Colombo, Sri Lanka

After 6 hours on two planes and 3.5 hours at Kuala Lumpur airport we landed safely in the capital of country number 5: Colombo.
We only stayed one full day at Colombo, as there is not a lot to see in the capital, and left the city with mixed feelings. On one hand, the difference to to SEA was very refreshing, some parts of the city (and population) burst with colours and the Sri Lankan people are super sweet and friendly, but on the other hand the city practically consists of half rich, half poor areas and, as said, really lacks of things to do in the center… As the most interesting areas were the very local areas and presumably quite poor, we did not want to explore them - we noticed early on in our travels that it does not feel right to us to walk around in poor areas as tourists.
Another thing that shocked us dearly and that we were not prepared for (unsurprisingly - we really should up our preparation game 🙃) were the prices - the said-to-be very cheap country turns out to be the most expensive we‘ve been so far. This is due to the economic crisis which is owed mainly to financial mismanagement by the former political powers and left the country with heavy depts and a resulting inflation. Many locals told us that the prices for many foods have risen by 300 (!!) percent in the last years, bringing many of the locals on the edge of existence. Currently, a meal at a restaurant is between 5 to 8 $, a beer (if you find any! Most restaurants do not sell alcohol because they cannot afford the license) is 3 $ - we as tourists can afford it, but as a Sri Lankan with an average monthly income of 250 $ (excluding taxes) it is hardly manageable.
So, currently we are consoling ourselves by knowing we can at least help some of the people out by paying tourist fees (such as tuktuk drivers). And, to come back to Colombo with a positive thing: the beach is very pretty, very scenic and has lots of beach huts and restaurants (with BYOB (bring your own beer) policy because of the license)! We loved it 🥰Read more