The wall clock shows 45 hours between when I left home and when I arrived at my hotel, but that includes 11.5 hours of time change, so really a little over 30 hours of travels including layovers in New York and Doha. I paid extra for an exit row and was happy with the leg room and ability to get up out of my seat.

The long haul was from JFK to Doha, 11+ hours of flight and 8 hours of time change. It was dark on departure and dark again on arrival. We arrived an hour late and I boarded the next flight almost immediately. Just long enough on the ground to connect to wifi and keep a Wordle streak going.

4am arrival at the hotel. I went for a short walk this morning to explore my neighborhood. Not enough to get an impression yet. I am in Negombo a beachfront community north of Colombo. There are lots of hotels, tours, places to exchange money, etc.

The tourist information seems to cater to Russian speaking tourists but the sign above has multiple languages. I got a visa on arrival ($60) for 30 days and entry/customs was easy. I had booked a van in advance so no negotiation of getting a bike box transported in middle of the night.

It is too early to exactly compare to other countries. There are tuk tuks similar to India, motor scooters similar to Vietnam/Indonesia. I haven’t seen much run down… but I am also in a more upscale tourist area. The hotel is nice and a step fancier than I would have chosen. However, this is the start hotel so will look for staff/ riders here.

Otherwise a chance to put my bike together, adjust to the time and see this beach side place. So far around 26C (78F) and nearly 100% humidity.