Thursday April 3
We had pre-booked a ship's shore excursion for our time in Colombo, and we were glad we did as the coach was at the dock waiting for us and it was air conditioned. Travelling along the equator is hot and humid everywhere, even when the ship is in the middle of the Indian Ocean so air conditioning while sight seeing is a nice to have. We had thought of taking a tuk tuk but we just wanted an overview of the city without the heat, humidity, smells and chaotic traffic. They are cute though, but with kamikaze drivers!
We inched through the traffic around the market area, and thought that was all we were going to see because it looked grid locked to us. Our size definitely helped as it was like a massive game of chicken to get anywhere. Once we cleared that we saw some of the city's famous beach esplanade, old colonial buildings, modern office buildings, various churches and temples, beautiful parks and the tiny houses the locals live in. However the locals were a happy lot so there were lots of smiles and waves from them.
Our only stop was at the Independence memorial from 1948, which was quite impressive. Another advantage of being in a coach was being able to see over the security fences and into the gardens surrounding many lovely homes, consulates and embassies. Now that the war with the Tamils in the north is over Colombo is undergoing a lot of new building, restoring of old ones and improving their infrastructure, so I believe it has a lot of potential. People from the ship who ventured into the countryside to see it and visit tea plantations all said it was very beautiful.
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