"Just one full day and a night at the Youth Hostel was enough of the capital, then, keen to escape the heat on the coast I took the train up to Kandy.
 
From the short time I spent in Colombo I found it to be one of the more pleasant of the Asian cities I have visited. Its past colonial British era was still very much in evidence, not only on many of the older buildings, but also in the grand manner in which the central area was laid out. Despite all this I failed to find Colombo all that exciting, so, given the many other places I had wanted to visit on this trip, I felt the two days I spent here were pleanty. I found the busy down town shopping district, close to the bus station, the most interesting part of the city. The population at this time was around a million.
 
My last 3 days...
Leaving Maskeliya in the early afternoon, I first took a bus to Hattan, then on from there to Kandy, returning to the Lake Inn for just the one night. It was nice staying there again, a bit ,I felt, like coming home. While there the proprietor said he could make arrangements for me to spend my last night in Sti Lanka, staying at his cousins house in Colombo, who also did B&B. As it seemed an ideal way in which to finish off my trip I was pleased to let him ring the cousin and fix it up for me. The following morning I took the early train down to Colombo, where, to my surprise, I was met by the cousin as I came out of the station. At the time I thought it was a nice gesture as it saved me the hassle of trying to find his house, especially as it turned out to be over a 15 minute bus ride away. The house, though small, was modern and well designed, with the room I was offered being clean and tastefully furnished; despite all this I did not feel at ease in the house, or that I was really welcome by his family, but as it was only for the one night, I felt it best to just try and make the most of the situation. After getting settled in I set off to spend my last afternoon visiting the National Museum and nearby zoo. 
 
When I returned to the B&B in the late evening, after having a meal in a restaurant close by, I found the cousin quite chatty, though I got the feeling he was very anti-British and in the end I felt glad to retreat to bed. 
 
The next morning as my flight was not 'till 7pm, I arranged to leave my bag in my room 'till 3pm so so I could have an easy last morning buying a few souvenirs. On my return to collect my bag and pay, the man presented me with a bill for two nights, as I had ,he claimed, had the room for more than one day. I was also being charged for being met at the station, something I had not even asked for. We argued for nearly an hour, and though I got away with only paying around half the original bill, it meant me having a real rush to catch the bus to the airport. Then, having got there and spent the last of my Sri Lankan money, so as to leave just enough to pay the departure tax, I found the government had just doubled the charge that day. As a result, I had to rush and change my last travellers cheque so I could pay it. I felt, by the time we took off at 8pm, I was quite ready to leave. It was a disappointing end to what had been, for the most part, an enjoyable and certainly a very interesting trip." - MH