Posted on Monday, 16 January 2017

Craig Hindmarsh attempted to travel the 100 miles from Colombo Airport to the beach resort of Bentota – for £1.50.

Day time construction work at Colombo Airport meant that my flight, along with every other one, arrived late at night.

While located only 20 miles from the city centre, I felt it prudent to book a hotel near the airport. I chose the Hostel City Hub, which, despite its name, furnished me with a very decent air-con room. For about £11 I had access to a pool, breakfast and the chance to meet the hotel's three friendly rabbits.

The next day, my mission was to get to Bentota, a popular coastal resort where my uncle, aunty and cousin were waiting. It lay 85 miles south of Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital. After making enquiries at the reception desk I was guided to the ‘Travel Desk', where an affable man tried first to sell me a $25 taxi ride to the city, then, when he discovered my final destination of Bentota, tried to sell me a $60 taxi ride all the way there.

When he understood I was interested in more economical options, he begrudgingly told me where to catch the bus.

After being separated from 10 rupees (5p) I caught the bus to the station. I thought I would walk to the nearby airport train station then catch a train to Colombo, but the young bus conductor suggested the express bus to the capital instead.

After taking 20 minutes to fill up, the bus finally moved off into the heavy traffic towards Colombo. As more people got on, hidden seats were unfolded to fill the gangway itself, which meant by the time it came to pay, the money and tickets had to be passed up and down the bus by the passengers themselves.

Having been in India, I thought I may have been given a higher price – but I paid the same fare as everyone else (about 65p). Considering this would have cost about £18 by taxi, I congratulated myself on my thriftiness.

Somehow I judged the right bus stop and it was only a short walk to Colombo's main train station when I alighted. The station was reminiscent of an Indian one, perhaps slightly cleaner (or should I say less dirty?). Overall, there seemed to be less poverty and desperation compared to Sri Lanka's much larger neighbour to the north west.

Once inside, I bought a second class ticket to Bentota for 110 rupees (55p) and went about seeking sustenance. I sat down in one of the busy railway cafes and ordered food from a smiling waiter. When I told him my nationality, he reeled off a list of other nationalities he knew of, before presenting me with a samosa and a triangular dollop of masala wrapped in a roti.

Washing this down with a passable black coffee, I made my way out onto the platform. While adults seemed fairly unimpressed by my presence, children would smile or wave and try out some basic English.

The muffled tannoy issued the occasional update in English, but it was so hard to hear that I had to ask two locals and one tourist before I was sure I had the correct platform.

When the train arrived (only a few minutes late) I got on, only to find there were no seats. I would have to stand in the vestibule area. Two Swedish girls got on at a later station. For them, squeezing on to the train was hard enough, but they had with them a full-size surf board which, with some help from fellow passengers, was heaved onto the baggage rack.

The girls were heading further south to enjoy some of Sri Lanka's famous rollers, which we caught sight of as we moved down the coast. The glittering gas-blue Indian Ocean stretched out before us, seemingly into infinity. It was a glorious sunny day and standing for an hour and half, even in such cramped conditions, was not a serious challenge.

Finally, the train pulled into sleepy Bentota Station and I bid goodbye to the Swedish surfers.

There on the station were my smiling relatives, keen to hear my travel tales, not least of which, I would say, was travelling over one hundred miles through one of South Asia's busiest cities – for less than £1.50.

As I would discover, beautiful Bentota with its castor sugar beaches, sneaky tuk-tuk drivers and costly Lion Beer, would relieve me of my cash much more effectively than then the Hub's Travel Desk!

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