25th Sept. Negombo.

A long drive yesterday from Anaradpurah. Over 160 kms. A rough road for most of it until we reached Puttalum on the coast. Then a better road but more traffic. Negombo is often the first or the last port of call for visitors. Much closer to the airport than Colombo, the beaches aren't as good as those further south but it has many hotels and guesthoses to chose from, most overlooking the water and some very average restaurants. In fact the Lonely Planet says it is one of the few places on the island where the food is not the best. But for Joan the piece de resistance is a new boutque that has opened along from our guesthouse. The prices are consderably less than the well patronised Barefoot in Colombo where we spent a bit of money on our arival. The owner spent 6 years in Italy where he learnt design.
We fly out tomrrow, a nght in KL then home. It's been a good break, one of the reasons for the trip was to see how we went lving out of suitcases again and having to find accommodation every night. Having our car made it much easier but having our van is hard to beat.