Cold Beer in Colombo

Someone told us that Sri Lanka is like ‘Asia Light’  We arrived here yesterday, stepped into the heat and immersed ourselves in the city.

For sure it’s not as crazy as Bangkok, Saigon nor Delhi. The crowds are not as dense and the traffic isn’t driving on the pavements but it’s Asia all the same with the usual mish mash of colonial and more recent buildings and plenty of traffic..

The traffic has it’s own logic. There are zebra crossings, they have yellow stripes, which are really a suggestion of where to cross. We met a dapper old man yesterday who told us there was only a 4% chance of being knocked down on a crossing!  There are tuk tuks aplenty, mostly with metres which takes the headache out of negotiating a price to get somewhere that you don’t know. We’re not accosted with beggars and the tea is very good. Finding a cold beer is the most difficult  thing that we have encountered.

Apparently it’s illegal to sell alcohol within 500 metres of a school or a place of worship which in a city populated by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians means there are plenty of temples, churches and Mosques not to mention schools and the heat makes a cold beer quite enticing.

Last night it actually became our mission to find a cold beer. Funny how something like that can become  obsessive especially as I never drink beer at home. We had walked for miles and miles and eventually all we could think of was how nice a cold beer would be but we couldn’t find one. Lots of tea rooms and plenty of soft drinks, we even found a jar of Marmite, but no beer.

Thats something we didn’t research before we came here. The man that runs our b and b explained the 500 metre clause and told us we might be able to buy a beer in the supermarket although he thought we might be out of luck as cold beers are in high demand with commuters on their way home and we’d left it a a bit late because the beer sells out. He then pointed us in the direction of a discreet cocktail bar. So off we set, visions of  beer with icy frosting on the bottle. The bar was well hidden alright, on top of a cake shop. The doorman took us to the side entrance and escorted us upstairs where we found a fancy pants bar with pink flamingos on the walls and deep velvet chairs.

And cold beer. Cold glasses. A twist of lime on top. Delicious.

Never mind that it cost more than our dinner! Guess we’ll have to change our habits. This holiday looks like it will be more than a little R and R.  It’s also going to be good for our livers!!

Here’s am empty bottle!