8 Random Things about Colombo Airport

Earlier this week, I spent quite a decent amount of time at the Colombo airport (Bandaranayake Airport). First, the van that was supposed to pick me up at 3 AM arrived at 7 AM and second I was dropped at the airport at midnight for a 4 AM flight. In essence, this delay and advance of sorts gave me 8 hours to kill at the airport.

During this 8 hours, I tried to explore the airport as much as possible. It was during this exploration that I noticed some interesting yet random things about the Colombo airport. They have been mentioned below for your reading.

1) Sri Lankan Airways employees need to get a class in customer service. They even threw a racist comment at me saying you are travelling in an Indian Airline, hence we cannot help you. I nearly lost my head, but calmed myself by walking away. Sri Lankan Airlines have lost me as a customer forever.

2) There are more security checks at the Colombo airport than in any large airport of the developed Western World.

3) In spite of having a ticket for a flight 4 hours later, I was not allowed to enter the immigration chamber of the airport and made to wait in the outside visiting area. This is in stark contrast to rest of the airports across the world that let you clear immigration and security and allow you spend your time and money at the duty free shops, at bars, at lounges, at restaurants and other interesting places.

4) The Colombo airport is small in size, but is definitely packs a punch in terms of design and beauty. It is well lit, very clean, well designed and finally it smells good and not stuffy at all.

5) For the number of limited passengers in the Colombo airport, the security personnel were struggling to cope up. The security lines were short, but the waiting time was long. I was just thinking…what will happen if they are made to work out of Indian airports…guess they will get a heart attack on the very first day.

6) Alcohol at the duty free shops of Colombo airport are more expensive than the Chennai airport.

7) The duty free shops pack quite a punch with a great deal of variety – Chocolates, Alcohol, Cigarettes, Local Artefacts, Local Fashion, Gift Items, Sri Lankan Tea, Electronic Goods, Travel Accessories and many more.

8) The shops in the airport visiting area were selling the goods at a much cheaper price than the duty free shops. But, they were more expensive than the city, but then that is pretty normal and understandable.

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20 Random Things about Sri Lanka

Below are 20 Random Things about Sri Lanka based on my recent experience.

1) The people of Sri Lanka are very hospitable. They always seem to have a smile on their faces.

2) Sri Lankan roads are in much better condition than our Indian roads. I covered about 800 kilometres by road recently.

3) Sri Lankan food is very similar to our Indian food in look and preparation.

4) Unlike what others say, I feel Sri Lanka does not look like the Indian state of Kerala.

5) Sri Lanka is not quite as hot as anticipated. It was warm and humid, but the evenings were very pleasant. The strong sea breeze at the coast line makes it very comfortable.

6) There are places in Sri Lanka that get pretty cold at night. Nuwara Eliya and Horton Plains at 2,000+ m above MSL is known to see temperatures in the range of 5 to 10 degree Celsius. This is very un tropical.

7) The native women of Sri Lanka wear their Saree with frills at the waist and where their pallu touches the ground.

8) Sri Lankan arrack and the local gallu (country liquor) are surprising smooth and are of mild odour. Tiger Beer and Rockland Red Rum are definitely worth a try.

9) Cigarettes in Sri Lanka are very expensive. In fact, even the local brands seem to be very expensive, something to the tune of LKR 21 per cigarette.

10) There are hardly any beggars on the roads of Sri Lanka. They may not be too rich, but they are definitely not poor too.

11) Sri Lanka is still dressed in a colonial style.

12) The speed limit on the highways of Sri Lanka is 60 kilometres per hour.

13) On any automobile in Sri Lanka, the license plates on the front are white in colour, while the ones at the back are yellow in colour.

14) Sri Lankans, like Indians, are a cricket crazy nation. People seem to follow the game and their country anywhere. The World Cup final was heard over loud speakers, radios in small mobile shops, TV sets and everything else.

15) Sri Lanka has very less inter-city public transport system. They do have some buses and trains, but the main form of transport are vans.

16) Most of the automobiles on the roads of Sri Lanka are Japanese brands. Others are from South East India or India.

17) Indian Motorcycle brand, Bajaj Pulsar seems to be pretty popular in Sri Lanka.

18) Most of their waterfalls seem to have decent water flow even during the summer months.

19) Sri Lankan tea tastes very different from Indian Tea. It is milder and has a unique taste and aroma. The long leaves are even milder than the shorter ones.

20) Sri Lanka, like India, is very secular. Mosques, Temples, Monasteries and Churches seemed to be evenly distributed across the country.

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