When you look up
places to visit and things to do in Sri Lanka, the capital city of
Colombo is almost never on any list. I had two reasons for putting it
on my itinerary: one, it is the capital city, and two, I saw a couple
photos on social media of sights that were different from what else
I'd seen in the country.
Colombo isn't a
city you think of when you think of Sri Lanka, or its culture. Over
the days I was there I saw Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim worship
places. I saw high end markets and malls, as well as street vendors.
It's a city with anything you want, in terms of shopping.
Wikipedia tells me
the Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million people,
while the city proper is just over 750,000.
The history of
Colombo didn't seem very specific to me. That is, Wikipedia tells me
traders from a variety of countries were aware of the area as far
back as 2000 years ago, because it has a natural harbour. The first
Portuguese arrived in 1505, which is the start of the colonial
history. The Dutch came next, then the British.
Ceylon gained
official independence in 1948, at which time pretty much everything
about the city changed, proper names in particular. There were
changes in laws and customs and clothing styles.
As usual, it took
me longer to get moving from my place in Galle than I'd imagined in
my head. I ended up on an air-conditioned bus to Colombo. Normally I
hate paying extra for that luxury, but since the bus was stuck in
traffic for much of the ride, I was glad I did this time. It took
nearly four hours to get to the main bus station in Colombo.
As I left the bus
station a million tuk tuk drivers approached me, I chose one. He
initially asked for 2000 rupees to get me to my accomodation,
sighting all kinds of reasons: traffic, he is poor, it was a long
way, etc...
I agreed on 500 rupees, which he eventually agreed to as
well. I knew this was a reasonable rate, I refuse to pay a tourist
price if I know better. That didn't stop him from hassling me
throughout the entire ride, even at the end. I pointed out to him
there was none of the traffic he spoke about, it wasn't that far, and
he agreed to the price. Sigh. I am not a human ATM and hate being
looked at that way.
Checking into my
guesthouse was easy. Like many business oriented Sri Lankans, the
owner spoke really good English, which was convenient for me. I
rested for a while, and charged the battery of my phone.
When I'd looked at
the map before coming to Colombo I was excited to see one of my
favourite brands had at least two branches in Colombo, Coffee Bean
and Tea Leaf. I first had this brand when I lived in Seoul, and I've
loved it ever since. They have fantastic chai lattes, made with
actual tea. (Starbucks simply froths the milk and adds flavoured
syrup, there is no tea involved.) Imagine my disappointment when I
got there and they told me they were out of chai lattes. I could see
the ingredients behind the counter, so I was a bit confused, but
whateva. The chocolate mousse cake was everything I remembered it
being.
I kept going,
coming to a small lake, there was a small temple in the middle. The
temple was quite nice, very simple. You have to take off your shoes
to visit, which wasn't a problem, especially since I could see I
wasn't going to be walking on hot sand this time.
This temple had a
single stupa, and the main building was surrounded by rows of
Buddhas. The small temple juxtaposed with the modern skyscrapers
behind was impressive.
Futher along the
banks of this lake was a park in the middle of the lake. It was quite
lame, though I liked the way the bridge to get there looked.
As it
was hot and humid out, there weren't many people hanging out, even
though part of the park was covered.
I stopped at a
random place for food, and ended up paying what I thought was a
ridiculous price, 280 rupees. I don't know if I overpaid, or they
charged me for two separate things even though it was served as a
single meal. By comparison some of my earlier meals had cost me 120
rupees for the same food, or even more.
It took quite a bit
of walking to get to my next destination. The walk took me through
the city itself, not the touristy areas. That didn't stop someone
from trying to chat me up and direct me to a specific shop.
When I
said I had no interest in shopping he was quite offended. He said he
worked for the government tourist office, then told me the place I
was intending to go was behind security walls, and not safe. I've
heard that before, almost always false. I hate this kind of tout more
than others. Don't present yourself as something you're not. I have
no idea if Sri Lanka even has a government tourist office.
