from Dublin to........Mirissa, Sri Lanka: Kool as Kim Deal.....Colombo, Sri Lanka

I have passed through Colombo a number of times before so I didn't bother doing any sightseeing of note, not that Colombo is teeming with tourist attractions anyway. Most people afford it a cursory glance and feel that that was more than enough. So for me, whilst waiting for my brother to arrive a few days after me, I spent most of my time catching up on little things like getting a haircut (A$1.25), doing laundry and indulging in anything and everything I love about Sri Lankan food (I got off to a flying start and could feel the calories clinging to me straight away).

Once Dave arrived looking worse than hell (man flu I think) it was time to move my arse and see a few things other than the inside of a restaurant or a small roadside food cart. So the first stop was the cricket grounds to see if I could talk my way into the Member's area of the Sinhalese Cricket Club (check, although we couldn't stay, just a security escort).

Off to the adjacent ground to see if we could get a closer look at some action. There was a game on. The players looked adept. A well-timed cover drive. Cricket whites all round. We were greeted by security again. I asked if we could watch the match for a while. There was discussion between the security guards. A call was placed. A nod of approval was given. We walked towards the boundary where there was a few people watching. After a few minutes we were invited to watch from the dressing room balcony by a friendly local.

With the best view in the house and clearly the only foreigners in sight, we worked out that we were watching a 4-day tour match between India U25s and Sri Lanka U19s. Sri Lanka was batting and performing much better during their second innings on the fourth day. It was destined to be a draw with India yet to start their second innings just before lunch. By the time the session had come around and the players were filing up the stairs to dig into their curries (Indian food for the visitors) we had been invited to join them for lunch which we declined (would be a bit rude if the visitors ran out of food and some strange white guys were chowing down on their curry), invited to come back for the remainder of the match which we also declined (as we had lunch plans but as it turned out the Lankans declared with a modest lead and the Indians chased the runs down and won by a single run on the final ball of play - spewing), met the coaching staff of Sri Lanka and also invited to join the Indian team the following day on their tour of Colombo city. We extended our stay in Colombo by a day to join the tour.

We met the team at their hotel. Boarded the tour bus and headed off to the sounds of English and Indian dance music being played by one of the players. They were just your typical young boys on tour. First top around the corner was the local money changer where most of the team and staff filed into and came back with plenty of Lankan rupees in hand. After winding through narrow lanes and street for some time in the huge bus getting plenty of curious passing glances, we arrived at the Colombo International Cricket Ground where a national T20 game was being played. We stayed for perhaps 45 minutes with the very modest sized crowd before boarding the bus and heading to our next destination....a clothes store. Rather disappointing by all accounts. An excellent Indian lunch followed and more shopping at a rather ordinary little department store that was quite flash for SL. This basically concluded the tour. So was it worth hanging around Colombo another day? Hard to say but did get to know the local guy who invited us along quite well. Hell of a gracious host.

* Hilton Colombo - Quite a decent hotel as you would expect in a rather ordinary location in some ways but quite fairly priced for a 5* hotel. Only ate and drank here. Come for their lamprais meal (a special traditional curry that is wrapped in a banana leaf for the final cooking process) available for lunch and dinner but come in the evening so you can sit out on the terrace overlooking the water ponds. The meal takes an hour to prepare so bear that in mind. A must try. Don't be fooled by other restaurants that have realised that tourists have read the LP and are asking about this dish and are just shoveling a standard curry into a banana leaf and passing it off as either a lamprais, lumprey, lump rice and even lum rice. It's not the same. The first two are the correct names by the way.

* Cricket Club Cafe - A somewhat dark and dank pub that has cricket showing all hours of the day and night. It's well overpriced and the food is average at best but a must visit to view all the memorabilia and photos that line every square inch of wall. English in feel.

* Paradise Road Gallery Cafe - Across the road from the Cricket Club Cafe, this swanky dimly lit restaurant in the backyard of a very nice property (walled in) that is also a gallery was an unexpected find. Very popular with expats, some tourists and the more affluent locals looking for something a little romantic. Everything was as you would expect in a white linen restaurant except there was no white linen. The menu was eclectic but seemed to centre around modern Asian with some European offerings thrown in for the boring. There are a few interesting local dishes that are worth exploring....eg blackened pork curry. Ask your waiter for some suggestions.

* Green Cabin - A local restaurant on Galle Road near Majestic City that serves good quality short eats and also has an a la carte restaurant attached that does hoppers, curries and seafood. From memory I prefered the short eats for lunch but the devilled prawns were tasty.

* Try and find a game of cricket on.....anywhere. Preferably a local match. You will no doubt make some friends.

A lot of mid-to-high budget travelers, and even some low budget travelers, use private tax services to get around Sri Lanka. It's "relatively" cheap compared to back home but the train and particularly the bus network goes absolutely everywhere. Ok... you may not always get a seat straight away and someone will no doubt have a BO problem at some stage but it is surprisingly fast and frequent. Double and triple check advice for buses though as stories can vary and never ask a tuk tuk driver. That's just common sense!