Report # 76 Colombo, Sri Lanka March 15, 2014 Saturday Part One Partly cloudy, 93 degrees

Welcome to Colombo

We woke up early, just as the Amsterdam was gliding slowly into the harbor of Colombo, Sri Lanka. On every previous visit here, there has always been a welcome performance from the local people. They were decked out in brightly-colored traditional costumes, with bells on their ankles, literally. 

Sri Lankan workers

The port area is high security

Most times, there has been a decorated elephant, making the show almost surreal. So last night, we told our tablemates to be sure to be out on the deck with their cameras to film it. Well, guess what? There was nothing, no one in sight, zero. Guess the powers-to-be did not pay the locals to be here. Those special welcomes have always left us with long lasting memories of exotic places, like this one. Leaves us thinking that we are not so special anymore.

A stupa marks the pier entrance

Buildings near the pier

Pier stupa

Boat traffic

Amsterdam docked

Missing our regular dining room breakfast, we met for our second tour of the trip with our travel agency. Since we had a total of $200. credit per person to use towards a shore excursion or two, this was one place we chose to book it. Truthfully, this will be the fourth time we took this tour, because it has elements that we always enjoy. It was titled Contrasts of Colombo with Refreshments.

Pierside vendor stalls

More shops

Easy to wear dresses

Sri Lankan masks

Gemstones for sale

Bright clothing

Shopping near the ship

Scary masks

In a nutshell, here is a little brief history about Sri Lanka, or Ceylon, as it was called up until 1948. It is a country of 20 million people of diverse cultures. People from ancient kingdoms lived on this island also called the teardrop of India and the pearl of the Indian Ocean. The country was colonized by the Dutch, Portuguese, and British, leaving their distinct architecture behind. Colombo, the capital, houses 700,000 natives, who are currently in the process of giving the old city buildings a "re-do" to preserve them.

Tuk tuks

Flag of Buddhism

Religion is not just a faith of choice here, it is their everyday life. Buddhism is number one, followed by Hindu, and Muslim. We saw few signs of Christianity, although there are some famous churches built here, probably from the Portuguese occupation. The heavy scent of burning incense is everywhere you go.

Artillery on the Indian Ocean front

Pelicans in a row

A pelican convention

Flag of Sri Lanka

The cultivation of tea is the major employer as well as the number one export. We are sure you have heard of Ceylon tea. Cinnamon and cardamon follow closely behind. The number one sport surprisingly is volleyball. Cricket, a British favorite, is also huge here. One nice thing about this city is that there are dozens of parks for the locals to play these sports. 

Old ficus tree

Old massive trees line these parks and greens, giving the city a much nicer look to it. One type of these massive trees is the London Plane Tree, which happened to be blooming now. Everywhere we saw carpets of soft pink blossoms over the ground, you can be sure there were this type of sycamore tree close by.

Flowering London plane tree

Sri Lanka is a popular destination for the Europeans to vacation. Modern hotels are abundant on the Indian Ocean front, and they will soon be joined by a new Shangri-La and ITC Hotel chains. Westernized shopping and restaurants always follow these highrises. Some of these we saw were KFC, Pizza Hut, and even TGI Fridays. For the locals and tourists as well, their favorite foods are rice, coconut milk, curries of all kinds, pickles, and chutneys. Crab and vegetarian dishes are popular too.

OK, on with our tour. There were only nineteen of us, so we had a half full bus. Great for taking photos. Our first stop was at Independence Square, and open-air granite complex with surrounding statues and fountains. 

Independence Hall

Memorial Independence Hall 

Another clocktower

Many flags

Lions guard the Hall

And ponds with fountains

An icon of Sri Lanka

A different type of Buddha

Street vendors

Colombo's newest stadium

Colors of Colombo

Modern buildings

Another famous site

Our guide was talking with the VOX system to our group, but it was not working properly. Cutting in and out, along with the annoying sound of wind blowing, we all turned them off, and listened directly to the guide. By then, he had lost over half of the group, who went off to take photos. Oh well, we had heard the history already, so it was no loss to us.

Colombo National Museum

Where are we?

It took about 20 minutes to reach the Colombo National Museum, a colonial building built in 1877. This famous building houses the anthropological, cultural, and scientific exhibits of the city and country. 

