Days 63-66 Sea Days and Columbo, Sri Lanka

Weathe Upper 80's, cloudy

Map

What we did
We arrived in Colombo at around 2:00 p.m. and decided to head into the downtown area for a walk and a bit of shopping. The port is highly industrial and so we had to take a shuttle bus to the port entrance before we could begin our walk. It was a very hot day, but the 25 minute walk gave us a chance to get our first look at the city. Luckily, we quickly found a marvelous shop called Tarlton’s, where we picked up some wonderful ceylon tea and fragrant Sri Lankan cinnamon. As we walked, we were frequently approached by tuk-tuk drivers hoping to give us a ride. They were all very friendly, but quite persistent; some even walked alongside us for a hundred yards or more trying to convince us to hop in. For dinner, we went to to Manfreddi's onboard and confirmed especially on port days, you do not necessarily need a reservation. That night from our ship, we were able to enjoy the changing colors of the lit up Colombo Lotus Tower building which is 356 meters tall and is south Asia's tallest, self-supported structure.

The following day we joined the ship’s included excursion called “Snapshots of Sri Lanka.” Unfortunately, it wasn’t one of our favorite tours, as much of the time was spent driving around the city while the guide pointed out various places of interest from the bus. We did spend a fair amount of time at the Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple, where we removed our shoes before entering and learned about the meanings behind the different hand gestures and body positions seen in Buddha statues. At the temple we also saw a sacred Bodhi tree. According to history, a sapling from that original tree was brought to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE. The tree we saw is believed to be descended from that historic cutting and is deeply venerated by Buddhists as a living link to the moment of the Buddha’s enlightenment. Our final stop was Independence Square, which was built in 1953 to commemorate Sri Lanka’s independence from British rule in 1948. At the time of our visit the area was quite run down and just beginning renovations, so it wasn’t the most impressive stop of the day. After returning to the ship, we took our first dip in the main pool. It's amazing how few people use the outdoor pools as they are lovely.