Room With a View

We headed for Ratnapura by first taking by 3-wheel to Minuwangoda at ten past eight. Then, we boarded a bus to Colombo's Petta bus stand. Busses for all big cities leave from there. Unfortunately, there's so much traffic in the capital nowadays that it takes hours to get out.

The scenery was fine and the city lovely. Literally, its name means gem city. It's known for blue sapphires, red rubies, cat's eyes, alexandrites, tourmalines, zircons, garnets, moonstones, amethysts, and topaz. We were not hunting for precious stones though.



We walked up to a guest house and expected to pay around SR850, so we walked away when the receptionist asked for SR1500. We took a 3-wheel up to the old Rest House. This was the very spot where we'd eaten lunch on a day trip back in 1991. It is no longer run by the Ceylon Hotel Corporation, and is still $US 15 but the view is superb and this room is super-sized.