Breakfast was a smorgasbord, an intersection of Eastern, Middle Eastern and Western food. It proved to be an odd combination but each in its own right delicious and I ate until I was quiet full. Things I consumed at the Trader's Hotel Dubai: Hummus, small chocolate donut, baba ghannoush, scrambled eggs, mortadella, vegetarian curry, olive tapenade, gravlax, tiny diced pickles, mini croissant, yogurt, labna (yogurt cheese with mint and thyme, fresh fruit, fruit...

Exiting the shiny metro terminal at Abu Baker Al Siddique I was first struck by the heavy smell of rain. A pungent bloom of oil, dirt and dust coated my nostrils so thick that for a moment I had trouble breathing in the dense air. Fortunately, the Traders Hotel Dubai was only a block from the Abu Baker Al Siddique station at the corner of Salah Al Din Road and I made my best efforts jumping puddles along the way. With the rare rain my journey into Dubai Inter...

It was nearly noon by the time we got back on the road and the Bandaranaike International Airport was still 72 miles away. The turtle hatchery was off the list. Shopping in Colombo was also off the list. Once we hit the outskirts of Colombo traffic became a factor. Manog had to dart and weave his way through the Colombo suburbs. The hard breaking, the heat and another long car ride had everyone's nerves on edge. The stress increased when it was announced to...

With the sunset the night before I could feel that I was on the back nine of my vacation. As I packed my luggage and left the Red Lobster in Hikkaduwa, Dubai was waiting off stage. There were seven hours remaining, more than enough time to drive the 82 miles to the Bandaranaike International Airport where I started my journey six days earlier. I told Manog that I needed to be at the airport at 5:00 P.M for my 6:20 flight. I should have told him earlier becaus...

In Hikkaduwa, we stayed at the Red Lobster. The logo out front was the same as the Red Lobster restaurant in the States. In Sri Lanka, restaurants were called hotels, hotels look like restaurants. It was a topsy-turvy world. Since it was Poya, the night of the full moon, it was against the law to serve alcohol so when I ordered a beer at lunch it was presented to me discreetly in a teapot. I felt like a lush but it was hot, I was near the ocean and I was thi...