Colombo, Sri Lanka

We had a couple travel days to get from Paro to Colombo via Bangkok. We could have booked connecting flights in Bangkok (and avoided the drive in and out of the city), but the idea was to drop off souvenirs and winter stuff at the Bangkok hotel so that we didn't have to haul them across multiple flights and around Sri Lanka.

Our flight from Paro to Bangkok wasn't until 2pm so we had a relaxing morning. We actually slept in for the first time on the Bhutan leg of our trip, waking up around 8:30am. Breakfast was okay; we asked for porridge which turned out to be rice porridge (I suppose more common). I had just a little to be polite as I'm not a big fan. The hotel was empty except for us and other couple, it sort of reminded us of the salt hotel in Uyuni.

Yeshey and Hasta picked us up at 10:45am for lunch in Paro. They had gifts and a nice written postcard for each of us! We drove to the restaurant; however the chef had had an emergency and so Yeshey made a couple quick calls and we went to another restaurant, that we had eaten at previously. It was great - our last chance for chili cheese and other Bhutan specialties. We used the opportunity to give them tips for making our trip so great, this time properly in envelopes (we had picked some up at the paper factory). (On the trek, we didn't learn about the envelopes until we were trekking, and so gave the crew tips in makeshift envelopes made from napkins).

Yeshey was also able to have us checked in ahead of time, so we had prime seats up front on the right side, the best for viewing the Himalayans on our flight.

We said our good-byes to Yeshey and Hasta after 13 days and checked into our flight. Security didn't mind about water bottles through the scanners, which was good cause then we didn't have to buy water at the gate. Exiting immigration was very straightforward, just a few flips through the passport, a stamp and we were through.

We also had no issue with some very large souvenirs we took as carry-on.

The flight left the gate on time. We flew through a different city in India (not Kolkata as on the way here) I forget the name. We had a nice view of the sunset on the 2nd hop.

We touched down in Bangkok about 8pm. It didn't take too long through immigration once we changed to the faster lineup (about 20 minutes). Our luggage was already on the conveyor belt by the time we got through! Getting a taxi was easy enough, just a five minute lineup. However we then hit traffic on the way into downtown, taking us over an hour.

Lots of 'Sabadee, welcome back' as we checked into the Eastin Grand Sathorn. We were upgraded to a fancy suite with a huge bathroom cause we were returning guests. We also got a late check-out of 4pm, as our flight to Colombo didn't depart until 9pm the next day.

It was getting late, almost 10pm after we washed up, so we just headed to the lobby bar for a couple drinks and 'tapas'. The tapas were more a marketing thing as it was just a regular menu. Had some breaded squid and chicken satays, which tasted a bit bland after all the chilies we had become accustomed to in Bhutan :) We chatted about our favourite moments of our just-completed Bhutan trip, and then crashed, quite late for us on this trip.

...

Slept in again, and went for breakfast around 9am. It was a lazy morning, as we didn't have much to do except catch up on emails, blog, and go to the 7-Eleven for some toiletries.

Re-packed our backpacks and the left-luggage, which had now grown to five pieces. After the Sri Lanka leg, we'll buy a big suitcase in the market in Bangkok to take everything back home.

It was hot and muggy out (34C) in Bangkok, which after the cool clear air of Bhutan, felt especially warm. We didn't have any get-up-and-go so went to the hotel restaurant for lunch (Luce), which turned out to have excellent Italian food (the chef was Italian too).

We finished our packing, checked out, and went to the lounge to hang out until it was time to leave for the airport. The helpful concierge suggested we check-in online for our flight cause then we could leave later for the airport, and catch the start of happy hour at the hotel (with what's called here as 'free flow' drinks).

The drive to the airport took half the time because it's a public holiday today. Our flight was delayed 30 minutes, but all the extra time was eaten up by the line-ups to exit immigration.

The Sri Lankan Airlines plane was new and very comfortable. It even had in-flight entertainment, which we weren't expecting. Luckily we both watched short movies, cause they collected the headphones with an hour still left in the flight.

It was pretty quick through immigration and luggage collection, less than 20 minutes. We had arranged with the hotel (Taru Villas - Lake Lodge) for airport pickup cause of the late arrival (almost midnight). Our driver was waiting with a nice "Eric D'Souza" sign. Got cash from the ATM (all large bills, $50 CAD equivalent) and we were on our way. The airport is in a neighboring city, 45 minutes from Colombo downtown; but it was quick due to the time of day. The hotel was expecting us (I had emailed about our late check-in). It was almost 1:30am by the time we went to bed, excited about this last leg of our trip.