I passed a black
and white painted lighthouse, which was quite small, and looked like
it wasn't still in use. There was a memorial on one side, the whole
thing was very photogenic.
The place I'd
wanted to see was finally in view at that point: a Buddhist temple
that looked more like a rocket ship than anything else. The top was a
curved dome, and it was on stilts, so a visitor has to climb a number
of stairs to get to the entry door. It was open, and no one was
around, so I don't know how often the temple is used. Unique
architecture, to say the least. The views from the top of the stairs
were great.
I got back to the
main roads of the city, and stopped briefly into one of Colombo's
million and a half tea shops. Though the tea is grown in the
mountains, the main sales points are in the big cities. I realized
there were plenty of flavours available, and made a point to come
back when I was more in the mood to shop.
Plus it was getting late
and I wanted to keep going.
More walking took
me through a market area I hadn't been aware of ahead of time. People
on the streets moving merchandise around. Stalls selling everything
on the streets. Stores lining the streets. Gajillions of people
walking everywhere. It was super crowded, but I didn't feel hassled
for being a foreigner, which was nice.
I finally got to
the second place I'd really wanted to see, the Red Mosque. Also
called the Friday Mosque, as it is one of the main mosques in the
city. Unfortunately, I'd taken too long to do various things during
the day, meaning I arrived at the mosque a few minutes after visiting
hours for tourists were over.
The guy working the reception desk
assured me I could come back the next day, no problem.
I walked home,
getting to see a beautiful sunset along the way. The full rainbow of
colours, including purple. That's something rarely mentioned when
Colombo is presented. On the way back I stopped in another coffee/tea
shop and took my chances with a chai latte, which turned out to be
amazing. Their cake was pretty darn good too ;)
When I got back to
my accomodation I discovered the power had gone out. It ended up
being out most of the night, which made it a very long night.
No
power means no fan, which is tough in a hot, humid country. I can
deal with heat, but without the fan it was really hard. The mozzies
had a field day with me. Sigh.
The next day I went
to the other branch of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, they said the same
thing about not having chai lattes. I was frustrated, since again I
could see the ingredients on the shelves with the barista.
Oh well, I went
back to the same place I'd had success the night before. Yay!
From there I walked
back to the Red Mosque, only to be informed that I couldn't visit
until 1500, because it was Friday. I'm fully aware that Friday is the
most important day of the week for Muslims, but being told yet again
to come back later had me irritated. Just in case, I wrote down 1500
and asked ok? The guy said yes.
From there I walked
toward a series of three Hindu temples. All three were very
colourful, with both paint and offerings creating all that colour.
There were stalls outside the temples selling offerings, in case I
wanted to add my own. I didn't, but still took a minute to enjoy the
atmosphere inside and outside each temple.
The streets of
Colombo are busy. All the time. Busy busy busy. Sometimes it is more
vehicular traffic, sometimes it is more pedestrian. But either way,
heaps of people all the time.
I walked to a
touristy area, meaning the business comes from foreigners, not locals. I saw a whole lot of white folks, not many locals looking around.
The old Dutch hospital has been redeveloped into a market and
restaurant area for foreigners. I was rather disappointed, there was
nothing particularly unique to see. Just shops and cafes.
Since I was
relatively close at that point, and didn't want to walk too far away,
I went back to the tea shop I'd stepped in quickly the day before. I
bought two tins of tea, hoping the flavour taste turned out as good
as it smelled. (Side note, I had it when I got back to Moscow, and it
was.)
I went back to the
Red Mosque at 1500, they told me to wait another hour. I admit it, I
got mad at that point. I told my story of being told to come back
several times, and each time being told to come back later.
I don't
mind having specific hours to visit, but why didn't the people
telling me this have their stories straight? It can't be that hard to
sort out a clock.
I was allowed in,
after donning a full body robe. The ironic part is that I was only
allowed into a small area of the mosque. A very very small area. I
could see nothing new from where I was allowed to go than I'd been
able to see from the reception desk. So annoyed. I didn't see a
prayer area, so letting me in earlier wouldn't have interrupted
anyone. Sigh.
