lessthanzero

Hi all fellow travelers,

I'm going to Delhi in March, and had an option to go to CMB for a weekend. Yes, I know it is short, but then the flight is only 3.5 hours, so it would be similar to going to NYC...

So my questions to you all are:
<b>+ Should I visit Colombo?</b> (I only ask because many times I find capitals uninteresting and run down)
<b>+ What should I try to cram in?</b>
<b>+ Recommendations for places to stay?</b> Since I arrive in the middle of the night, proximity to airport is nice, but are there any gems I should seek out?

Sorry for my ignorance, as I have never been, but I was hoping I could learn.

LTZ

Cicerone

Lessthanzero, where else have you been IN India? There is so much to see and do in India that is accessible for a weekend. For one, consider a place like the Andana spa up in Rishikesh (http://www.anandaspa.com/) or Wildflower Hall in Shimla (oberoihotels.com). There is Jaipur which is a very short flight or little bit longer train ride. If you like Le Corbusier, there is Chandigarh about 3 hours by train from Delhi which is a whole city of his buildings. There is Agra of course which is close. You could fly to Jodhpur quite easily or Udaipur. You can get to many places now by a short flight on Kingfisher or another good airline or a short train ride from Delhi. I can think of a huge list of things you could do and see in a weekend from Delhi (I can think of a pretty long list of things you could do IN Delhi as well, or try a weekend in the countryside outside Delhi, see this hotel which I would like to try, Tikli Bottom (http://www.tiklibottom.com/) or the Neemrana Fort-Palace, see neemranahotels.com.

March is not quite yet the really hot weather in India, so you could still enjoy touring north India at that time.

If you decide on Sri Lanka, I would not actually go to Colombo, I would try to get to a coastal or hill area of Sri Lanka. How much time do you actually have.

It's actually a quite easy trip to the Maldives from Delhi (flight goes via Colombo actually), but you do need more than a weekend to justfy the Maldives.

lessthanzero

Cicerone,
thanks for responding and giving input. Where have I been? Beyond Kashmir, Amritsar, Udaipur, Jaipur, Varanasi, Agra, Bombay, and a few other places? I could think of a pretty long list of places I have already been to within and just outside of Delhi as well, since we have an office there.

But debating the merits of India wasn't really my point. Don't get me wrong. India is so big that you could continue going places, probably throughout your life time and still have stuff left to see. (And it is not lost on me that those places I listed exclude southern India.) But traveling within India is beyond inefficient, and I think I may just have the craving to see something slightly different.

Besides, a friend of mine is headed to CMB, and it makes for easy logistics when I live 40 minutes from DEL.

I enjoy India, and will keep on going back for work &amp; pleasure. Right now I hear you saying Colombo isn't really worth it. And other parts of Sri Lanka may be short on a 3 day weekend. Bummer.

Cicerone

If you have a friend you will be there, then it may be fun to stay in Colombo, I don't know, get a room at the Galle Face Hotel and poke around the city. The people are certainly lovely and you will get the whole Buddhist flavour which is hard to find in India. I have only been to visit the city once, and do not know it well at all, it's just that I think that it is the countryside of Sri Lanka that offers more, and I think getting to those areas can be difficult with only 3 days; you may spend most of that time in a car rushing place to place. Transport within Sri Lanka is not really efficient, I am not sure what you are expecting, and with recent events is bound to be even slower. (The airport is gleaming and new, but I tell myself that is because it is has been bombed so often....)

Kathie

I was in Sri Lanka in November. I agree with Cicerone that the countryside is likely to be more interesting to you than Colombo. It would be possible to drive to say, Dambulla, and stay at the Kandalama for your time in SL. It's about a 3 hour drive to the Kandalama from the airport. Still, it would mean 6 hours in the car to and from the airport, and you would have to decide whether it is worth it to you. It's at least an hour to Colombo from the airport, and road closures and such can make the drive much longer.

I loved Sri Lanka, but whether it's worth it for a weekend is up to you. If you could add a couple more days, then I'd say do it.

If you're interested, take a look at my trip report, Kathie's Adventures in Sri Lanka, 2007. A search should turn it up quickly.

lessthanzero

Thanks for your follow-ups. Sounds like Sri lanka is a nice place to spend some time. More time than what I have unfortuantely.

Kathy, your trip report is simply great and I can tell you really enjoyed it.

One day...

Mohammed

Sri Lanka is a place you really need more than just a weekend however if you really ant to just do a short week end here and dont mind a latish night drive suggest you head directly from the airport to Kandalama which will take about 2 hours at that time. i don't reccomend any of the negombo hotels in the airport vicinity as they are nothing special.

If you don't mind the city life, head to Colombo for the night and perhaps the next day you could houed south to some place like Bentota/Hikkaduwa or Galle for a long day trip.

(Assuming you will have just 2 nights)

lessthanzero

Mohammed,

Thanks for your feedback.

I think you are right. However, it is unfortunate that most of the places I know really deserve at least a week - and when talking about countries, most deserve more. (The extreme version of this is over at LP, where I frequently hear you need a month...)

But we all (well, many of us) have jobs and lives, and they are not always designed to maximize vaction time.

This means that at least until I retire, I will not end up doing destinations full justice. I won't stop traveling though.

From the various postings in this thread I understand Colombo is not really ideal for a long weekend. too bad as it is only a relatively short flight from Delhi.