Sri Lanka
Cinnamon Gardens

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    • Day 9–10

      Colombo

      May 3 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

      Von Manali geht’s mit dem Nachtzug nach Delhi, wo wir uns um 3 Uhr nachts direkt auf den Weg zum Flughafen machen. Hier in Colombo angekommen bekommen wir einen ersten Eindruck von Sri Lanka. Es herrscht ein tropisches Flair und endlich haben wir wieder warmes Wetter, doch wir freuen uns schon auf den Strand, den wir bald sehen werden🤩Read more

    • Day 99

      Colombo, Sri Lanka

      April 12, 2023 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      No, Tere, purtroppo non è stata una tappa memorabile, forse proprio per il nostro approccio mentale. C'eravamo già stati nel 2019 e già allora ci era parsa poco interessante. Oggi l'impressione è stata più o meno la stessa. A parte qualche grattacielo spuntato anche qui ed una torre a forma di fior di loto con funzione di telecomunicazioni, nulla da segnalare. Abbiamo preso il tuk tuk e fatto una breve corsa. Certo, nemmeno la situazione meteorologica ha aiutato: un calduccio afoso ci ha fatto decidere di rientrare ben presto. Cara Tere, meglio una partitina a burraco nella saletta con aria condizionata, anche se da quando te ne sei andata... purtroppo il burraco è un'altra cosa.Read more

    • Day 167

      Bye bye Malaysia - Hello Sri Lanka

      December 6, 2019 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

      🇬🇧🇱🇰
      After 13 exciting, relaxing and beautiful days in Malaysia, we are now in Sir Lanka, our last country on this trip.

      All in all we can say that Malaysia 🇲🇾 is a beatiful, clean and friendly country. The people in Sarawak, Borneo were talkative, happy to tell us about their country and culture. Besides the locals, Malaysia has quite a big Chinese and Indian population. Once more we figured out (unfortunately), that the Chinese culture and its people isn’t our favorite. The food in Malaysia was good, the savory dishes were quite fishy - thus not our favorite, but the sweet foods and baked goods were amazing!
      On Borneo and in the Cameron Highlands we saw the beautiful nature of the country. Very green and peaceful. We will be coming back to visit the other parts of Malaysia, especially Georgetown.

      After one day in Sri Lanka 🇱🇰, we can’t say much. But the people here are helpful (without wanting money!!) and very friendly. We can also say that as a woman in a big crowded city like Colombo you should wear long pants. Makes you a little more “invisible” 😂. Sri Lanka is also already a cheaper country to travel than Indonesia and Malaysia.
      Let’s see what our next stop “Dambulla” will say 😊. Now we are on a looooooong bus ride from Colombo to Dambulla for 4.5 hours.

      🇩🇪
      Nach 13 aufregenden, erholsamen und schönen Tagen in Malaysia sind wir nun in Sir Lanka, unserem letzten Land auf dieser Reise.

      Alles in allem können wir sagen, dass Malaysia 🇲🇾 ein schönes, sauberes und freundliches Land ist. Die Menschen in Sarawak, Borneo, waren sehr gesprächig und erzählten uns gerne von ihrem Land und ihrer Kultur. Neben den Einheimischen hat Malaysia eine recht große chinesische und indische Bevölkerung. Noch einmal haben wir (leider) herausgefunden, dass die chinesische Kultur und ihre Menschen nicht unsere sind.
      Das Essen in Malaysia war gut, die herzhaften Gerichte waren oft fischig - also nicht unser absoluter Favorit, aber die süßen Speisen und Backwaren waren fantastisch!
      Auf Borneo und in den Cameron Highlands sahen wir die schöne Natur des Landes. Sehr grün und friedlich. Wir werden zurückkommen, um die anderen Teile Malaysias zu besuchen, insbesondere Georgetown.

