27 Nov. Negombo to Bandaranaika Airport

There used to be a time (even before my time) when flying was something special, exotic, stylishly upmarket. Blimey, those days are long gone.
What a farce !
I got from Negombo to the airport fairly painlessly, in plenty of time, and we were set for take-off at around 16:55. That's when it all went a bit pear-shaped. The Gulf Airways pilot came on the intercom to apologise for the delay in taking off, but that there was a leak of water that needed investigation (I hope it was only water). The time dragged on, but we were eventually taken off the flight to wait like muppets for an extra 4-5 hours; hanging around for information, updates or advice. Even more eventually, all the passengers - those destined for Male in The Maldives and those onward for Bahrain - were led off to get on buses to take us to a hotel for the night.
But aah, that's when things picked up. Goodness only knows where this hotel is, but it's called Cinnamon Life, and it's very swish: very large, very corporate but very nice: the best food and the comfiest bed so far on this trip.
We didn't arrive until way after 10pm, and I've just noticed a message from Gulf Airways giving options about an alternative flight. Fat lot of good that is to me. When it came through, I was on the bus to the hotel.
Let's see what tomorrow brings. A flight to Male I'm hoping.Read more