
We caught a bus from Negombo to Kurunegela (Rs70 per person). It was a 3-hour bumpy ride. A little rough perhaps, but we were fresh and curious, so it didn't feel difficult.
As we got off the bus at Kurunegela, we were pleasantly greetly by a huge white Buddha statue overlooking the town atop a rocky outcrop. A 3-wheeler offered to take us to the train station about 1km away for Rs100 (about S$1.30). We decided to walk instead but ended taking the local government-run SLTB bus for Rs12 (Rs6 per person).
It was about 3pm when we reach the railway station and the next Northbound train was scheduled at 3:50pm. (Nice timing!) We bought a 3rd class ticket to Maho for Rs40 each (prices of railway ticket have gone up considerably compared to what's quoted in the guidebooks).
Again, it was an interesting experience to squeeze in with the locals in the rather tattered train cabins. It was full and we had to stand, which was quite difficult because the suspension of the train car was not good and it was rocking quite badly.
Halfway through the journey, army guys got up and started checking IDs and lugguage. To us, this was a reminder that there is a civil war still going on in the country. The army guys did not bother to check our documents or lugguage -- we were obviously just 2 harmless innocent tourists. In fact, they asked the local to gave up their seats for us!
The journey from Kurunegela to Maho was slightly more than 1 hour. It was getting late when we arrived at the town.
The idea of getting to Maho was to visit the Yapahuwa Rock Fortress the next morning. Yapahuwa was not originally on the itinerary and I added it in a flash of inspiration just the day before. There was a small problem though. Both the Lonely Planet and the Rough Guide had not information on accomodation in Maho or Yapahuwa.
I had figured that there should be some accomodation available. Along the bus journey from Negombo to Kurunegela, I was encouraged that even small one-street towns we passed through had "hotels" (more about that later). So, I had not been too worried.
But as we walked along the main street of Maho, we did not see any hotels. We asked around abit. It was difficult because the local really don't speak very much English and most of the time, I suspected they did not really understood the full question we were asking, responding only to certain words within the question. Basically, the only hotel people could recommend was Shanti Hotel, about 1km east from the railway station. Then someone suggested going to Yapahuwa instead. That's about 4km away from Maho and "nicer accommodation there"! A 3-wheeler should be able to bring us there for about Rs120.
We asked a 3-wheeler. Again, he could only recommend Shanti. Yes, there was accommodation at Yapahuwa and he wanted Rs200 to bring us there. Since the local said it should be about Rs120, we thought he was trying to rip us off (after I understood the "market conditions" better a few days later, I decided that it about the market price really). Anyway, before we could asked another 3-wheeler, a red SLTB came along and we flagged it down. Yes, we were lucky, it was heading to Yapahuwa! The bus fare was Rs28 for 2. (saved Rs182!)
It was getting dark when we got off the bus at a road junction in Yapahuwa.
This was not even a one-street town! There was nothing there! There was only a small mama shop at the junction. We had passed by a huge and grand looking Yapahuwa Paradise Resort as we got there. But there were no other hotels or guesthouse in sight (nor were there any signs). We walked for a while and found none. Asked around some more. It soon became clear that the only accommodation available in Yapahuwa was that expensive looking Paradise Resort. The cheaper option was the Shanti Hotel back in Maho...
We asked the 3-wheeler idling at the road junction for the fare to Shanti Hotel. He wanted Rs300. Now, that's a rip-off since the asking fare was Rs200 from Maho to Yapahuwa (frankly, in a demand-supply situation, he clearly had the upper hand...). No, we were not depesparate yet. We refuse to give that extra Rs100.
Sheung and I had a quick discussion. We decided to check the room rates at the Paradise Resort before deciding if we want to shuttle back and forth between Maho and Yapahuwa.
As we walked towards the Paradise Resort, we walked pass a village house and the man said hi to us. We tried once more to ask about accommodation. This time, we found someone who offered a new option. When we asked him if there were cheaper hotels besides the Paradise Resort, he offered a room in his house. No he did not have a big house with extra rooms. He was offerred his son's room.
Now, I had not planned on a homestay at all. It did cross my mind briefly the possibility that we could end up robbed/burglered or chopped up into peices and thrown into a curry pot...
We ended up taking the offer anyway and as we got to know the host better, I was more at ease. The host worked in a hotel in Trincomalee as a chef. Every month, he was given 5 days vacation when he came back to join his family in Yapahuwa. When he found out that we were from Singapore, he was very eager to know more about working in Singapore.
The house was a simple brick house. There were no bathrooms -- we bathed by a pond in the dark. There was rather clean toilet separate from the house. It was apparent that they were not a wealthy family, even by local standards. But they were not deprived either and looked quite comfortable in their simple humble ways.
They had a gas store in the kitchen, but were using wood fire to cook a dhal curry and make coconut chapati for us because the woodfire would made the food taste better. We had a good chat with the host and his wife in the kitchen. They were very interested in the job opportunities in Singapore.
We went to bed shortly after dinner because we did not want to continue to impose on the host. Besides we were tired after a long adventurous day.
This was only the first day in Sri Lanka.
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