Sri Lanka: The drive to Colombo (and Colombo)

Most of the rainy drive from Udawalawe to Colombo looked like this

We departed Udawalawe for Colombo around 11 am. Google maps said the drive
should take 4 hours. Spoiler alert: it didn’t.

We stopped in Ratnapura to buy precious stones and get lunch. The
shopkeeper said if we wanted to drive the 100 kilometers to Colombo, we
needed to leave ASAP. I thought it would take maybe 90 minutes, but he said
it would take at least two and a half hours.

It took nearly 4 miserable hours.

Shopping for gems in Ratnapura

M and the durians

There was some interesting stuff to look at along the way, but mostly it was boring and I was very grateful we had a driver.

Cows crossing the street

One of the largest elephants I’ve ever seen

We finally reached Colombo around 6 pm, a solid 2 hours after expected. I think our 7 days of non-stop travelling and exploring caught up with us in Colombo, because we didn’t really feel like doing much. We bought some souvenirs and ate some really great pizza, and then it was time to head to the airport.

We had an awesome time in Sri Lanka, and we are already trying to plan a trip back. There’s so much to see and do, the food is amazing, and Sri Lankans are so friendly and hospitable!