Our flight was due to land at 6:00 am but we got out a little early. The airport was very busy. There are many late-night departures and early-morning arrivals. Our plane had been packed with tourists. In fact, I'm sure they put a larger aircraft into service because of other passengers like us, who were scheduled on the cancelled earlier flight.
We disembarked quickly but had to wait and wait for our luggage to hit the conveyor belt. Our bags must've been first on as they were waiting to board this aircraft along with us. So that meant last off!
This early arrival was very nice. We have generally arrived from over the Pacific in the middle of the night. Today, the day was just beginning. We leisurely got some cash from the ATMs.
Then, I picked up a SIM card. It really wasn't for my phone although that's how the guy set it up. I ordered a personal, portable, rechargable router from China in the summer. It takes a SIM compatible in Sri Lanka. Accessing the Internet had always been a slightly inconvenient part of visiting the island as Jay's sisters use only data from their phones. We're used to having broadband where we stay. There is plenty of competition in the Sri Lankan telecom market with very reasonable plans. I was happy to see new 'unlimited' data available plans designed for foreign passport holders. It isn't cheaper but it is especially useful as pre-paid with no need for an address, etc. A one-month unlimited 4G SIM cost $US 20. I didn't mind the cost because after putting it into my little router, we will have non-stop data on at least a dozen devices. (I'm writing this post via it right now.)
In the public area in front of the airport, there has always been a taxi counter. It is official and very hassle-free. We always get a van. Jay's house is close to the airport. I'd kind of forgotten just how close. With our carry-on, we had about 100 kg of stuff and loaded it. The time was close to 8:00 a.m. by the time we were ready to drive to Yatiyana, Minuwangoda.
The drivers must line up and I'm sure ours would have wished we had requested the other side of Sri Lanka so he could max out his earnings. Anyway, we graciously arrived at the house at around 8:10 a.m. Jay's younger sister lives alone here. However, his widowed elder sister came earlier in the week from Nugegoda just to visit us.
We MADE IT!
It was a pleasant day of getting used to the environment, unpacking the many gifts and things, and enjoying the food. Sri Lankan cuisine is different from what most people think of as Indian food. It has many subtilities and is similar to Southeast Asian dishes. Jay's a good cook, but his sisters are GREAT cooks.
We will be going to bed earlier than usual. We're 12 1/2 hours ahead of home but we've been a few extra days getting here and have already done a bit of adjusting.