Day 2 - Tired as a very tired dog.

09:30
The transfer in Dubai was a piece of piss. It’s a huge airport, and it can take a good while to get from one side to the other. Today though, we have just a 3 minute walk from the security check to get to our gate. We grab a beer, and cackle contentedly for a while.

We grab some duty free. An abiding memory of mine from my 2024 trip is that the accommodations I stayed in rarely had a bar on site, and we all (minus Vicki, obvs) felt like a bottle of gin and a bottle of spiced rum would be good additions to our trip.

There’s a minor snafu at the gate when it transpires Simon has lost his boarding pass. No great shakes, as we have digital ones, but it’s the boarding pass that has the luggage tags on it. We’ll just have to hope nothing goes awry on that front.

The second flight is a little less enjoyable than the first. The Emirates 777-300ER on which we’re flying has recently been refurbished, and I don’t think Emirates have done the best job with it. Any plane is gonna feel small compared to the A380, but I’d always found Emirates’ 777 comfortable enough. It now feels properly cramped, dark, and just not the most pleasant place to spend time. The new Premium Economy and Business cabins look great, but the cattle class product is a disappointment. I manage maybe 2 hours of scratchy sleep, and that will just have to do.

We land into Colombo on time, despite a slightly late departure from Dubai. Deplaning, passport control, luggage reclaim all done in the blink of an eye. Maybe 30 minutes after landing, we’re climbing into our minivan for the 2 hour ride down to Unawatuna.

The drive down is largely uneventful. Vicki sleeps most of the way, as does Simon. Shenda and I rest, but don’t manage to zizz. We have a couple of hairy moments on the road, but our driver manages to navigate these fairly successfully.

We pull up next to Winsi VIlla around 11:30, and are quickly into our rooms. We’re all knackered, but agree to head out for a very small wander, mainly to find water for our rooms. We pitch up at a beach bar, the name of which I couldn’t begin to tell you. We’re all a bit discombobulated, and my Lion beer does nothing to assist me. We can see the beach from where we’re sat, but we’ll come back and check it out properly later.

Vicki and I decide we need a minimum of 3 hours of sleep. When we arrive back to our room, the A/C has done its work, and it’s blissfully cool. We climb into bed, and are both quickly out for the count.

22:30
I have 3 hours of DEEP sleep. Vicki, maybe closer to 4. Simon managed similar, but Shenda once against rested rather than dozed. We head out around 18:00, mainly in search of sustenance. About 1km down the beach is a seafood restaurant called Black and White, and we head off in the direction. The beach itself is very pretty, though the view to the South is a little diminished by a pretty ugly and blocky building, which we later discover is a big holiday hotel.

At Black and White, we choose our fish. Shenda is pescatarian, and has been full on veggie at times. She doesn’t love the idea of fish heads and tails, so we chat with the dude at the fish counter. He recommends a butterfish, a species Vicki and I have eaten before in South Africa, but which I’ve never seen on the sub-continent. We add some tiger prawns as well, because - why not? Chef fillets the fish, to accommodate Shenda’s request, and serves both fish and prawns in a slightly hot, slightly smoky garlic and butter sauce - served with a simple salad and some rice. It’s staggeringly good. And amazing value. With (several) drinks, the bill for 4 of us comes to £60.

It’s about 20:30, and we’re not quite ready to call it a night. I don’t think we’ll be up late, but asleep by 21:00 is asking for trouble. We walk back to the centre of town, initially via the road, and subsequently through someone’s back garden. The vague back streets of Unawatuna are not necessarily where we’d planned to spend our evening. Happily enough, we find our way back to civilisation after definitely more than one wrong turns. We part up at a beach bar, next door to which is a restaurant with a local band covering the likes of Culture Club, Miley Ray Cyrus, Taylor Swift. There’s also a DJ, but my mother taught me that if you don’t have anything nice to say….

We bravely make it to 22:00, before declaring bed. We have the sum total of fuck all plans tomorrow, and I can’t wait.Läs mer