Colombo is our last stop in the Sri Lanka trip. We planned to stay in the guesthouse nearby the Airport and walk to the airport in the morning. Train would be a nice transport between the southern Sri Lanka to Colombo because it goes alone the coastal line and you will be accompanied by the blue sky and wide ocean. During sunset, you will see the sun starts disappear from the coaster line.
我們購買了普通二等車箱車票，沒有留座更沒有空餘坐位，車箱都已擠滿大包小包的旅客，以本地人居多。由於車箱中間位置已擠不進去，我們便選擇站在車箱左方門口位置，除了上落客要讓路和沒有車門有機會被拋出車外，問題不大，更可獨佔海岸美景，理應是不錯的選擇。
We had the 2nd class ticket without reserving seat. There were no free seat on the train as it was packed with passengers and their luggage. As we can see, they are mainly local. We cannot squeeze inside the train, so we chose to stay next to the door on the left side. To give some way to passengers getting on/ off when the train stopped at the station would bring us some disruption. But, we can enjoy the beautiful seaview which is a good deal.
A while later, a local guy got on the train with two Chinese ladies. They squeezed in the train and took our spot for some selfie. They were very ignorant to even take pictures with hands/ feets out the the train or sitting on the stairs while the train was running. It is very dangerous to me.
和她們聊起來，原來她們來自北京，一行15人組團來斯國旅遊，坐火車是行程其中一環。由於被安排到一等座，自感未能體驗真正地道本土文化，所以她們倆便走到二等車箱體驗何謂斯國火車文化。那一刻我有感他們不像是典型國內旅客，給予人財大氣粗，無尊重無文化的中國人;反而有一定智識水平，說道理思想夠貼地，不活在自己的烏托邦。
I started the conversation with them and learnt that they came from Beijing. They joined a tour with 15 people to visit Sri Lanka; taking train is one of their itinerary. Since the tour arranged them to sit in the 1st class which they were isolated with the real local culture, they came to 2nd class to experience more. They don't give me a feeling of the rich & rude tourists from China, neither feeling they are arrogant or hard to deal with. They respect others' culture and very educated. They think practically and do not stay in ivory tower.
晚上6時到達哥倫坡，待兩小時轉火車到 Katunayake, 因為機場和夜宿的旅館都是在那邊。那我們和另一同行的女生便快閃夜遊哥倫坡，出發前資料搜查，發現哥倫坡沒甚麼大景點，市內有一個大型商場，買手信必到，除此之外，我記不起任何推介。由火車進入哥倫坡市開始，我感到這個國家首都比其他城市殘舊，沒有散發出首都的輝煌感，走在烏燈黑火的街上，有伴同行，我居然仍感到十分不安;一路上當地人都在盯著我們，又試著跟我們聊天，但看著男人臉上掛著的笑容，我心感寒意，理性告訴我要立刻回到火車站，比較安全。
Arrived in Colombo at 6pm, we should wait for two hours to switch another train to Katunayake which is closer to the airport and also the guesthouse we booked. A Dutch girl joined us to flash explore Colombo at night. I did some research of this city before. Unfortunately, there is nothing much to check out expect the one and only one shopping mall which provide tourists a chance to buy some souvenir. Since I stepped in Colombo, I had a feeling that it is the most crappy capital i have ever visit. The buildings are not glamours, the streets are dark. I felt so uncomfortable even I was not alone. People on the streets stared at us and tried to talk to us. I looked at those men and their cunning smile, I felt super unsafe and I know I need to get back to the train station asap.
回到火車站等著火車，眼前出現的是一輛外表和車箱裡同樣破舊的火車，車箱中間左右兩邊一排座椅，前後便是左右兩排雙人座，格局像香港東鐵火車，不同的是車箱照舊烏燈黑火，地下很多垃圾，報紙、堅果殼，又多灰塵，更看到曱甴大搖大擺在爬行，我十分肯定牠們沒有買票！天啊！太嚇人啦。更嚇人的是車箱燈光不足，總是感到在漆黑中有無數的眼睛在盯著自己，缺少安全感，令我不禁要提高警覺！
Swiftly returned to the train station, I saw an old and crap train. No matter from the inside or the outside, it is equally broken. The setting of the train is like the Hong Kong train - a car with 3 sections, the middle has two long benches on both sides while the front and back have two double seat on both sides. The only different is the train is very dirty with trash everywhere, like newspaper, nuts' shells and very dusty. I saw a couple of cockroaches walking freely on the train. I'm 100% sure they skipped the fare. OMG - it is horrible. Lacking enough light on the train caused the ride more creepy. It seems like a lots of eyes were looking at us in the dark. The sense of uncomfortable came back.
The ride was about 60 minutes. We made a mistake to get off one stop earlier and unluckily, the next train is coming in a couple of hours. The guesthouse is 20 minutes walk away, should we walk or should we take a tuk tuk? But.. we had not enough money....