      Nach einem Tag in Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 können wir noch nicht viel sagen. Aber die Leute hier sind hilfreich (ohne Geld zu wollen!!!) und sehr freundlich. Wir können auch sagen, dass man als Frau in einer überfüllten Großstadt wie Colombo lange Hosen tragen sollte. Macht dich ein wenig "unsichtbarer" 😂. Sri Lanka ist schon jetzt ein billigeres Reiseland als Indonesien und Malaysia.
      Mal sehen, was unser nächster Stop "Dambulla" 😊 sagen wird. Jetzt gerade sind wir auf einer laaaaaangen Busfahrt von Colombo nach Dambulla für ganze 4,5 Stunden.
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    • Day 1

      Colombo

      June 8, 2022 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

      Coming to Sri Lanka was pretty difficult due to the economic crisis happening. My inward and outward flights were cancelled so I had to double down and buy even more expensive tickets since only Sri Lankan airlines was left operating and they total monopoly on the prices. The flight from Bangkok were mostly Sri Lankans and I could literally count the number of foreigners with my hands. The airport was desolate and I could definitely see the effects of the financial crisis. I was the only person in immigration and the guard barely made any effort to check and just let me in without checking if I had the required insurance. As I passed through customs, one of the guards held me off just because I only had a backpack with me. I was a bit nervous they would find my edibles but I was able to get off scot-free, my bag however lost one of its zippers while passing through their machine. There were a bunch of money exchanges competing with each other for every dollar the tourists are bringing. The taxi drivers also were quite ready to try and get me to take a ride with them but I already had plans to take the cheapest option: the bus. I had a simcard with me and I was asking for directions on where to take the bus and one of the guards told me that the bus I wanted to take was taking off and advised me to run after it. I thought if he was being serious but I did run after it and it did stop for me. So with this, I am quickly getting accustomed to the Sri Lankan way. Enjoying the internet for the first time while on the road with a 5 dollar sim card was pretty epic. Colombo was somehow meeting and missing my expectations. It was definitely one of the most impoverished places I've been to so far. More than just dirty, it was also lacking a lot of infrastructure and development in general. As I got off the bus, one of the tuktuk drivers managed to get me to ride with him even though the train station was only a couple of meters after using the suffering and poor country card. I gave him some extra nevertheless. After getting my ticket at the counter, I ate some bread and waited for around 2 hours for the train to Habarana which was going to be another 6 hours or so.Read more

    • Day 14

      Colombo 1; Central and Pettah

      April 8, 2023 in Sri Lanka

      Colombo is the commercial centre of Sri Lanka, owing to its natural harbour.  It reached prominence when the Portuguese invaded Sri Lanka in 1517, building a large fort here (it no longer exists now).  The Dutch took control of the island in 1656 and ruled for 150 years before the British captured it in 1796; Colombo became the capital of Ceylon in 1815.  The Civil War from 1983 - 2009 between the Tamil Tigers (who migrated here during British role) and the native Sinhalese caused a lot of destruction in the city, and it is being rebuilt in parts.

      After a 2 hour journey from Koggala, our coach takes us through the Central area where we visit the Independance Memorial Hall and drive past the Vihara Mahadevi Park (formerly Victoria Park) to reach the Gangaramaya Temple; this is one of the most important temples in Colombo, and is  an eclectic mix of Sri Lankan, Thai, Indian, and Chinese architecture and includes a museum, a library, a residential hall and a three storeyed Pirivena. Located on the Beira Lake, it was completed in the late 19th century and is now a place of Buddhist worship and a learning centre.

      We reach Pettah and enjoy walking around what is the chaotic market / bazaar neighbourhood of Colombo (see captions on photos).
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    • Day 77

      Colombo, Sri Lanka Day 2

      March 25 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ 93 °F

      As opposed to the heavy rain we had yesterday, today is a bright sunny day, and we are ready to hit the town. Started out with a Tuk Tuk ride that quickly turned into a day of touring with "Kevin," our driver/guide.

      He took us to learn about tea, and we sampled 5 different teas. Being coffee drinkers, we learned so much about teas and how Sri Lanka became such an important tea hub to the world (and how it played into the Opium Wars in China).

      We then went to see a Buddist Temple, the Red Mosque, and Independence Square before stopping at a local Curry restaurant for lunch.

      Since today was a holiday, the Elephant Sanctuary that cares for Orphaned Asian Elephants had brought them to town for the celebration and had them at the local park for us to interact with. What a treat to see the elephants up close.

      Our final stop was to a very nice shopping mall to pick up flowers for Josh and Robin's anniversary dinner party tomorrow on the ship. What an adventure bringing them back w us on the TukTuk.

