Mt. Lavinia

I had a free day in Colombo and rather than spending it in the chaos of the city I decided to get out and move to nearby Mt. Lavinia for a bit of sea breeze. From Galle Road, I took a ride on a bus which cost me only around 24LKR for the almost 20-minute trip. I told the conductor to drop me off near the Mt. Lavinia Hotel.

The hotel is still a long walk from the highway but I can feel the nice breeze blowing from the sea so I opted to walk the entire way. I passed by students who are waiting for their school bus to pick them up. They gave me their shy smiles and some of them waved and asked the typical “where are you from?” questions which I promptly answered, “from the Philippines”.

I was sweaty by the time I arrived at the reception of Mt. Lavinia Hotel. This is a very popular landmark here in Mt. Lavinia, built in 1806 as a residence for the British governor stationed in Ceylon that time, Sir Thomas Maitland. The place still evokes a Victorian-era charm with its colonial architecture and interiors.

I wanted to try their traditional Governor’s High Tea for a little taste of British tradition in an Srilankan setting. For 1000LKR, I got a tray of cucumber sandwiches, crepe rolls, scones, and some tiny Srilankan sweets and a choice between a pot of coffee or tea. I opted for hot tea as I am starting to get partial to having a pot of tea every afternoon, that’s what you get when you stay in Srilankan homes! I really love my cup of steaming hot tea in the afternoon.

You can visit the hotel from 3pm – 6pm if you want to taste what they have on offer for High tea or just simply have an afternoon off (instead of hot tea, you can have the Governor’s Iced Tea if you need cooling down!) away from Colombo.

I took a train going back to Colombo, it is a very convenient short walk from the hotel to the tiny train station of Mt. Lavinia. It was a scenic ride over the fast inter-city train, passing through Dehiwala area and the seaside. You can alight at the busy Bambalapitiya station or at the Fort station, I opted for the former so I can just walk towards Majestic City.