So our honeymoon was a sudden last minute plan. With tickets for Colombo booked about 10 hours before we were to leave for the airport, we frantically looked for a place to stay as most hotel didn't have vacancy. We made reservations at Galleface as suggested by the friendly neighbour, Ashok. Then it struck me that we could ask some friends who went to Colombo. Jumbo as we call him with love, (and for obvious reasons LOL) suggested we stay at the Eden resort and spa where he recently stayed with his family. We checked the website and it really was beautiful. After much telephonic conversation we were told that the reservation system wasn't working but we would be able to go stay there on arrival as they had vacancy. After confirming again that they would have a room for us when we reached, Lionel finally hung up and now I had to make the frantic call to Galleface to cancel our previous booking, Thankfully they hadn't swipped the card for payment but just taken the card number for making the booking. The guy on the phone very sweetly said it was alright to cancel when I lied that my husband made the booking the same time I was making one and now we had 2 reservations. :P

After the stay was sorted, we were super excited as this would be out first real vacation. It was just gonna be just 2 days due to the instinctive decision and for the fact that I had a flight to catch the next day back to dubai and then another flight for work. We tried convincing Sasha, Ashok's gf to take off work so we could all go together but that wasn't happening as its her last month in her job. So with a few clothes we found fit enough for the beach and an extra bag to bring back the shopping, we left from home with two friends, Nandu and Suni driving us to the airport. It was unexpected heavy traffic for the hour on the airport road and a lil worry about missing our flight started creeping in. The traffic was thanks to a barricade the cops decided to put across an already narrow road to prevent people from taking a u-turn even though there was no u-turn for the next couple of blocks!

Finally we reached the airport, took are bags and rushed inside. Scan, weighed and checked in bags, we happily waved our boarding pass as we headed for immigration, customs and security checks. We were finally on our honeymoon exactly 3months after the day we got married and we couldn't contain our happiness. Boarding started almost immediately and we took chennai airports first travelator to our gate, went down the stairs, on the bus and boarded the aircraft. The flight was full and we were moved to exit seats where we happily stretched our legs and sat doing what passengers do on a flight-check out the crew. Hehe! After much careful observation we concluded that the Spicejet uniform skirt has a bad design. This one poor crew had somehow stuffed herself into it and it was unsightly. This group of pax with some young boys joked and laughed bout it mercilessly ofcourse without her knowledge. Take off after midnight, some food and an hour later we were in Colombo at about 2am local time.

The weather didn't seem as bad as I thought it would be. The airport terminal was not very big but very clean. Immigration was quick and soon we walked into the arrivals hall with a bottle of Martini champange and Bacardi we grabbed at duty free to celebrate :D Looking out for taxi hire company's we went to the only counter with a lil activity and attendants who weren't sleeping and booked a cab to Beruwala town where the resort was situated. We were shown on the map that we drive right through colombo to reach Beruwala, which would be about a 2 1/2hr drive. Shana, the attendant showed us to the taxi and we got his number to call for a cab the next day to return to Colombo city. We drove into the night but it was hard napping in the car. I had silly thoughts of being driven in an unknown country by an unknown person and I realised I wasn't a very trusting traveller. These thoughts I kept to myself as I was sure they were as ridiculous as I thought them to be, and I didn't know how Lionel would react. And now as he reads this he's gonna say,"sweety why didn't u tell me u were scared? Muahhh ". Some fears are best left untold I believe.

The gates to our garden of Eden were shut when we arrived. A sleepy watchman came unlocked it for us and an equally sleepy porter helped us with our bags. We were seated while yet another sleepy receptionist was ushered to check us in. We were shown to our room which looked so cozy with a balcony facing the resorts pool. It was raining and we hoped the weather wouldn't ruin our plans for the beach bumming. Tired we decided to sleep and wake up early for breakfast which ofcourse didn't happen and we woke up around noon.

Slathering on lots of sunscreen we headed down ready to relax. The humidity made the camera lens foggy and the cloudy weather didn't help with the clicking of pics. But it was pleasant because of the previous nights showers. We went around lookin at the whole place and saw a gate which opened up to the beach. While I fetched some towels for us, Lionel struck up a deal with this local named Bingo (everyone seems to have english names these days) for a boat ride into the mangrove forest. We jumped into a motor boat went with Bingo and his mate into the marshy waters. They showed us these huge reptiles Bingo liked to call water lizards basking on tree branches and swimming in the water. Everytime they spotted something they would kill the motor and ease closer to the creature. I was excited to see a crocodile but all we found was a tiny baby which got scared when Bingo threw a tiny stick at it so we could see it better. Lionel and me tried hard to spot something amidst the murky water and the clustered branches and dangling roots, he saw a kingfisher or two but my eyesight failed me. Some whistling rustled up the fruit bats in the trees high above and we saw a white tree frog sitting a leaf and dangling in the air. After a nice long ride we reached a tiny bridge where we turned around and headed back. Bingo insisted we go to one of the many herb gardens found there, just to have a look he added as this particular one belonged to his brother. We were given a tour around while the man pointed to the uses of oils and creams made from each of the pepper creepers, coconut trees, ginger stems, lemongrass plants, medicinal pineapple runners, sandalwood barks and what he claimed to be asparagus which had no shoots! There was a tiny table with bottles of oil and jars of creams which they took the liberty to apply on us as a demo, lemongrass oil to ward off mosquitoes and a patch of sandalwood hair removing cream on Lionel's leg. Lol. We were told that we could buy all that stuff and even if we didn't, a tip would do. We left wit a bottle of pepper oil for vericose veins and the sandalwood cream. Haha. And he wanted a tip as well! Cheeky fellow.

