Today a city tour had been arranged so that we could have a day to decompress, get to know each other and see something of the city - since the rest of our days we would be housed in the hotel conference room. But it was not the city tour we were expecting. The tour guide took us past non-descript government buildings, the city library, and a few monuments. However we kept zipping by some really cool temples and religious sites. Finally we made the guide stop so we could visit a Buddhist temple that was out on a man-made lake, despite his protests that we would have to pay - we didn't. In the end we really didn't see much, but maybe there isn't much to see in Colombo?
Regardless, our "tour" was side-tracked by everyone's desire to visit the renowned shopping centers where consumer lore tells of finding high end fashion at bargain basement prices. Four years ago my friends and I had spent several hours in these places and had been duly impressed. Not so, this time. Higher prices and chintzy garments had replaced what I remembered. But it was still enjoyable to be in air conditioning and soak up the local consumer flavor.
Our hotel is located across a busy road and railroad tracks from the ocean and, with the luck of facing west, every night we are treated to a sunset over the Indian Ocean. My first evening, after our tour, a few of us decided to head to the beach. No easy task this. We dodged the haphazard traffic, crossed three train tracks to then navigate the garbage dump of a beach to join 200 hundred of our closest local friends (it was Sunday and crowded) to find a semi-clean spot on the sand to watch the great orange ball drop into the haze on the horizon above the sea. Still, it's Sri Lanka, it's the beach, it's warm, and it's the ocean. Very nice.
Today a city tour had been arranged so that we could have a day to decompress, get to know each other and see something of the city - since the rest of our days we would be housed in the hotel conference room. But it was not the city tour we were expecting. The tour guide took us past non-descript government buildings, the city library, and a few monuments. However we kept zipping by some really cool temples and religious sites. Finally we made the guide stop so we could visit a Buddhist temple that was out on a man-made lake, despite his protests that we would have to pay - we didn't. In the end we really didn't see much, but maybe there isn't much to see in Colombo?
Regardless, our "tour" was side-tracked by everyone's desire to visit the renowned shopping centers where consumer lore tells of finding high end fashion at bargain basement prices. Four years ago my friends and I had spent several hours in these places and had been duly impressed. Not so, this time. Higher prices and chintzy garments had replaced what I remembered. But it was still enjoyable to be in air conditioning and soak up the local consumer flavor.
Our hotel is located across a busy road and railroad tracks from the ocean and, with the luck of facing west, every night we are treated to a sunset over the Indian Ocean. My first evening, after our tour, a few of us decided to head to the beach. No easy task this. We dodged the haphazard traffic, crossed three train tracks to then navigate the garbage dump of a beach to join 200 hundred of our closest local friends (it was Sunday and crowded) to find a semi-clean spot on the sand to watch the great orange ball drop into the haze on the horizon above the sea. Still, it's Sri Lanka, it's the beach, it's warm, and it's the ocean. Very nice.
1 comment:
Sounds like you're enjoying your time in Sri Lanka. Looking forward to more posts and pictures! And by the way, you do not have kankles!
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