Colombo Revisited......
Colombo, Sri Lanka
It’s been almost 2 years since my last visit to Colombo, the civil war has ended and there are a lot of developments around the city. After our site visit to Dambulla, I had a few days to myself before I have to fly back to the Maldives so I went around the city re-acquainting myself with the place which is soon going to be my new home.
I agree, not everyone can be like my favorite tuktuk driver Namaal and be so self-less but still I was hoping I will somehow meet tuktuk drivers in Colombo which are even just half-way decent as him. One thing I realized however is that, either the gasoline prices have truly ballooned up or I look really gullible and naïve to these drivers. Before getting on a tuktuk, your frame of mind should be, these drivers are out to rip me off --- really sorry about this comment but hey, let’s be realistic!
A trip around town will normally cost from 50 LKR – 300 LKR depending on the distance, from WTC to my hotel for instance, for a local they will only pay around 50LKR for the trip but when I flagged down a tuktuk, all of them started quoting from 300 LKR, and one driver even said 400LKR!!! Do I look rich??? My God, I was really fuming mad. I normally haggle to death till I can manage a 200LKR fare, still a bit steep but I’d like to think that I’m helping the driver and his family with my extra fare.
Religion
The diversity and multi-ethnicity of the Sri Lankan society is never more pronounced than in its religious denominations. Although majority of the population are Buddhists, there are also Christians, Moslems, and Hindus living side by side with each other (except for the troubled northern area of Jaffna) peacefully unlike in India where religious divides are really manifested in society.
They have Catholic Churches (and I hope I can meet a Filipino priest here) around the city so I felt so at ease and since it was a Sunday I went to pray at a nearby church. I am not deeply religious but coming from the Maldives where you cannot practice any other religion but Islam, I felt so unrestricted and free, that I can now easily hear Mass any time I want is really an advantage in relocating here.
Most of the outstanding Buddhist temples are out of Colombo. In the city, the only temples of note are the Seema Malakaya Meditation Centre located in the middle of the Beira Lake. It is just a small place surrounded by Buddhist statues with birds flying over it, and in the distance, some enterprising local had set up a lake boating business.
The Gangaramaya Temple is quite attractive with its yellow façade and the ever present elephant which you can feed with ripe bananas. The main temple itself is not so big but the entire complex also houses a library, a museum and an altar display of hundreds of Buddhas statues.
I was also surprised to see some Hindu kovils dotted around the city, this one I found while walking around Colombo 02 area.
For all of my visits in Colombo I always end up shopping in the main Odel branch but only now I realized that right across the shopping mall is this enchanting mosque --- the sparkling white Dewata-Gaha Mosque. I will check in my next visit if I can go inside the mosque coz when I went to India before I was able to go inside the Darga complex in Rajasthan.
Museums
After visiting Colombo more than 10 times, I am so ashamed to admit that I did not even visit any museum in the city. For someone who professed to be a History buff my education is certainly lacking so I decided to go and visit the National Museum.
I don’t want to lose my temper again bargaining with the tuktuk drivers so I decided to just take the hotel car (and immediately regretted coz it’s 3 times more expensive!) to the museum and at the gate I just closed my eyes to the exorbitant fee and sincerely hoped that the LKR500 entrance fee is worth it.
Indeed it is worth every penny I paid! The museum is housed in an old white colonial mansion which was built in 1877. Inside the museum is a treasure trove of well-preserved relics from the Ceylonian past, carefully catalogued according to its period, from the Anuradhapura kingdom to the Polunnaruwa period to the Kandyan kingdoms, everything is laid out in perfect condition. They belong to a very sophisticated civilization. Now I am so excited to go visit these ancient citadels to see for myself all the temples and relics from the past. Anuradhapura, you wait for me! Lol
The following day, I went to the Pettah district to look for the Dutch Museum. It used to be the 17th century residence of the Dutch governor and with a lovely albeit small courtyard at the back. I went there on a Sunday and it was supposed to be closed but the gatekeeper was there so he let me in and I had the whole place to myself without the usual tourist like me snapping pictures…hehehe…it’s a bit rundown especially as I just came from the National Museum the other day.
Around the City
The city never ceases to amaze, in every turn you always get a few surprises. Coming out from the church and walking towards Justice Akbar road, this line of multi-colored shops created a splash of color in an otherwise drab landscape of concrete buildings.
I went around the bustling Pettah district also with its numerous shops selling everything from clothes to electronics to vegetables and fruits! But it can be such a headache walking around the area, with smells of rotten vegetables and other odors wafting in the streets and intermingling with the strong aromas of south asian dishes coming from the restaurants. I normally can take it and I’m quite used to it from my travels in the region but when I smelled a burnt curry powder it’s just too much for me so I forgot about looking for the Wolvendaal Church and immediately flagged down a tuktuk without even haggling for the price. Me and the curry powder are sworn enemies……
This is the façade of the fire station --- doesn’t look like one eh? So pretty….
Or these colonial era buildings around the fort area…..
Towards Cinnamon Gardens, you will pass by the Viharamahadevi Park (the biggest park in Colombo I think) and just right across is the Old Town Hall or the Srilankan version of the White House. The park has no special features in it, there are more beautiful parks in Peradeniya and Hakgala.
I still have a few places to visit in the city for my next visit. I have to go again before the end of the month!
