A muddy meandering river, many palm trees and some farms. That´s what you see when you touch ground at Bandaranaike International airport 35 km north of Colombo.
There were not many passengers on board our flight from Istanbul via the Maldives to Colombo. Most people left the aircraft at Malé. We arrived late in the afternoon with other 30 or so passengers, most of them were French. The weather was humid and warm, around 30 degrees.
The first thing we did after immigration was buying a local SIM card from telecom provider Mobitel. As a traveler today you are better off having access to the internet on the road , e.g. to use for services like Uber (see next chapter). Mobitel has like any other provider a booth at the airport’s entrance hall. You can’t miss it. Don’t worry, prices here are the same like everywhere else, so you do not need to worry, that you pay „airport special prices“. Mobitel offers different prepaid packages from 7 to 55 GB (valid for 30 days). We are using the SIM card with a Travel Wi-Fi Hotspot from Huawei which we access from all our mobile devices (3 iPhones, 1 iPad, 1 Android phone, 2 laptops).
Getting around in Colombo
In the mobility world before taxi apps like Uber appeared on the market travelers often struggled about the taxi fares. One had to negotiate the prize upfront and rip-offs were the rule rather than the exception. Taxi drivers would often ask double, triple or more than the prize a local would normally pay for a ride. And trying to find a taxi with a working meter was cumbersome. In some places like Cambodia we figured out that even some of the taxi meters were manipulated by the drivers. So Uber brought ease to travelers making local mobility more transparent and comfortable to use.
Uber offers taxi services in various categories. The cheapest option available in Colombo are the 3 wheeler moto-rikshas or tuktuks. Another option we really liked is Uber Premium, which is a bit more expensive, but still very reasonable priced. It seems like Uber Premium is somewhat similar to the Uber Green option in other countries. In 2 out of 3 trips we got a Hyundai Prius, which makes it a perfect option for people who would like to travel eco-friendly.
We were told about another taxi app on the market called PickMe but our experience was that the PickMe taxis were more expensive than Uber and offered less cars/ drivers. So we didn´t use their service.
However be aware that there are some challenges, too when using Uber.
Uber driver wants to be paid in cash
When our Uber driver arrived at the airport he immediately asked if we could pay him in cash. We told him, that we have already prepaid the trip via Uber and would not be willing to pay again. He suggested to cancel the order, so that we could pay him directly. He came up with a lot of different reasons like he would need the money for fuel and that he just needed to pay a bill for medicine at the hospital for a family member. No matter how heartbreaking the stories are that you have been told and how compassionate you are, there is a chance that these stories are just made up. Be aware that you loose the possibility to rate the driver and to contact Uber regarding this trip if you cancel it and pay cash.
We decided not to cancel and instead call another Uber taxi. When our driver realized we would not make the trip without Uber app, he agreed to drive us anyway.
Expressway toll is included in the Uber fee
The second story our driver told us, was that there are two routes to go from the airport to Colombo, which is true. There are certainly more even more than two. The fast route via the highway, which is a toll expressway or the regular roads, which would take at least 45 minutes longer. After a long flight we wanted to get to our house as fast as possible, so of course we opted for the expressway option. He further told us that the expressway is a toll road and would cost 300 SLR extra.
Well… when we checked our bill in the guesthouse we realized that Uber calculates the fastest route which will be the route via the expressway and the toll is included in the Uber fee, so we actually paid it twice, with the Uber order and cash to the driver. Don’t let your driver tell you that you would need to pay toll extra in cash and always check your order details to see what is included!
Plan ahead or calculate a longer waiting time during rush-hours
In Colombo heavy rush-hour traffic can typically be on weekdays from 06:00 am to 10:00 am in the Mmrning and from 04:00 pm to 07:00 pm in the evening. During that time it is not only difficult to get an Uber taxi, but you would also need to calculate at least double the time to get from a simple point A to a point B.
When you just try to get around in the city, this is a fact you might just have in mind when you´re wondering why there is no Uber driver available. If you need to go to the airport or to the train station you either avoid these times or plan respectively.
Check the license plate
During the afternoon rush hour we tried to get an Uber taxi for a short trip to Good Market, which is a nice little organic market and cafe in Colombo. To get a regular Uber taxi was impossible. They were all busy, so the only option we had was to call a Uber tuktuk. To fit all 5 of us we needed to use 2 separate vehicles.
