Day 90 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Day 90 – Thursday 10^th April 2014 – Colombo, Sri Lanka

The pear-shaped island of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) lies in the Indian Ocean and is only 18 miles from the southern tip of India.

Racial tensions between Sri Lanka’s Sinhala and Tamil communities erupted into violence in the 1980’s when the Tamils demanded a separate state in the north of the island.  The fighting between government forces and the Tamil Tigers took place mainly in the north, but Colombo was affected by suicide bombings in the 1990s.  Various peace talks failed and it was not until May 2009 that the long running war came to an end.

At 10.00 we rode in the shuttle bus out of the very big and thriving dock area and into the city. This was a pleasant surprise with its wide roads and some tree lined avenues and it was fairly clean.  The traffic was another matter and hectic.  The first stop was at the Hilton Hotel which was not for us, next stop a small shopping mall next to the main sports stadium and the same not for us.  The next and last stop was yet another shopping mall. 

We wandered off from here and found a bank to exchange money, but they would not do it, as we did not have our passport, which the ship said, we would not need when ashore, so used the ATM.

The area we were in was not to our liking, so we found our way back to where the bus had dropped us. Found a coffee shop which had internet connection, and made this our base, while hooking up to the rest of the world.

Tut - Tut Taxis

After consulting the maps, the area of most interest was near to the port area, and we negotiated with the taxi (tut-tut) driver, and off we went in the little three wheeler.  The drive was not to be forgotten, as we weaved in and out of the traffic, horns blaring from every direction, as they jockeyed for their position.

There was a little more excitement, as we were dropped off near to where we wanted to be, the driver starts demanding double the price what we had agreed.  This is normal for this part of the world, and Colin was getting an education on how things work in these parts.

Drop Off

   

Promenade

  

The drop off was near the beach area, which is guarded along the promenade by these impressive cannons.

Wandering around the old fort area, where there are many military buildings still in use, we came across a building which was the old Dutch hospital and had been converted into restaurants/cafes/shops.  We had lunch and a beer here, and all very nice in a pleasant courtyard.

Lighthouse Clock Tower

We had a walk around the vicinity and found the lighthouse watch tower on the other side of the military buildings. 

Negotiations with another tut-tut driver to take us back the ship was all agreed, and off we went on another hair-raising journey back to the docks, this time through more of the run down, slum areas of the city and an eye-opener.

The driver dropped us off at No.5 gate, not what we had agreed, as he said he was not allowed inside the docks, and once more demanded twice the agreed price.  I left Colin to deal with him, while I went to see the dock police, to see if they would let us in the gate.

Everything sorted and we were left with a twenty minute walk back inside a very noisy and congested dock area.  There was a few market stalls at the ship’s gangway and I was very happy to get rid of Sri Lankan rupees and straight into the Golden Lion to cool off in more ways than one.

We sailed at 19.00 and a bit of culture for the evening on Deck 9 in the garden lounge, where we joined harpist Rebecca Mills, our Entertainment Director  Amanda Reid and Tommi our choir master, as they presented a selection of poems accompanied by the harp.  This was all very relaxing with our Tropical Itch cocktail.

After dinner it was into the theatre to see a performance by The Flyrights, with vocals and dance to a fusion of soul, motown and swing music, not my cup of tea.

On deck, as well as saying goodbye to Sri Lanka, it was also farewell to the Southern Cross, as we now heading north, and it will slowly slip below the horizon.