It’s been almost 2 years since my last visit to Colombo, the civil war has ended and there are a lot of developments around the city. After our site visit to Dambulla, I had a few days to myself before I have to fly back to the Maldives so I went around the city re-acquainting myself with the place which is soon going to be my new home.
I agree, not everyone can be like my favorite tuktuk driver Namaal and be so self-less but still I was hoping I will somehow meet tuktuk drivers in Colombo which are even just half-way decent as him. One thing I realized however is that, either the gasoline prices have truly ballooned up or I look really gullible and naïve to these drivers. Before getting on a tuktuk, your frame of mind should be, these drivers are out to rip me off --- really sorry about this comment but hey, let’s be realistic!
A trip around town will normally cost from 50 LKR – 300 LKR depending on the distance, from WTC to my hotel for instance, for a local they will only pay around 50LKR for the trip but when I flagged down a tuktuk, all of them started quoting from 300 LKR, and one driver even said 400LKR!!! Do I look rich??? My God, I was really fuming mad. I normally haggle to death till I can manage a 200LKR fare, still a bit steep but I’d like to think that I’m helping the driver and his family with my extra fare.
Religion
The diversity and multi-ethnicity of the Sri Lankan society is never more pronounced than in its religious denominations. Although majority of the population are Buddhists, there are also Christians, Moslems, and Hindus living side by side with each other (except for the troubled northern area of Jaffna) peacefully unlike in India where religious divides are really manifested in society.
They have Catholic Churches (and I hope I can meet a Filipino priest here) around the city so I felt so at ease and since it was a Sunday I went to pray at a nearby church. I am not deeply religious but coming from the Maldives where you cannot practice any other religion but Islam, I felt so unrestricted and free, that I can now easily hear Mass any time I want is really an advantage in relocating here.
Most of the outstanding Buddhist temples are out of Colombo. In the city, the only temples of note are the Seema Malakaya Meditation Centre located in the middle of the Beira Lake. It is just a small place surrounded by Buddhist statues with birds flying over it, and in the distance, some enterprising local had set up a lake boating business.
The Gangaramaya Temple is quite attractive with its yellow façade and the ever present elephant which you can feed with ripe bananas. The main temple itself is not so big but the entire complex also houses a library, a museum and an altar display of hundreds of Buddhas statues.
I was also surprised to see some Hindu kovils dotted around the city, this one I found while walking around Colombo 02 area.
For all of my visits in Colombo I always end up shopping in the main Odel branch but only now I realized that right across the shopping mall is this enchanting mosque --- the sparkling white Dewata-Gaha Mosque. I will check in my next visit if I can go inside the mosque coz when I went to India before I was able to go inside the Darga complex in Rajasthan.
Museums
After visiting Colombo more than 10 times, I am so ashamed to admit that I did not even visit any museum in the city. For someone who professed to be a History buff my education is certainly lacking so I decided to go and visit the National Museum.
I don’t want to lose my temper again bargaining with the tuktuk drivers so I decided to just take the hotel car (and immediately regretted coz it’s 3 times more expensive!) to the museum and at the gate I just closed my eyes to the exorbitant fee and sincerely hoped that the LKR500 entrance fee is worth it.
Indeed it is worth every penny I paid! The museum is housed in an old white colonial mansion which was built in 1877. Inside the museum is a treasure trove of well-preserved relics from the Ceylonian past, carefully catalogued according to its period, from the Anuradhapura kingdom to the Polunnaruwa period to the Kandyan kingdoms, everything is laid out in perfect condition. They belong to a very sophisticated civilization. Now I am so excited to go visit these ancient citadels to see for myself all the temples and relics from the past. Anuradhapura, you wait for me! Lol
The following day, I went to the Pettah district to look for the Dutch Museum. It used to be the 17th century residence of the Dutch governor and with a lovely albeit small courtyard at the back. I went there on a Sunday and it was supposed to be closed but the gatekeeper was there so he let me in and I had the whole place to myself without the usual tourist like me snapping pictures…hehehe…it’s a bit rundown especially as I just came from the National Museum the other day.
Around the City
The city never ceases to amaze, in every turn you always get a few surprises. Coming out from the church and walking towards Justice Akbar road, this line of multi-colored shops created a splash of color in an otherwise drab landscape of concrete buildings.
I went around the bustling Pettah district also with its numerous shops selling everything from clothes to electronics to vegetables and fruits! But it can be such a headache walking around the area, with smells of rotten vegetables and other odors wafting in the streets and intermingling with the strong aromas of south asian dishes coming from the restaurants. I normally can take it and I’m quite used to it from my travels in the region but when I smelled a burnt curry powder it’s just too much for me so I forgot about looking for the Wolvendaal Church and immediately flagged down a tuktuk without even haggling for the price. Me and the curry powder are sworn enemies……
This is the façade of the fire station --- doesn’t look like one eh? So pretty….
Or these colonial era buildings around the fort area…..
Towards Cinnamon Gardens, you will pass by the Viharamahadevi Park (the biggest park in Colombo I think) and just right across is the Old Town Hall or the Srilankan version of the White House. The park has no special features in it, there are more beautiful parks in Peradeniya and Hakgala.
I still have a few places to visit in the city for my next visit. I have to go again before the end of the month!
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