This is a continuation of my diary from my RTW trip from October 2003.
To pick up my round the world ticket again, I had to fly back to Colombo and wait overnight to fly onto Bangkok and the connection to Hong Kong. I landed at 1:30am and the flight to Bangkok was due at 00:45 the next morning.
A final warning to anyone planning to go to Sri Lanka for a holiday is that every flight arrives and leaves between midnight and 2 am for some reason – I think related to the fact that the last attack by the Tamil Tigers before the ceasefire was on the airport. They managed to wipe out half of the Sri Lankan airlines fleet and half of the Sri Lankan Air Force. Kumaratunga International is not only a civilian airport, it is also home to the armed forces you see!
The one benefit of that attack though is that all of the Air Sri Lanka aeroplanes are brand new Airbuses and very clean and comfortable as a result!
Excitement on the way into Colombo!
En route from the airport I’d noticed the road was lined with armed police and soldiers. As we were pulling into Colombo’s outskirts, a motorcade of 20 or so cars and police motorcycle outriders whizzed past us heading for the airport. The taxi driver was beside himself! “It’s the Prime Minister – it’s the Prime Minister”.
I know now he was off to Washington. In the time it took me to leave Colombo and land in Hong Kong, the President had sacked the Prime Minister, half of the cabinet and declared a state of emergency in the Prime Minister’s absence. I don’t think it was anything to do with me!
I would like to be able to give an eyewitness account of the lead up to the state of emergency… what was the mood on the streets?… how edgy were the soldiers looking?… how many demonstrators were there?… but having sampled the joys of Colombo once before, I'm afraid I spent the last 24 hours in the country sleeping, by the pool and on a massage table, so I’m afraid I have nothing to report!
To pick up my round the world ticket again, I had to fly back to Colombo and wait overnight to fly onto Bangkok and the connection to Hong Kong. I landed at 1:30am and the flight to Bangkok was due at 00:45 the next morning.
A final warning to anyone planning to go to Sri Lanka for a holiday is that every flight arrives and leaves between midnight and 2 am for some reason – I think related to the fact that the last attack by the Tamil Tigers before the ceasefire was on the airport. They managed to wipe out half of the Sri Lankan airlines fleet and half of the Sri Lankan Air Force. Kumaratunga International is not only a civilian airport, it is also home to the armed forces you see!
The one benefit of that attack though is that all of the Air Sri Lanka aeroplanes are brand new Airbuses and very clean and comfortable as a result!
Excitement on the way into Colombo!
En route from the airport I’d noticed the road was lined with armed police and soldiers. As we were pulling into Colombo’s outskirts, a motorcade of 20 or so cars and police motorcycle outriders whizzed past us heading for the airport. The taxi driver was beside himself! “It’s the Prime Minister – it’s the Prime Minister”.
I know now he was off to Washington. In the time it took me to leave Colombo and land in Hong Kong, the President had sacked the Prime Minister, half of the cabinet and declared a state of emergency in the Prime Minister’s absence. I don’t think it was anything to do with me!
I would like to be able to give an eyewitness account of the lead up to the state of emergency… what was the mood on the streets?… how edgy were the soldiers looking?… how many demonstrators were there?… but having sampled the joys of Colombo once before, I'm afraid I spent the last 24 hours in the country sleeping, by the pool and on a massage table, so I’m afraid I have nothing to report!
Comments
Post a Comment