Colombi, Sri Lanka

I visited Guest Services again because it dawned on me that we would not be back on ship in time to do a morning excursion in Mauritius on April 2. I was able to change our excursion to the Included excursion in the afternoon.

I met Bob for breakfast because I forgot to start my malaria medicine last night and it needs to be taken with food.

My mom texted me during breakfast so I went back to our room and gave her a call.

I finished most of my packing.

I then reviewed our itinerary for India.

It has been nice to have a quiet morning without working on the blog or having pressing work to complete.

We are scheduled to arrive in Colombo, Sri Lanka at 2 PM. We are doing a private Tuk Tuk ride with several other couples and are meeting in the Atrium at 3 PM. This tour lasts until 7 PM. I anticipated that as soon as we get back, we will have a quick dinner, shower and go to bed early. Our wake up call will be around 3 AM as we have to be off the ship by 4 AM.

At 3 PM, we took the port shuttle to the port gate. At the port gate, there were a crowd of people trying to get us to take a tour. We were so glad that we had a prearranged tour. The crush of humanity trying to get us to go with them gave us flash backs of being in Senegal.

We found tour operator. We were given coconut water in the whole coconut and we were all given lays. We had a moment for photos. Bob and I are new comers to the group so we held back a bit and got in the last tuk tuk. Everyone else seemed to have a driver and our driver was no where to be seen. I asked where, or if, we had a driver. Our driver was pointed out to us. Come to find out, our driver was the tour director so we actually ended up with the best drive/guide as he had 2 drivers who were trainees and their English was limited.

Some of the Tuk Tuks were really blinged out. They were hilarious, neon lights everywhere.

On our way to visit to a former Dutch hospital which had been converted to "upscale" restaurants, bars and shops, we walked under a huge tree filled with fruit bats. Unlike the bats in the cave in Koh Samui, these bats were a little too close for comfort. Bats are among my least favorite animals.

We continued our tour of the city. Our guide told us about the recent financial and political upheaval in Sri Lanka. It is my understanding that recently inflation hit 72%, all building and economical expansion came to a screeching halt, people took to the streets in protest, and the President and Prime were forced to step down but their "cronies" have remained in power. The country is preparing for new elections in August. As I knew nothing about Sri Lanka, this information really intrigued me. I am definitely going to do some reading about Sri Lanka.

On our way to a Hindu Temple, we drove through the downtown area. We saw a Mosque which was built in the early 1900's. This Mosque was interesting because, unlike most mosques which have a large dome and courtyard, this mosque had many floors with many rooms. We only viewed the exterior.

Once we reached the Hindu Temple, we were told that we had to take off our shoes. Bob and I opted to stay outside and do some people watching instead. As it was a festival day, the temple was very busy. Tuk tuk after tuk tuk drove up and women in beautiful saris exited the tuk tuks.

Next we visited a store that serves fresh juices. Bob and I shared a glass of orange juice....and prayed for no ill affects.

We drove by their "White House". This building is an example of what looked like a very beautiful building which is just not being maintained.

The story of trash everywhere continues. They promote Sri Lanka as an excellent diving spot. It totally would creep me out to get in the ocean here as the filth and trash in the rivers just flows into the ocean.

As we continued on the city, the heavens opened up. We shut the roof of the tuk tuk but didn't want to shut the side curtain as we wouldn't be able to see anything.

We drive to a colorful Hindu Temple. Only one couple decided to go inside. The rest of us stayed put in our tuk tuk and watched it rain. By the time the visit to the temple was completed, we were soaked.

Since we were all wet, our guide decided that we would go to a tea store. We had a lecture on growing tea and what type of tea comes from the different parts of the tea plant. We were able to taste some of the teas. We were also told about different spices.

We were then given the opportunity to purchase some tea. Bob and I love tea so we purchased some golden tip, earl grey and one more flavored tea variety.

It was now 7:15 PM. Our guide said it was time for dinner. We asked how long dinner would take as most of us had early morning flights. We were told about 45 minutes. Most of us decided to head back to the ship but 2 couples decided to go have dinner.

We arrived back at the ship. I told Bob that I was just going to jump in the shower and head to bed. He said that he was going to grab a quick bite in the World Cafe. A couple of minutes after he left, I decided to join him because I rationalized that I would sleep better if I had a full stomach.

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