Cruisin Marys

We arrived in Colombo in the afternoon, and boy was it HOT! Luckily, there were some cute shops right on the pier where we were docked. The local vendors sold gems and jewelry, leather goods, clothing, and souvenirs. Fashion Tip: tops and bottoms decorated with elephants are a big hit in Colombo and on our ship! We admit that we succumbed to the pressure and purchased some elephant items of our own. This trend may be everywhere soon. Remember, you heard it here first. (We will include a picture in a post soon.)

That evening we went on a Tuk Tuk foodie tour with our friends JoAnna and Mary from Surprise, AZ. A Tuk Tuk is a 3-wheeler that’s like a small golf cart. Two passengers fit in the back seat. Lucky for us, it was Sunday so the traffic was fairly light. We had a great time as our local drivers zipped around while they filled us in on Colombo’s history. We got to see quite a bit of the city while heading to the tour spots.

Our first stop was a tea and spices shop. Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) has long been a major tea grower. We also learned that 90% of the world’s cinnamon is grown in Sri Lanka.

Next, we had a local favorite…Hoppers! Sort of like a very thin crepe that’s bowl-shaped and filled with items like eggs and coconut. They were pretty tasty. We were seated at a long table with a couple that we learned was also on our cruise. The woman’s name was, of course, Mary!!

Unfortunately, we didn’t take any pictures of the next place where we were each served whole crabs (or chicken curry), 4 pieces of white toast, and very spicy sambal sauce. They eat with their hands in much of SE Asia so things got quite messy! The following dish, named Kotu, was our favorite. We don’t know exactly what was in it, but it was yummy, and we got forks. At this point we were stuffed.

We stopped for a few more items including King Coconut water. Healthy & tasty.

We saw some interesting places along the way including the Lotus Tower…

and the Red Mosque.

The next day we took a bus tour of the city. We went to the city’s largest Buddhist temple and saw many monks as well as a multitude of Buddhas. They also had the world’s smallest Buddha which had to be viewed through a magnifying glass. Shoes must be removed and knees and shoulders covered to enter a temple.

We saw a variety of very modern as well as British colonial buildings.

This clock tower was built by the British 2 years before Big Ben

The streets of Colombo were extremely busy on Monday, especially in this market district. Lots of shoppers, Tuk Tuks, and small shops and restaurants. It was bustling.