- A380 Extravaganza: Introduction
- A380 Extravaganza: Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge San Francisco
- A380 Extravaganza: Singapore Airlines Suites Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
- A380 Extravaganza: Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Hong Kong
- A380 Extravaganza: Singapore Airlines Suites Class Hong Kong to Singapore
- A380 Extravaganza: Conrad Singapore
- A380 Extravaganza: Shangri-La Singapore
- A380 Extravaganza: Skyview Lounge Singapore
- A380 Extravaganza: Cathay Pacific Business Class Singapore to Colombo
- A380 Extravaganza: Araliya Lounge Colombo
- A380 Extravaganza: Cathay Pacific Business Class Colombo to Singapore
- A380 Extravaganza: Emirates Lounge Singapore
- A380 Extravaganza: Emirates First Class Singapore to Dubai
- A380 Extravaganza: Park Hyatt Dubai
- A380 Extravaganza: Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
- A380 Extravaganza: Emirates First Class Dubai to London Heathrow
- A380 Extravaganza: Coworth Park London (Ascot)
- A380 Extravaganza: British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
- A380 Extravaganza: British Airways First Class London Heathrow to Seattle
There’s something extremely charming about Colombo Airport, that makes it feel both tropical and straight out of the 1970s.
Terminal
Since we already had our connecting boarding passes and security is at each individual gate, we headed to the Araliya Lounge, which is the contract lounge Cathay Pacific uses in Colombo. Of course, if you wouldn’t otherwise have access, there are a couple of alternative options in Colombo available to anyone with a credit card with lounge access.
Lounge exterior
At the entrance the Sri Lankan Airlines employee manning the desk ask us for our invitations. Hmmm, we don’t have invitations, so we showed her our boarding passes. She asked why we didn’t have invitations and explained we were transit passengers. She asked where we were transitting from, and we said Singapore. She was so confused that she let out a loud sigh, said “I don’t know what’s going on,” and waved us in.
Lounge entrance
The lounge itself was little more than a bunch of seats shoved closely together.
Seating
Seating
Seating
Computer stations
The lounge had a reasonable buffet selection consisting of cheese, sandwiches, brownies, fruit, salad, etc.
Buffet
Buffet
Buffet
Buffet
We had a little over a two hour layover, so I used their pre-historic dial-up-speed internet to stay busy as much as possible.
Shortly after midnight we left the lounge and headed to our departure gate to Singapore, gate seven. Security queues are at each individual gate so it took about 10 minutes to clear, but at that point we could board right away.
Heading to gate
Departure gate
Departure gate
I hope to actually spend some time in Colombo next time I’m there, as it seems like a beautiful country. But as far as transit goes, two hours is about all I can handle. 😉
@rk I am going to have a short trip in Sri Lanka. It will be only 48 hours. Any recommendation of places to go and to stay? Thanks.
Hi Lucky,
Usually in countries where I can't drink the water, I consider uncooked foods such as fruit and vegetables to be risky from a health perspective. Glad you haven't had any health issues.
@ Mike S. -- Yes, I checked in for it in the lounge in Singapore (if you read that installment you'll read about how much effort it took to get it). I didn't have checked bags so no need to claim my bags.
All thanks to the transfer desk in BKK. Hi can I get my boarding pass for my flight to Singapore. Sure, where have you arrived from? Singapore. You're going to Singapore and arrived from Singapore? Yes. Tap tap tap on the computer, a number of phone calls in Thai that I didn't understand. The result: a boarding pass and a whole lot of fun at the gate.
Lucky,
Did you checkin for the CMB-SIN segment in SIN ? since the ex-CMB fare is a separate ticket than the SIN-CMB leg I would have thought you would need to claim your bags, pass customs and check in again?
Yes it may be part of the culture, but on some women, bare midriff dresses + muffin tops = Asian Walmart!
Brewer and Lucky- Thanks sooo much for the info. That really helps.
@ Beachfan -- I didn't because I wasn't hungry, but I would.
@joe I have stayed in the transit hotel, and in your case that is what I would suggest you do. They sell rooms in 6 hour blocks for $55-70. The rooms are newly renovated and totally fine, but the beds are a bit hard (as is the case in most Sri Lankan hotels). Colombo is too far from the airport to go on a 9 hour layover in my opinion. Traffic in the city can...
@joe I have stayed in the transit hotel, and in your case that is what I would suggest you do. They sell rooms in 6 hour blocks for $55-70. The rooms are newly renovated and totally fine, but the beds are a bit hard (as is the case in most Sri Lankan hotels). Colombo is too far from the airport to go on a 9 hour layover in my opinion. Traffic in the city can be absolutely horrible, and it once took me five hours to get from Kalutara (south of the city) to the airport (north of the city). It's the crossing the city that takes so long. You could always go to a a hotel in Negombo for the layover, but I'm not sure it's really worth the effort. I definitely recommend spending some real time in Sri Lanka, however. You can supposedly reserve the hotel ahead of time, but despite a quick response and confirmation of my email request they had no record of my reservation on arrival.
Just curious, did you/would you eat food off. the cold buffet in that lounge?
@ joe -- I haven't stayed there so don't have any first hand knowledge, though it looks pretty decent as far as I can tell. I'd go for it given your layover length and how far the city of Colombo is from the airport.
Lucky- Just to clarify the hotel that I am talking about is in the airport. I believe it is on the second floor in the transit area. Do you think that is a good place to stay for 9 hours or would you recommend leaving the airport and getting a more traditional room? I'm at a bit of a lose because I can't find too many reviews.
@ SG -- Wow! How did they know you were doing a turn?
I did a turnaround SIN-BKK-SIN. At the gate in BKK I was met by a group of security officers who questioned me, examined my passport to check if it was real and just couldn't understand what I was doing. Maybe a turnaround in BKK isn't the smartest idea! Lol
Sorry guys, went back and read that and it didn't come out how I intended it. I've removed it. My bad, certainly no offense was meant...
Typical ignorant American... I thought you were better than this.
@ joe -- Anything that will allow you to avoid 10 hours in the airport seems like a good idea, so I'd go for it.
Did you happen to see the day hotel within the airport? I believe the sell rooms in 6 hour increments. I'm wondering if it is worthwhile for a 10 hour layover I have there.
The food selection does not look yummy at all. :)
Agree with previous two posters. Lucky, I really enjoy your blog and generally find you're quite sensitive to new places & culture.
But your phrasing does strike me as pretty disrespectful: "their employees wear this peacock-looking dress...it’s not a good luck (sic) for the 50+ year old women staffing the counters." I've been to Sir Lanka a couple of times and there are certainly different cultural norms and dress, but that's the beauty of travelling, no?
As mentioned by the previous poster, the traditional dress for women in India and also in certain other parts of South Asia like Sri Lanka is the Sari. I am little surprised that you weren't aware given your many travels to Asia.
The midriff exposed is a pretty common look for people wearing saris, regardless of their age. It's their culture...