We finally reached the beach by our hotel and were being offered another deal for a ride to town by tuk-tuk which we said we'll think about. A man was selling tiny souvieners carved out of coconuts in the shape of elephants, monkeys and tuk-tuks which were over-priced. While Lionel went back to the room to bring his wallet to pay Bingo, I settled in a beach chair under the shade of the umbrella which refused to open fully. When he was back we strolled to the waters edge and walked in the shallow bit. The sea was rough so that was all we dared to do. Getting hungry, we headed back inside the hotel gates and to the outdoor cafe for some grilled lobster with fries and refreshing drinks. Lionel couldn't resist sending some pictures to Ashu and Sashu to tease them, and it worked. Lazily we settled in the recliners in the garden facing the beach with a plate of fries between us,which we left for the crows to snack on eventually. The view was obstructed by trees if you were lying down. So we strolled to the beach. Another local tried selling a joint to Lio for 15dollars saying its imported from Kerala! Lio couldn't stop laughing for the fact that he is from Kerala. Least to say that deal didn't work out for the insisting local who walked off disappointed. I walked at the water's edge while this happened. We walked hand in hand for a while and figured our next option was the pool since we couldn't splash about on the beach with the rough sea.

Some splashing we did! Carrying Lio around in the water with the weightlessness and giggling at his attempt of swimming and squishing bubbles from his pocket which looked like farts in water we spent the afternoon. There was this fat lebanese looking guy with another uncle of smaller size there who we thought were a gay couple and found hilarious coz of their size difference. We sat sipping cocktails and playing the fool at the bar in the center of the pool. All the waterproof suncreen turned white in the pool which annoyed Lio very much. He tried rubbing himself and me clean of the white residue with a frown. And yet there were patches here and there. So we headed back to the room to shower and get cleaned. But what do you know, I ended up sleeping for 4 straight hours. Lio got up earlier and decided to take a walk around the place. He called to let me know I could find him in the snooker room. When I eventually woke up and got dressed for dinner, he was almost done playing. Tired from all the horsing around in the pool, we decided to stay dry for the rest of the evening and checked out the seafood restaurant called Beruwala maalu. Grilled crab and crab bisque soup it was this time. By now the mallu in Lio was missing the spicy food and rice and wasn't too happy seeing his crab in a white sauce. I gladly offered to finish his plate for the glutton that I am. I saw a couple go to the beach and knowing the gate was still open we followed suite after finishing. I ran up to the room to grab the bottle of champagne to drink on the beach. We walked in the light from the resort, and a dog followed us around wagging his tail the whole time. Soon after the fat man and lil man landed up on the beach and went off in a different direction for their romantic walk while we both sat on a log of wood sipping some very sweet champagne from the bottle.

Taking a quarter of the bottle back with us, we went back to the room as there was nothing else for us to do. After some convincing I ordered a nasi goreng for Lio so he could have the rice and spice in his system again. Time didn't seem to pass. Eventually a few hours after watching a nineties set movie we passed out.

Next morning's breakfast also didn't find its way to our stomachs. Lio woke up ahead to be a darling husband and go arrange for a cab and check the bill and stuff while I lazed a lil longer. We planned to head straight out to colombo in the hotel taxi coz this time Lio was a bit wary about flagging down a cab in the middle of nowhere. The cabbie was a nice guy who said he had been to India on his first foreign trip, to Chennai infact and said would like to return some day. A friend, Vijay recently moved to Colombo so we got hold of him for meeting up the evening. He was kind enough to offer us his place to dump our bags while we shopped, but we had got the empty bag to fill it up with the shopping. We asked the cabbie which place wud be best to shop at and he suggested House of Fashion as lots of Indian go there, Odel and Majestic is more of an attraction for Europeans he said.

