Day 80 - COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

 Date: 3/25/2024     Day 80    Port: COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

Description: Capital of the ancient Kingdom of Kandy, Colombo has been visited for over 2,000 years by Roman, Chinese, Arab and European traders. Explore this exotic city and view colorful colonial buildings including the Presidential Secretariat, the Grand Oriental Hotel, and the Lighthouse Clock Tower. A “must” to visit is Pettah, Colombo's leading bazaar district. The narrow cobbled streets are lined with shops and street stalls offering the most unimaginable range of goods. Other noteworthy sights include Viharamahadevi Park, the city's largest and oldest green expanse; and the palatial mansions of Cinnamon Gardens.

Planned Excursion: COLOMBO CONTRASTS

4.5 Hours                           Moderate Activity                           # CMB-007: Free

See the complementary mix of modern and colonial architecture throughout Colombo.   Behold soaring high rises and one of Colombo’s oldest Buddhist temples.  Delve deeply into the culture by browsing the exhibitions in the National Museum.

Morning Update: We woke up to a lovely sunny day.  Stepping out on to our balcony we saw many early morning fishing boats.  We are several miles off the coast of Sri Lanka due into port at 11:30 AM.  We are in one of those 30 minute time zones.  It is currently 7:15 AM and our home in Wasilla Alaska it's 5:45 PM.  We are nearly half way around the world from home.  

The ship is unable to have a shuttle bus to town, just to the port entrance gate.  The local taxi union is blocking the shuttle bus.  It is only a little over a mile to town and it cost's $15 US one way.  If we go to town after our excursion we'll be walking.    

Evening Update:  For the most part today's excursion was a disappointment.  It started out with 5 coach buses touring the same places.  The tour started with a drive through parts of Colombo much of it in extremely poor neighborhoods.  Streets were very crowded and driving through them is painfully slow.  We finally arrived at our first destination, the National Museum.  It was now mid afternoon and very hot a humid.  Two of the buses air-conditioning was not working and only one replacement bus was sent to the Museum.   Once inside the Museum, we found most all the exhibition halls unairconditioned.  Since there were so many of us trying to view the same rooms it was extremely crowded.    There was not elevator to the second floor and those with mobility issues could not take the steps up there.  The overall Museum was very large and one could have spent the whole day there.  The upstairs was less crowded.  We only had an hour to tour it so it was a hurried walk through.  

Next was the highlight of the day.  All buses were taken to a 5 star hotel the Taj Samudra, Colombo.  We were treated to a wonderful afternoon tea and refreshments.  Many commented that this has made up for the disappointments so far.   The heat and humidity had made the excursion thus far miserable.  After this tea break many just wanted to go back to the ship.  But there was one more stop to make, one of Colombo’s oldest Buddhist temples.  Some of those on our bus simply reminded onboard including myself, Cathy, Joe and Pat.  We were exhausted and the heat and humidity had taken it's toll.  We were also a bit templed out.  

I have a few pictures taken in the museum to review and post.  So, please check back to this post for links to those.  Thanks for reading my blog.