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看著地圖，旅館就在大街旁邊，應該不難找，與其等待下一班火車，不如用自己方法前往目的地。Tuk Tuk司機來招生意，但短短5分鐘車程索價太離地還堅稱很遠，太失望了。然後又有另一位接力，價錢合理，便請他載我們到地圖顯示位置，其實那時只是晚上9時左右，但街道上已經無車無人，店舖也關門，跟香港不夜天很大分別。
Checking at the map, if the guesthouse is really located next to the main road, it would not be very hard to spot. Instead of waiting for the next train, we decided to take an adventure. While we were discussing, a tuk tuk driver, a greedy one, approached us to make some money. He offered us a rip-off price for a so-called far away destination (the truth is just a 5 min ride). I was totally disappointed by his dishonesty. Then another one came and offered us a reasonable price which sound more reasonable. We took his ride. It was 9ish at night and we could hardly find anyone or car on the street, no shop open and very quiet. It has a big contrast with Hong Kong nightlife.
在大街下車後，來回走著，尋找著旅館招牌，對著門牌數、睜大眼看清楚，但就是找不到，打電話又說號碼不正確，是騙案嗎？想入住其他旅館也不容易，因為我們看不到一間。這時又出現另一位Tuktuk司機問我們是否需要幫忙，我們把地址給他看，他立即表示知道在那，可以載我們去，他驅車前往一條小巷，兩邊很多民居，轉過幾個彎終於到達。但旅館內沒有燈光，不停敲門也沒有人應門，我那一刻已經崩潰和累得要死，腦袋一片空白，不知道如何打算。
We requested to drop off at the main street and started looking for our guesthouse. After a few back and forth, checking the road number and name of the door, we still did not find anything similar to a guesthouse. We tried to call but the number was incorrect. Is that a scam? It was not easy to find a replacement in the middle of the main street cos there was actually NONE. I was too exhausted to process my brain and there was another tuk tuk driver came. We showed him the address and he told us immediately that he knows the place. It was in an alley not far from where we were. There are houses in the two sides of the road and after a few turns, we arrived at the destination. However, there was no light from the guesthouse and no one answered the door. It was a joke to me. What next? Sleep on the street?
這時Moritz繼續和司機交涉，看看司機有沒有相熟旅館介紹，打了幾個電話，確認了吉房我們又再驅車出發。我十分感謝Moritz剛剛沒有跟我一起發癲、一起發嚕騷，反而在我失控期間積極解決問題，不然我們仍在浪費時間，憤怒指數會一直飆升，問題仍然存在。
Moritz on the other hand was discussing with the driver to find a solution. The driver was very nice. He made some phone calls and check out the vacancies of the guesthouses around. He was so efficient to confirm for us a free room nearby. We got on his tuk tuk and left immediately. I was greatly appreciated that Moritz is a very good problem solver. When we encountered some worst situation or in a bad luck, he will not be grumpy or as mad as me. Instead, he will look for a solution to solve the problem first. He understands it is a waste of time to be sad together and the problem won’t be disappear after all the sadness.
最後我們在一間公路旁的旅館落腳，我記得其他旅客對這間旅館的網上評價不怎麼好，而我卻覺得問題不大，這裡絕對不是5星級的家，但作為暫住仍然可以接受，不會太髒地方夠大，只需4000LKR。
We finally settled down in a guesthouse located next to the highway. I remembered I have come across this while I booked the current one. The review was not great. But, I really don’t feel the place is crappy. I admit that it won’t be a 5-star, but to stay temporary for sure won’t have a big issue. It is big and not filthy and cost only 4000LKR.
今天絕對是漫長的一天，而且發生了許多事，由Hikkaduwa坐火車到Colombo > 夜遊快閃Colombo > 一小時黑暗火車 > 落錯車 > 原定旅館摸門釘 > 東奔西走 > 入住公路旅館，終於可以休息，最後最後…睡前只想網上check-in, 幾小時後可以不荒不忙到機場。
It was absolutely a LONG day and a lot had happened… taking the train from Hikkaduwa to Colombo, flash visit in Colombo, one hour train ride in the dark, got off one stop earlier, can’t check in at the guesthouse, run around the town… and now we finally settled down. The last thing I wanted to complete was online check-in, so we don’t have to rush to the airport in the morning.
拿著手機嘗試了幾次，仍然未能Check-in, 說Check-in只能在起飛24小時前進行，但我們的飛機將在明早起飛，究竟發生甚麼事？看清楚起飛日期時間，沒有把下午看成上午，而日期12月14日…而今天是12月12日…ehhhhhhhh...我們原來早了一天！！！！我不能相信，又再一次崩潰，腦袋又進入空白mode。
I tried a couple times with my phones but I failed to check-in. It said the check-in is opened 24hours before departure. Hmmm.. our flight is in the morning… what is wrong? I checked again the date of departure and make sure I did not confused AM / PM. The date of departure was 14 Dec and we had 12 Dec on the phone??!?!?! ehhhhhh … WE WERE ONE DAY EARLIER. I cannot believe that … it is a silly mistake… I was very frustrated….
Moritz又再次積極解決問題，提議可到度假酒店過一晚，剛好機場附近有一間度假酒店，環境不錯，評分高，而且包接送，很適合待一整天，確認預約後，我終於可以安心睡覺。若有意料之外的事，也明天再說。
Again – Moritz was the proactive one to solve the problem. He suggested we could move to another nice hotel for our LAST night. We found that there is an airport resort with a high rating, nice review and provide shuttle service. This is definitely what we need for a whole day for slack and relax. I made the reservation and confirmed the booking before I finally went to bed. If there are more drama, I will leave that for tomorrow.
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