Built colonial-style in 1877

Houses many exhibits

However, it had two strikes against it from the beginning. Our guide informed us that there were no photos allowed unless a permit was purchased. If we remember right, photos were not good anyway, because the lighting or lack of lighting was so poor, you could hardly read the displays anyway. Having gone through the museum pretty thoroughly already, we passed on the tour and stayed outside. 

A park visitor

Small crane

Sitting Buddha

Boys like the gunnery

One of thousands of crows

Street artists

Ship's prop

We think it is a lantern

Local ladies relaxing

Nesting parrots

Either laying eggs or had a brood

Guarding the nest

Victoria Park  (old name)

A squirrel

That was when we discovered a new building on the grounds, near the old cafe and the bus parking lot. If we were lucky, it may even be air-conditioned. The name of this store was Laksala, and turned out to be a state-owned craft market with handmade items. Turned out, it recently opened last August, so it was new. We felt as if we walked into the local Cost Plus store in Concord, California, although the prices were not bad, but set, and not negotiable.

Typical mask

Nice souveniers for sale

Display of the artist

The best thing we found here was food, in the way of cookies. While we waited for the group, we purchased a very large almond white chocolate butter cookie, sharing it while sitting outside on a very nice patio. 

Sharing a cookie for breakfast

Groups of school kids were being led through the grounds, all in white uniforms. They were well-behaved and paid attention to their leader, who happened to be a Buddhist monk.

School kids on a march

Led by a Buddhist monk

In a short time, we were joined by members of our group, looking for a bathroom, of course. We gladly directed them to the new facility, which was way better than the old one.

Some other highlights we saw were the 100 year old clocktower, the British colonial buildings, including the Cargill complex, the Hindu Temple, and some of the embassies, as well as homes of the affluent.

100 year old clocktower

Turn of the century architecture

Cargill building

British-built brick buildings

Old American Embassy

We figured out that we had been driving in circles to see these sites. We missed the Pettah Bazaar, which is the local shopping district of hundreds of small shops lining the streets. Being that today was Saturday, we suspect that the traffic would have been impossible to navigate. So it was avoided completely.

The White House of Sri Lanka

The Buddha in the park

One of many postures

The next stop was most welcomed, but unexpected. Our refreshment stop has always been at the famous Galle Face Hotel, built in 1864, the oldest hotel east of the Suez Canal. Situated at the end of the Galle Face Green, a grassy promenade on the Indian Ocean, formerly a horse track and golf course, the hotel was wrapped in safety netting, because it was in the process of being re-modeled. 

In fact, the ballroom section looked as if it had been gutted completely. Guess we are not going there today. We did ask our guide if the hotel was still opened for business, and he said, yes. And when we asked if we were still going there, he also said, yes. 

The Kingsbury Hotel

Entrance to the Kingsbury

It was obvious that he misunderstood our question, because we were pulling into the driveway of another hotel by the name of Kingsbury. Disappointed at first, we soon found that this hotel was equally as nice and elegant as the Galle Face.

Fountain at the entrance

Very nice place

We were led downstairs to a ballroom, where a buffet of light lunch was arranged for our group. Once seated, we were served a fruit punch drink, which we all agreed would have been fantastic if it had a shot of vodka or gin in it. A table was set with cold vegetarian finger sandwiches made with cucumbers and shredded carrots blended with cream cheese. They were really good, probably because we had deliberately missed breakfast this morning on the ship. Equally as good, were the butter cookies made with chocolate and vanilla, and a delicious spicy, but tasty fruitcake. Another table was set with a very proper Ceylon tea and coffee service. 

Tea or coffee?

Snack buffet

Veggie sandwich fingers, cookies, and fruitcake

Our small group

Wish we had more time to sip the excellent drinks, but we did want to explore the hotel to see what they had to offer. The lobby was striking with highly polished marble floors and sparkling crystal chandeliers hanging overhead in the vaulted ceilings.

Elegant lobby

A pillar fish tank

The lobby bar

Turning right, we located the very civilized restrooms, then continued to see the darkwood bars with rich red armchairs and tables near the lobby. Huge vases on pedestals contained dozens of dark red rose buds.... creating a very classic and a top-notch atmosphere. 

Dark red rose buds in the lobby

Towards the backside of the lobby was the buffet, which led to both inside seating, and outside tables. They were getting ready for the noontime rush. 

Poolside cafe

Outside the glass doors was the infinity swimming pool, facing the Indian Ocean, but not actually on the beachside. Another cafe was built above the pool level, so the sunbathers did not have to go inside to dine and drink. 

