Arrived in Sri Lanka

I'm back in Asia. Beautiful Asia. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this part of the world. The people are friendly, the climate is wonderful, I love the nature and even the somewhat chaotic traffic. Yes, I know that not all countries in Asia are the same, but there are a lot of similarities and I love them all.

My arrival was not as smooth as I expected. I had booked a pick-up from the hotel, a luxury that I sometimes allow myself. I know that it is more expensive than to fix it on my own, but it is nice not to worry about the transport when you arrive after a long flight. But this time I ended up walking back and forth in front of all the drivers looking after a sign with my name, but even though I carefully checked every sign, not one of them had my name on it. Finally a man approched me and offered me to borrow a phone. The problem was that I didn't have any contact number. I had only the name of the hotel, no address, no contact person's name and no number to either one of them. Yes - I know. That was quite amateurish of me. But I just didn't expect to have any problems. I have travelled with Intrepid Travel so many times before and I have never had this kind of problem before. In the end the man that offered me to borrow the phone helped me to fix a ride to the hotel. When I finally arrived at my hotel, they told me that the driver was standing at the airport waiting for me. I think he was very late. I waited 20 min for him and that was enough for me. But I should have remembered that not all parts of the world are as punctual as we are in the scandinavian countries.

The hotel was a bit ashamed that I didn't get my (very expensive) pick-up, so they invited me for breakfast. Nice of them, but I will still claim for the pick-up that didn't show up. Btw - the pick up that was preordered cost 180 SEK. The one that the man at the airport arranged for me cost 75 SEK. Just so you get the whole picture. :-) 

I have had a quite a busy day so far. I:

• went for a run on the beach (just for 30 min, it was 11 o'clock so it was already quite hot and I haven't fully adapted to the heat yet)
• did some push-ups and sit-ups in the hotel room
• swam around 500 m in the pool
• had a great lunch overlooking the pool and the beach
• took a nap by the pool

In other words I had a GREAT start of my vacation.

One observation: there were a gang of young boys from Sri Lanka by the pool. They seemed to be in their 20'ies. All of them had a beer belly. Young guys don't usually have that, so no I started to wonder if the food here is fattening. Not good for me that need to get in shape for the half marathon that I will run the 18th of May. I think I have to watch out for what I eat.

To be continued….. 

Doha Airport

This is a first - I'm sitting on the Doha Airport floor writing a blog. :-) I'm not alone on the floor. There are people all around me. You see - I'm sitting next to a row of outlets. And everyone is desperatly looking for outlets so they can charge their phone or their computer. On top of that - everyone is surfing while charging since there is free wi-fi - EVERYWHERE!!! What is it with western countries that don't offer free wifi all the time? In Stockholm Arlanda I got 20 min of free wifi in the coffee shop after I registered. Here I get unlimited wifi with no registration. It should be free on ALL airports. People are bored on airports. They need wifi! I'm demanding free wifi on all airports!!!!

I tried to take a picture of this rather peculiar situation, but I didn't manage. So you just have to picture it in your head. I must look pretty funny. Only problem with this is that all the men (yeah - there are NO women) around me have taken off their shoes and let's just say that it doesn't smell like roses.

I have had my first flight with Qatar. Quite OK airline. The service wasn't too fast, but that I can survive. They also were not in total control of the special meal I had ordered. But also that I can survive. I have had worse flights. One funny thing - there was only one person that was drunk on the whole flight. That was (of course?) a Swedish guy in his 30ties. I will never understand people that like to travel without any control of their own behavior. For me traveling is serious business. So many things can happen and you have to make instant decisions that can end up to be quite expensive. And on top of that you are making a fool of yourself when you are the only drunk person among a couple of hundred sober people. So again - I don't understand…..

I have a 6 hours stop here in Doha. It was by choice. I could arrive in Sri Lanka 3 o'clock in the night and have a short stay in Doha, or arrive at 8 o'clock in the morning and have a longer stay in Doha. I chose the later. That also saved me one night of hotel expenses. Since I knew that I would have a long stay in Doha I downloaded a lot of podcasts an music. So the time has actually gone by quite fast. I have only 1,5 hour to go now.

Anyhow - I will continue at my arrival in Sri Lanka…..

Here we go again...

It's time again - to go on a trip. This time I'm heading for Sri Lanka. It is the third time I have booked this trip, but the two previous times I had to cancel the trip. First time 2010 due to work, second time 2011 due to that Lufthansa didn't have any flights there and I was planning the trip around the world with Lufthansa. Now I'm hoping that the third time is a charm.

It is a 15 day roundtrip. You can find the trip itinerary here: http://www.intrepidtravel.com/sri-lanka/circle-sri-lanka-49331/itinerary
The trip consist of quite a lot of activities including hiking, but it is not hiking trip. It is actually more biking. But there is a 2 day hike included. :-) Love that!

I have one issue though. I'm training for a half marathon. According to my training program I need to exercise at least 3 times a week. I don't know how to fit that in to the schedule of the trip. The transports around the island take a lot of time. So how do I fit my exercises between all activities and transports? I just have to wait and see if I can work around it. It will also be hot and humid. Not the best condition to run in. But still - I have to give it a go.

I'm flying with Qatar for the first time. I've heard a lot of good things about them. I hope they will live up to my expectations. But it will be the first time in years I'm flying without the privileges that I have with my Senator/Golden card at Lufthansa. I will miss it dearly. I love the possibility to use the lounges.  They are usually quite peaceful with a lot of good food and drinks. And while traveling it is so nice to have some quiet moments in between.

So tag along with me on the trip. I think it will be a blast! Hopefully I will find wi-fi at most places we stay at.

Happy Easter Everybody!