So we landed up at House of Fashion, and after depositing our bags at the counter we went through the place top to bottom. It was a bit of a chaos with saris and bags and mens and sportswear together, and kids wear with toys and a winter wear clumped on another floor and the ground floor being a selection of shoes, house hold items and check out counters. We picked out gifts for each of our friends and a few for me and hurried off to billing coz by now I had elephants crying in my stomach. This time with a lil help from a girl on the street we headed to Odel after she put us in an auto so we cud eat first and then shop again. Yummy burgers and chilly cheese fries and a few fresh limes (that went wrong coz they were sweet and salted when we asked just for sweet) later we entered this tiny place which had mostly designer stuff. Nothing of much interest apart from a trinket we picked up for Renu and a shop selling cupcakes from where we were shooed off coz I clicked a picture! We went up and down and up and down again looking for a poker chip set which disappointingly was out of stock. Next stop was Beverly Hill and with 2bags in hand we were making it more than obvious we were tourists so the tuk-tuk drivers took good advantage of the same and made some mollah. By now Lio was fed up of shopping coz he doesn't have the patience to look through stuff, one gaze and he has to like the stuff to buy it. He perched himself on a parapet while I whizzed around quickly and grabbed a few things. The tuk-tuk driver waited for us outside and suggested we go for a massage. Having nothing else in mind for the moment we let him take us to this place which turned out to be an ayurvedic treatment centre. We both did not think we wanted any heavy-ass treatment, just a regular salon would do but we were told this is what's available here and this is what people come to do so we should atleast check it out. So reluctantly we walked inside this cottage with a heavy incense odour, looked at the catalogue and walked out as they did not have any regular massage-just all long smelly treatments! Exhausted Lio got hold of Vijay and it was decided that we wait for him at his apartment.

It was a quick ride to Vijay's place. His wife, Anu was warm and hospitable. We chatted with her about life in Colombo. She was still getting a hang of it in the few weeks she was there. She told us how afraid some locals are even now to live a normal life because of the Tamil Tigers and LTTe incidents in the past years to the extent that her maid's family splits into father-daughter and mother-son duo and take different buses while travelling. We were shocked and amazed hearing this. I was very impressed at how well spoken Anu was while she told us about the amazing night life and beautiful resorts in Sri Lanka. Soon it was time for their lil girl, Ananya to wake up so Anu left us two alone to freshen up in the guest room. Vijay joined us soon after and Ananya was stuck to him like a baby monkey for a long time, it was so adorable. The boys, (yes I call them boys coz both for their age are still jumping, getting crazy...LOL) had a drink or two. Lio and me decided to skip dinner as we were keen on going to the casino at Bellagio and we were surprised to know that it was right next to Beverly Street but we missed it. Clubbing wasn't gonna happen either as we had to leave for the airport around midnight to catch our flight back. While we headed to the casino, the other trio went for dinner with some friends and Vijay would pop in at the Bellagio after he was done.

Now this Bellagio is probably the world's smallest casino. It really was tiny compared to casinos one sees in movies. There were no slot machines, just roulette, black jack and poker tables with a bar to one side of the wall. This was Lio's first time at a real casino and I was excited to gamble with him. We walked around to have a look and settled at one of the roulette tables which had a seat. I explained the game to Lio and he watched as I bet for the first few spins. He wandered off to find an empty poker table as he thinks roulette has very low odds of winning. By the time he came back I had lost some money. He sat down next to me as all other tables were full. Changing some more money for chips, he started betting with me and turns out he enjoyed not knowing what he was doing. Eventually he got the hang of the game and we played together and played to win. Guess he was gonna be proven wrong tonight. I ran off to book cab at the reception for our ride to the airport and check on Vijay while the new-found roulette fan made some more money. It was good fun just the two of us. Brad, an african-american guy on our right was at the table since 4 in the evening and kept saying it was his last bet everytime but couldn't get up and leave as he was winning. His work collegue on the other hand kept losing at different tables and took what brad was winning to go play again. Another very drunk local propped himself between Brad and us and was on a lucky strike as well. When Vijay walked in he commented that it looked like a scene from a James Bond movie and laughed. He sat down for a round of black jack after watching us play for a bit. Soon it was time to leave and we encashed all our chips , which to our delight were much more than the money we put it. Lets just say our stay was paid for courtsey Bellagio.

We collected our bags from Vijay's place and drove off into the night towards the airport about an hour away. Another snapshot with a money fan sent to Ashok and he was almost in tears they didn't come along. A piece of advice, exchange your currency in the city or encash your chips for dollars at the casino. They had funny rules of not issuing more than 100dollars per person at the airport, and you must have a reciept for when you exchanged money into Sri Lankan Rupees in the first place. The airport was was a chaos with no que to go through customs, just a large mob of black and brown and white faces. If it wasn't for Lio I would have probably would have never come through to the other side. Check in took forever but thankfully immigration was a breeze. Another speciality of this airport is that they do not accept local currency for any purchases made after immigration, only major currency. Its the first time I've come across such a rule! We quickly grabbed some alcohol that a friend had asked for and walked around looking at the other shops there.  We figured we couldn't buy even a bottle of water as we didn't have any dollars left so we waited at our boarding gate, checking out the ground staff this time. Conclusion - Lio thinks Sri Lankans have very good features and I think they are a bit weird, but we both agree that a mojority they speak terrible english. We were settled in our seats in no time and with content hearts we flew back home. It was a perfect trip and we were both very happy. Any longer and we would have probably got bored not having all the friends back in Chennai around. :)