I have ordered one for Lily and I. After a short time a tuktuk arrived and Lily and I hopped on the tuktuk. But soon after we got on the tuktuk we noticed that the driver didn’t have a clue where he was supposed to go. He asked us where we wanted to go. I told him the street, but was somehow puzzled, since all the Uber drivers we had so far knew the destination from their app. He did not understand or maybe did not know where Reid Ave was and asked again. I told him, that he should have a look at his app to check the destination. When he replied „Which app?“ I was alarmed and asked him to stop for a second.
All of a sudden I realized, that we might be in the wrong tuktuk. I got out of the vehicle to check the license plate. And… bummer… it was (of course) not the license plate indicated by the Uber app. Lily and I were not sitting in the Uber tuktuk we had called but another non-Uber tuktuk. We decided to jump off.
And moreover… we noticed that we could not reach Irka and her mom, who should follow us in another Uber tuktuk, since I had our travel Wi-Fi router with me and Irka’s mobile was no longer connected to the internet.
There we are. Stranded in the middle of an unknown city with no option to reach our fellow travelers. At least we had internet to call a new Uber tuktuk hoping we would meet Irka, Nisha and Karla at Good Market in 14 Reid Ave.
We learnt the lesson to check the license plate more carefully before onboarding an Uber taxi.
What to see in one day in Colombo
So what do you do in one day in Colombo with children and you got little time? You want to take it easy and have some fun, right?
Gangaramaya Temple
We have chosen to start the day visiting the Gangaramaya temple, one of the most important temples in Colombo. The temple is a very quiet and peaceful place in the middle of the hustle & bustle city. Its ground is fairly small. So you don’t need to walk around for long. At the entrance visitors are requested to pay a fee and wear appropriate clothes. If you happen to wear shorts you will need to cover your legs with blankets which are provided to your convenience.
Barefoot Cafe and gallery
This eco-mindful place is great if you urge for a tasty snack or simply want to chill out. The Barefoot Cafe you enter from the main road via a shop which is a bit a strange but you end up in a colorful garden restaurant which is sided by a small yet fine art gallery. The prices are not on the low-budget end for sure but the milk shakes are to die for. You can easily spend an hour here or more. This place attracts a colorful crowd, we noticed.
The Good Market
Every week from 9 am to 5 pm the Saturday Good Market happens in the Nuga Tree Car Park behind the Ministry of Sports and next to the Colombo Racecourse. You can find 65 to 85 Good Market approved vendors with fresh organic fruits and vegetables, natural food and snacks, ethical fashion, toys, and housewares, non-toxic home and garden supplies, natural personal care products, massage, henna art, live music, kids programs, and more.
Unfortunately it was not Saturday and there was no market. But there is also Good Market Reid Avenue, which has a shop and community deli with organic, natural, and eco-friendly products from more than 130 Good Market approved enterprises, which is worth a visit also during weekdays.
Playgrounds
Colombo is not a place with many playgrounds but that doesn’t mean that the city ain’t no fun for kids. In the area of the Good market (Reid Ave) we have found a giant Banyan tree with air roots hanging so low the kids could use them as ropes and swing like Tarzan. It’s a just a matter of imagination.
We must say that people in Colombo are generally very child friendly. Especially our blond 5 years old got plenty of attention. She made a lot of (mostly elderly) people smile. Some started playing games with her and often she got something for free. At the temples she didn’t have to cover her legs and shoulders while her older sister had to wrap herself up. In order to grant Lily access to temples and mosques we ended up buying her a traditional outfit at the Pettah Market, one of Sri Lanka’s busiest commercial areas.
We decided to have dinner at the Italian restaurant Il Ponte at the Hilton hotel in the downtown area of Colombo. Overlooking the outdoor swimming pool of the hotel the children got their favorite food, pizza made from the brick oven. They were happy, hence the parents were happy, too. This place had a superb location, served tasty original Italian food and was moderately prized. How is it possible that we were almost the only customers on a Monday night?
Not far from the place where we had dinner the Shangri-La hotel resides, now more famous for being a target of the suicide bombers on Easter Sunday 2019 than for its luxury. We haven´t observed many tourists in Colombo. The guest book pages in the Fern Cove villa (where we stayed in Colombo) covering the last months were largely empty. Still many avoid visiting the country due to the terrorist attacks. Many people in this country we realized are suffering economically as the financial state depends largely on tourism. Most people didn’t like to talk about it. They like to think positively and imagine that soon the flock of tourists come back and things will get better.
