Day 51 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

We have a private tour with Tuk Tuk Safari in Colombo, Sri Lanka. All the ship Tuk Tuk tours were booked many months ago. It didn't turn out quite how described on Viator but it was a decent day. Princess obtained shuttle busses took us to the "gate" at this working port. However, our shuttle took us to the wrong gate! I ended up turning on my phone to contact the Viator provider to actually get picked up to begin our tour. That was just the first blip in the day but there were 6-8 of us stranded there awaiting pickup for the same private tour. Then there was the issue of the driver's not speaking English and driving around for a bit with stops for the drivers to discuss what was to be done! Eventually the "real" leader showed up and things worked out OK.

The highlight was probably the delicious lunch of traditional local food. We did see a few temples or shrines, which we entered but it was never quite clear which ones they were. We did not go to the Gangaramaya Temple but saw it from a distance. We visited a spice store and a tea place, both were very nice, we did not get the taste of local coffee on the itinerary. A lot of the time was spent driving through open markets where the majority of the people seem to shop and live. The rest of the area is the wealthy or better off, but that is the minority. The poverty is always hard to see. The Lotus Tower was also one of our stops, it changes colors at night and we could see it from the ship. One thing that was outstanding was the horrible air quality. This is obvious due to any vehicle on the road billowing black or gray smoke. After just a few hours my eyes were burning. I can't imagine what havoc this plays with the people who live here. The train we saw pass by billowed so much we choked. Such is life here in Sri Lanka. There are some lovely parts, but such a contrast. Many people went to beaches that were lovely or even an Elephant Sanctuary. Anyway, we are happy we saw what we did and the Tuk Tuk was an adventure in itself! 











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