Sri Lanka - Day One

October 2nd, 2.10pm - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Bloody hell it's hot!
I know I must be feeling a little tired from the trip (22 hours door to door) but even after a welcome nap for a couple of hours, I am exhausted.
I have managed to unpack, remove three dead and one living cockroach from my room, wash the clothes I travelled in, shower and sit in the verandah with a cup of tea. (Did I mention that I hate cockroaches!) The one I discovered on the back of the kitchen door was large and well camouflaged. I tried to catch it in a glass, but it moved like lightning, flowing into the door jamb with reptilian grace. I shut the door on it, thinking I would crush it between door and frame, only to have it skating downwards as I opened the door again. It froze on the floor and I just managed to slam the glass over (and slightly onto) it. Unfortunately, I decided to then slip something under the glass to pick it up and evict it. Suffice it to say - it was not my best executed plan and a slightly injured cockroach has ended up outside the window and I am left holding a broken glass and nervously looking for more roaches!!

My room is rather nice though, with a large bedroom with 2 single beds (one with a mozzie net erected over it which I shall be sleeping in tonight), a large bathroom with a decent shower and a small kitchen. An effective ceiling fan keeps the air moving, but it is a very muggy day. When I landed this morning it was already 30 degrees C and cloudy. Now it is hotter, more humid and raining gently through bright sunshine.
Fortunately, I threw a sarong into my luggage when I was packing, something I bought years ago in Barbados, thinking I would use it at a beach sometime to protect me from the sun, but now it is all I am wearing and even it is too much.

The male housekeeper, Dhanapala, who let me in on arrival does not speak the clearest English (and I was too tired to take in much of what he said.) I am now feeling hungry and eager to step out into the city, yet fearful of getting lost. Part of me is contemplating waiting in until the owner, Pri, gets in from work to ask about local maps, shops and restaurants, yet another part of me is saying that I should step out and have a local wander - after all I am already 8,000 miles away from home - can another mile on foot be so bad?

I shall be brave.
Time to go out into the Sri Lankan city of Colombo...

 10.00am Wednesday 1st October pre-departure