Day 66 - March 10, 2025 - Monday - Colombo, Sri Lanka

 Our second day in Colombo started off partly cloudy and hazy, but no serious rain was in the forecast.  Today we had a 3.5-hour (which became 4.5-hour) excursion on the taxi of Colombo, the Tuk-Tuk.

Mohummad our driver

The driver's seat, which was very neat compared to many of the others we saw.

At first, I wasn't sure our driver spoke much English.  Eventually he warmed up to us and his first question was how old I was.  One thing about Southeast Asia, the people are very direct.  From there I learned he was 35, married with 4 children and he owned his Tuk-Tuk.  He was an independent operator who worked with tourist companies when not serving as a taxi.  Mohummad was extremely polite and helpful and seemed to really enjoy showing the "Westerners" around.

Below are a few scenes we enjoyed along our ride.

This street vendor was selling coffee for 100 Sri Lankan Rupee or about 35 cents, a real bargain.

Manual transportation of goods was common in the older part of town.

A view from the side mirror.

As in many Asian countries we have visited, it is surprising that many locals find us as interesting as we find them.  I would think that a city the size of Colombo would see a large number of westerners.  At any rate, they still like to photograph and interact with us.  In the temple yesterday, I had a young monk holding an iPhone come up to me and ask where I was from.  He then explained in broken English that he was from Thailand and was also visiting this Buddhist temple.  He was truly interested, but I think it also gave him a chance to practice his English.

As you can see from the expression on the men above, the Sri Lankan people seem happy, and they are genuinely friendly people.

This is a photo of a Hindu temple; you can see the Colombo Lotus Tower.

The photo below is one I took 10 years ago from almost the same spot.  Here you can see the Tower under construction.  There was also now a high-rise building on the left, where there wasn't one earlier.

I like the attitude.

Some monks in front of the Temple we visited yesterday.

The Temple does many good works.  Including housing and healthcare.  This service is provided by the Temple's organization "Colombo Friend-in-Need Society"

An ant's nest in a tree.  This is probably a species of the weaver ant, who build nest in trees.

I hope he doesn't drop one of those on his toes!

Unfortunately, Colombo like all large cities worldwide has its share of the homeless and downtrodden.  At the end of our tour yesterday we walked thru a local market.  We saw many beggars who were quite pitiful, including one legless man in a diaper sitting on the sidewalk.  The photos below were taken along the streets from the Tuk-Tuk.

These stalls could be seen everywhere.  I learned on our last trip that they sold lottery tickets. 

Uniforms are BIG in Sri Lanka.  Not just the police and military, but anyone in any authority position wore a military-type uniform, even hotel security.

A few more local flavor photos.

Finally, a photo of the Red Mosque or The Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque.  Built in 1908-09 it is one of the oldest Mosques in Colombo.

One of the most surprising things about Colombo was the amount of growth it has seen in the past 10 years.  From what we learned from our guides, 30 years ago it would not have even been recognizable.

It would be nice to see some of the island's interior, I understand there is some very beautiful mountains and forests.  Unfortunately, the world is too large, time is too short, and funds are not unlimited!  

From here we one sea-day to reach Male in the Maldives Islands, then have three sea-days to reach the Seychelles Islands, our first African country on our trip.  Yes, although the islands are 800 miles east of mainland Africa, they are considered to be a part of the continent.