Nagombo

Arrival: landed at 12:05am and the zipper was packed! Apparently tons
of flights come and go through Sri Lanka late at night. The airport is
pretty nice and I considered sleeping there cause it was already late.
There is a "transit hotel" in the airport which is on the airside of
the terminal, meaning that it is within security and customs so if I
stayed there I would then clear customs in the morning. I checked it
out but it was full and the guy told me that its normally $45usd for 6
hours anyway! I had heard that it was $20usd so I'm not sure whats up.
After clearing customs there are many money changers, an ATM and
prepaid taxi booths within the airport. Their first price for Negombo
(the nearest town to the airport was 1500 rupies but I got one place
down to 1000. I thought I could still do better though so I went
outside. Outside was a madhouse with tons of traffic and no taxis that
looked even remotely official. There was another taxi stand outside
that I'm certain would have been cheaper but they told me it was only
for Sri Lankan citizens. I got plenty of offers from freelance taxi
drivers to take me but most of them seemed pretty creepy and they were
offering 1200 Rs anyway so I went back inside and bought my cab to
Negombo for 1000. The taxi ride took 10-15min. There are public trains
and buses you can catch near the airport but I'm pretty sure they
don't run late at night.

I stayed at the Silver Sands (1540Rs, 229 Lewis Place, tel: (031)
2222-880). My room was in the back and very quiet with a balcony (no
view), hot shower, fan and bug net. They charge 10% service charge on
everything which is annoying but they did quote the room price as
including it so that was good. The place is pretty nice and I'd stay
there again. The hotel is beach front and has a restaurant that makes
a huge and delicious rice with curry for 350Rs.

Negombo is an ok place with a decent beach but the water didn't seem
that clean. It's not bad for being so close to the airport though.

Leaving Negombo I took the 10:30am train to Colombo for 40Rs. It takes
about 1.5 hours to get to the main "Colombo Fort" station where you
catch other trains going wherever. The Negombo train ride was pretty
fun cause the cars are like subway cars but the doors are permanently
open so you can hang out the doors and watch Sri Lanka rip by. It
really was great. The Colombo station is easy to navigate, has a
tourist information office, a grimy food court and luggage storage and
is in the center of town just a 10min walk to the ocean. There is also
a market selling clothes and stuff right next door. 3 wheelers or "Tuk
Tuks" WILL try to rip you off whether they're a "meter" one or not. If
it is a meter one then check the odometer before and after the ride
and the rate is 50Rs per kilometer. Otherwise agree on a price before
using the that rate as a guide. I think the 50rs/kilometer rate might
be roughly applicable nationwide. One driver in Colombo wanted to
tried to charge me 250Rs per kilometer! Lots of people are very
friendly and wanted to talk to me, some were being nice, some were
trying to get me to buy something and one guy I think was just kinda a
creep. But anyway, spending more than a couple hours in Colombo
doesn't seem necessary.