Infinity pool at the Kingsbury

Another beautiful spot, we could have spent some time here. The only disappointment by missing the Galle Face Hotel visit was that we did not have time to walk on the beach to dip our toes into the warm waters of the Indian Ocean. Of course, we did not have to deal with the beach vendors either.

Gangaramaya Temple

The final stop was at the Gangaramaya Temple, a Buddhist complex with spiritual artifacts from all over the world. There were two strikes against going inside there. First, you had to remove your shoes and leave them outside unprotected. If you had not thought to bring an extra pair of socks, you may not have wanted to walk barefoot in there. Also, we remember not being able to put your shoes in a sack and pack them with you. And again, we are not sure photos were allowed. Our guide did say we would be allowed inside wearing shorts. But we opted to take a walk around Beira Lake, right across the street from the temple.

The bridge over Beira Lake

We had 1/2 hour to take a hike across the bridge that connected to a small island in the middle of the lake. People had rented swan peddle boats, giving the lake the look of Disneyland. 

Beira Lake

Swan boats on Beira Lake

Island in the middle of the lake

Many young couples were hugging and kissing, as we strolled by looking at the stagnant green lake. There probably is a story to this lake and little island, but we do not know it. Surrounding the lake, are many snake charmers with sleepy cobras in their straw baskets. The guys poked them with sticks to make them come out, fan their hoods, strike, and look fearsome. Of course, they want money, but we don't like the practice or being so close to these snakes. No thanks.  

Buddhist Temple in the lake

Peaceful setting

We took some photos of the Buddhist temple that is built in the pond, then headed back across the street to take photos of the temple from the outside. 

Courtyard statues

Lion is not real

Another stupa in the temple

The elephant was not at home

Statuary

Guarding the area

Nice part of town

The young elephant was missing today. Thinking she had been removed, we found that was wrong, because there was a pile of elephant dung with some of her favorite sugar cane there. Some folks find her enclosure here to be confining and cruel. But it is obvious to us, that she does not live here, but is only on display for the tourists.

Another clocktower

Bank of Ceylon

Giant stupa

Typical shops

Captain's Garden Temple, a Hindu temple

We were back to the ship by 2pm, and cooled off in our room by watching an entertaining movie, Nebraska. Room service salad and hamburgers were perfect with lots of ice water. Before we knew it, the time for sailaway came at 5:30pm. Missing were friends Bill & Marianne, who went on a six day overland tour to the Taj Mahal and other major sites in India. 

Sailaway ay 5:30pm

Sitting below the flags

They always join us at sailaway, hoping to enjoy some hot appetizers. Today we had the offer of crispy pork egg rolls. You have to be quick, or you get nothing. By the time the lines were dropped, we were sailing out of the harbor in the dark. Our old, but favorite camera lens finally died for good, so the newer lens was added, and we were in business again. It got really windy as we left the harbor, sending everyone inside for the night.

Harbor traffic

Narrow opening

Harbor patrol was well-armed

Local group on tour

Highrise buildings near the pier

Leaving the pier

Night lights were on

The pilot boat

Getting dark

Local tug

Two tugs

Cranes

More cranes

Twin towers of Colombo

Pilot boat

Cargo ships

Unusual lighthouse

Newer set of cranes

Lighthouse marks the harbor

Harbor building

There was little in the way of good choices for dinner tonight. So we ended up with Dutch pea soup along with grilled chicken Caesar salads. Barb sent her entree of curried shrimp back, and ordered another bowl of soup in its place. Sometimes the meal sounds good, but is not always to your liking when you get it.

One negative story cropped up at dinner, well actually two. A woman passenger had reported that her ipad was stolen at one of the tiny shops on the pier. We had many warnings about watching your stuff in Colombo, but who would think the pier shops, gated from the outside city, could be unsafe? From what we were told, she refused to leave the store until her iPad was returned, obviously suspecting the store owner. She could have spent the entire day waiting, because it was long gone. Barb had an episode with the taxi driver, who wanted more money for the places they stopped. Even though you negotiate the price before leaving, if you deviate, you can expect to pay more. The driver threatened to call the police, so they had to give $5. more per person to avoid a scene. Glad we took a tour today.

We have several days at sea now as we head towards the Seychelles. And guess what? We have razor wire, but more about that in tomorrow's report.

Moon is almost full