      BTW, in the group photo, we're wearing the shirts we had made in Vietnam!
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    • Day 18

      Sri Lanka Dancers

      March 18 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌙 84 °F

      Another wonderful local act; this time a Sri Lankan dance group treated us to an amazing show. Loved the gorgeous outfits, music, and choreography that was both graceful and, at times, acrobatic. There was even a guy spinning plates.Read more

    • Day 76

      Colombo, Sri Lanka Day 1

      March 24 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F

      The highlight of our City Tour in Colombo, Sri Lanka, today was the historic Gangaramaya Buddist Temple and Museum. It has the largest collection of Buddist statues and artifacts, as well as a library. What a fascinating collection of colorful images. We were fortunate that today was a holiday, and many families were there to prey and pay respects.

      The lowlight, however, was that a thunderstorm started, so it cut our city exploration short. C'est la Vie.
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    • Day 78–79

      03.24.2024 Colombo, Sri Lanka Day 1/2

      March 24 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

      We arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka at 2:00 pm today and we are here overnight. We had no excursions booked. When Viking had to alter our itinerary to go around Africa it also altered our days in Sri Lanka. We originally were to be here three full days and we had Viking excursions booked all three days. Since it is now only a day and a half, we lost our original excursions and did not rebook anything.
      Colombo is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, the Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 in the Municipality. It is the financial centre of the island and a tourist destination.
      It is again very hot and extremely humid.
      It’s 91 with a real feel of 101.
      We hired a Tuk Tuk to give us a tour of Colombo. Some areas were very dirty and other areas really nice.
      We visited another temple. (we are about templed out.) Drove through some interesting areas. Visited St. Anthony Catholic Church. It was the site of a bombing in 2019 on Easter Sunday morning. (Diana was able purchase another nativity set to add to he collection) We petted an elephant.
      It was a nice overview of the city.
      We had dinner with Todd and Burt and Paul and Lisa and Tom and Catherine and Jim in Manfredi’s as today is Todd and Burt’s last day. They are leaving the ship. They rented a villa in the Maldives for a month. We will miss them.
      Great evening but it is now bedtime.
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    • Day 2–4

      Colombo - prvi dojmovi

      February 5 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Prvi dan odmora uz veliku dozu umora. Meni je sve bilo privikavanje ali najveći šok sam doživjela na ručku, curry pot s dodatkom suza od boli 🙈 svaki put kad sam se okrenula gledali su me i smijali se…ne znam jesu li bili ponosni kaj sam izdržala ili je blijeda plava ženska koja se bori s ljutom rižom bila prava komedija.
      Ostalo je bilo samo prihvatiti pravila kaosa 😄 Promet koji nisam nigdje doživila, prve 2-3 vožnje sam mislila da ćemo se ziher sudariti ali ovdje sve nekak ide, kao da prednost ima onaj koji je centimetar ispred tebe pa se prilagodiš kud god skrene ili ne skrene 😂 Pješaci doslovno kao da igraju neku igricu, prijeđi cestu da te ne udari auto, ali tu nemaš 3 života.
      Highlight dana je market, što zamisliš tu ćeš moć kupit, ima specijaliziranih štandova samo za cjedila, pa samo za lokote pa za šerafcigere…

      Ja, mesto kot pravo azijsko velemesto z nekaj milijoni prebivalcev. Povsod kaos ampak kar nekako gre. Je pa precej manj street fooda kot sem ga bil navajen na Tajskem. Night marketov sploh ni, vsaj midva ga nisva našla, je pa ena ulica kjer je cel kup hrane tudi zvečer. Tam sem našel tudi moj najljubši sok iz sladkornega trsa, ki je dober samo takrat ko ti ga stisne kar naredi z mašino na posnetku.
      Dobiš pa seveda, kot v vsakem velemestu, kar želiš, od najcenejšega street fooda, do finega sušija v krasni japonski restavraciji, kjer je bilo čist fino, je pa ambient presegel okuse, ki niso bili nič posebnega.
      Tako da danes zajtrk evropsko-srilanski, kosilo indijsko, večerja pa japonska. Vsega po malo :)
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