While walking out
of the area I stopped for snacks. Snacks are always good, though not always necessary.
I had two pieces of burfi, an
Indian sweet. I also had a fruit salad with ice cream, and a fish
roll. Good food, but probably not the best idea to eat a fish roll
right after dessert.
I went to another
major city sight: another Buddhist temple. Gangaramaya temple is on
all the tourist lists, but I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be.
To me it just seemed like a big collection of Buddhas. The actual
prayer area was quite small, the rest was just rooms with religious
painting and Buddhas everywhere. I was probably just in a bad mood by
then, but it didn't stick well in my mind. It didn't help that
security on the way in took everything out of my purse, then got
upset when it took me a minute to put it all back in the way it had
been.
On the way home I
stopped by a war memorial, which was an obelisk in a small park. Not
a whole lot of people seemed interested in this one, but that's
probably because the park was in the middle of traffic.
Thank goodness my
guesthouse had power that night. A properly turning fan felt soooo
good.
The next morning I
went back to the same place as the day before for breakfast: Tea
Avenue. Who says there is anything wrong with double chocolate
cheesecake and an (unsweetened!!) chai latte for breakfast?
After eating and
drinking I walked to the national museum. It's an impressive
building, definitely built by colonialists.
I didn't go in, as I've
seen history museums of places with colonial history. None of them
are that different from each other.
From there it
wasn't far to Independence Square. It's an impressive open air
pavilion built to commemorate national independence in 1948. It is built at the official spot where the formal ceremony marking self rule took place. Go figure, this ceremony involved a British official opening a new Sri Lankan Parliament session.
As the day was hot
and humid (as is every day in Sri Lanka,) there were lots of people
taking advantage of the shade, relaxing and hanging out with each
other.
The entire base of the pavilion was surrounded with stone
carvings of elephants, which reminded me of the big temple in
Anuradhapura. There was a museum in the basement area of this
pavilion, but I skipped that too.
I was wearing
shorts and a t-shirt. I point this out because my next interaction
was with a lady telling me to wear more clothes. We were not in a
religious setting, I was just on the street. I was annoyed because it
felt like she was telling me this for safety reasons, not religious
reasons. I don't know how to describe it, but it felt like she was
victim blaming me for being a foreigner, and not covering myself
enough, even though I was not a victim. Sigh.
When women themselves
blame women for what they're wearing, rape culture will never end.
Sigh.
After another long
walk, I got to a shop run by the Sri Lankan Tea Board. I ended up
buying just two tins of tea, but I wanted a lot more. I saw many of
the brands I'd already seen, as well as heaps more. So many choices.
The only thing stopping me from buying more was the awareness that it
takes a while to get through 100grams of loose tea leaves, especially
when you drink just one cup a day. I love seeing tea from single
estates, and smaller companies.
At that point I was
basically done with everything I'd wanted to see/do in Colombo. The
rest of the day I just wandered. My dinner came from several
different places, and I took photos of street life. Eventually I got
to the coast, which is where the train tracks run. I've heard that
the train from Colombo to Galle is very scenic, maybe I'll get to
ride it one day. I've also heard that I need to book it well ahead of time in order to have a seat that allows me to see the beautiful scenery. All those social media influencers and people who properly plan their holidays take the good spots well in advance.
On my way back to
my accomodation I stopped in Tea Avenue for another visit, to pick up
goodies for the road. I got slices of cheesecake, not really thinking
about how much they'd melt when not kept in a fridge. (I discovered
that mess when I got up in the middle of the night to catch a taxi to
the airport.)
Getting to the
airport was easy, as was check-in. The lady said my carryon weighed
too much, so I took stuff out of it to show her, then put it all
right back in. The people before and behind me in line did the same
thing.
The flight took off
late, but what did I care?
I would love to
come back to Sri Lanka, but I don't know when it will happen.
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