Thursday 23rd January - Say No! to Nestea

10 hours sleep does wonders for us. A squint out of the curtains suggests that the locals are not big on early starts. We get ourselves organised and head out on foot to Colombo Fort railway station in order to collect some train tickets. By now it is 08.30 and getting busy on the roads and pavements.  The sun is trying to break through hazy clouds making conditions quite sweaty. Today's forecast says 32°C and possible thunderstorms in the afternoon.

D has done some research and knows which booking window is required.  There is no logic to the way the place is laid out and it takes a while to find Window 17, which  is a door into a room that contains several booking windows and no English signage to say where to collect pre booked tickets. D goes to a window with no queue and is told to go to a different window where there is, mercifully, only one person in line. When it is D's turn he hands over the emails from the booking agent and his passport.  With a minimum of fuss the three tickets required are printed off and we can relax.

Our Lonely Planet guidebook recommends a visit to the floating market, a few hundred yards east of the station. The bits that float are on a restored canal basin and there are boardwalks around it. As a retail proposition it appears to have moved on from its glory days but there are a couple of food outlets and we find breakfast, in the shape of veggie pasty like things that are not samosas but are tasty and a bit spicy. As we devour our alfresco meal R thinks that she can see a monkey on top of a lamp post. Closer examination shows it to be a pelican, causing R to twitch a bit.

One of LP's star recommendations is the market operated by the Federation of Self Employees, a short walk from breakfast. We have started to learn that some drivers in Colombo do observe some pedestrian crossings but have not yet worked out why or when. Luckily for us the crossings on this stretch are controlled by khaki clad policemen who do seem to be universally observed. The market is quite small and nothing special by the standards of other Asian markets that we have seen but is refreshingly devoid of people on motorbikes. In fact motorbikes don't seem to be as common here as in India, Bangladesh or Vietnam. Next door to the Self Employees is a Buddhist temple with dozens of statues arranged on an outside stair leading up to the roof.

Next call is a large bookshop where D adds to his collection of R.K. Narayan stories. By now a cup of tea seems to be in order and suitable premises present themselves. The waiter is incredulous when we decline sugar and stands at our table staring as we drink neat black tea.  It is most acceptable but we were only served a half full cup, presumably to allow space to add sugar. We take the chance to study the book and decide to head back to the Fort area, where our hotel sits, surrounded by recommended attractions. The pavements are getting busy and the temperature still rising as we progress, passing an old friend along the way.

R is very conscious of the need to stay hydrated and we decide that the fund will run to another beverage. The book recommends the Pagoda tea room which looks good from the outside. Inside it has high ceilings and fans evocative  of Sidney Greenstreet. We take a seat under one of the fans and are approached by an oldish chap who we assume is a waiter. We enquire about tea to be told that they only do Nestea out of a push button machine. This is an outrage! The old boy is most sympathetic and explains that the venue has been taken over by an outfit called Green Cabin who have made it self service. We settle for lime juices while he chats a bit more. He is keen to learn about Scotch whisky and wants to know the different names. Not impressed with Glen Thisorthat he is most taken with Famous Grouse and writes the name down for future reference.

Upon exiting the Pagoda we realise that we are at the back of the Fairway, our hotel, looking up at our room. The lure of an hour in a/c overcomes us and we head in. One of the nearby restaurants is supposed to be pretty good and D goes to make a reservation. There is a queue just to make reservations and nothing before 9pm tonight but they can fit us in at 19.15 tomorrow. Tables only held for 5 minutes. The Ministry of Crab better be good.

Our afternoon plan is to hit the National Museum, a 3km auto ride away. This is in a purpose built set of galleries from the Colonial era and is both extensive and comprehensive. Unlike other National Museums we have visited in the sub-continent there are no restrictions on photography. Given the humidity there was no chance that we could do justice to the whole thing but we found some entertaining highlights, including a display of ceremonial masks. The cafeteria here is another place that only sells Nestea and the agricultural gallery made no mention of Sri Lankan tea growing. Hmmm!

There is a municipal park just north of the Museum, once known as the Victoria Park. There are the remains of a narrow gauge railway to be seen, around 2ft gauge, but in need of extensive restoration. From the Park we took an auto back to the hotel, pausing only for our first Sri Lankan beer, called Lion. Very passable. Back in the room jetlag caught up with us and we lost an hour.

Tonight we decide to stay in and try the Hotel's rooftop restaurant, advertised on posters in the lifts which promise that it is 'accessible from this elevator'. We didn't mention that the lifts are activated by room key cards. Our key automatically sends the lift to the third floor. When we try to go up the lift will not let us and applying the card merely opens  the doors in situ. We go down to reception who apologise and explain that the program has been altered and they have to use their key for us to go up to the roof. When we get to the restaurant door there is a notice to say that there is a private party for invitees only. Back at reception they are surprised to see us and tell us that notice was from last night. The chap activates the lift once more and we ascend 9 floors to a rather empty restaurant. The service is good, the food very good and we even get 10% off for being residents. Fortunately our key card will allow us to descend to our home floor.