Colombo, Sri Lanka Day Two

The next morning we got out of bed a little later than usual, still sleepy from the nightclub noise above us. We got ready and went out to catch an elevator to the ground floor. We pushed the elevator call button and the door opened right away, and there was a guy just standing in there alone. It caught everyone by surprise, and the guy just nodded at us and said he didn’t mind going down. He got off in the lobby with us and started talking to the staff so we weren’t sure if he worked there or not – but it was a weird situation. 

Our plan for the morning was to take advantage of the lack of direct sunlight and try to walk out to see the Red Mosque. It wasn’t far from our hotel, and with the sun still not quite rising it was a very comfortable walk for us. We passed a dingier side of the city, with dogs sleeping alone on the streets, some shops opened but most closed and locked down. After a wrong turn we passed by a fish market that looked industrial, run-down, and not the least bit sanitary. At last we reached the area of the mosque, and found it surrounded on all sides by buildings making it very difficult to take a picture of the very striking colors and architecture. The streets were almost empty, so it was easy to walk around, and we noticed that the opening time of the mosque for visitors was 9:30 am, so we had some time to kill before being allowed in. 

For breakfast we went to a nearby restaurant that we had researched the day before, open at 6:00 am and serving locals lots of traditional Sri Lankan foods. When we arrived they were slapping around the roti in the front of the shop, which was a very good sign for us. The back of the restaurant was a seat yourself system, and nobody spoke English. Luckily there was a big menu on the wall with pictures and the names of the dishes written in English, so we managed to order some food in this way. Our waiter had no idea what we were talking about but he did know one English word, “egg”. Thankfully some customers helped us out by translating, and we ended up with a breakfast of egg hoppers, and plate of egg kottu, and a bottle of Coke for me with a straw that was too short, making me really do some creative moves with my tongue to get any product out of the bottle. The food here was excellent, so good that we wanted to take some to go. This turned out to be a real fiasco, though, as we tried to order things based on the name and the picture, having no idea of the scale of the photo. We ask for two of something and he says no – you have to order ten. We order two of something and he says that is way too much for two people. Total confusion, but we finally left with a big bag of food and took it back to the hotel to eat. There we discovered two huge loaves of pittu (coconut rolls) which was one and a half too much for us. Also we got 10 string hoppers which was the perfect amount, and two small bowls of curry with an egg in each one. All that food, including what we ate back at the restaurant, for the price of about $3 USD. 

After a little break in the hotel room we went back out, hoping to catch a tuk-tuk to see a couple of nearby Hindu temples that are popular sightseeing spots in the area. There was a tuk-tuk waiting right outside our hotel, but he tried hard to get us to book a city tour with him for the whole day. When we asked how much to go just to the temple, he quoted a price that was triple what longer rides had cost the day before. We smiled and said no thanks, then left to find a tuk-tuk farther away from the hotel. The next price was half of what the other guy had said, so it pays to shop around. Actually, I don’t mind paying the higher price – it was still cheap – but the principle of ripping people off because you can just rubbed me the wrong way. 

We arrived at the temple in just a few minutes. The Gangaramaya Temple is an odd collection of buildings housing a wide variety of religious artifacts, Buddha statues, and texts. It is sort of a collection of things more than one organized temple but it was definitely worth the visit. On the grounds we found a mystical tree looking like something out of a comic book, a collection of old cars donated by wealthy patrons (including a Rolls Royce), a hand operated elevator, and a mysterious spaceship-like shrine flanked by Buddha statues. It was fun to poke around. 

Just a short walk away was Beira Lake and on the water connected by a bridge you could visit the Seema Malaka Temple and enjoy views of the modern city architecture and the ancient religious statues. We also made the walk over to “Gallery Island” which was less impressive and seemed to be a refuge for couples looking to enjoy a little privacy while courting. As we walked around the lake we saw two guys sitting and talking, with a tiny monkey sitting next to them – I guess monkeys are no big deal around here but it certainly would have made me uncomfortable. 

Our next plan was to take a tuk-tuk back to the Red Mosque – it had been closed in the morning when we walked there and we were hoping to get a look inside. After flagging down another tuk-tuk we had to repeatedly refuse his offers for a city tour, or to go to a jewelry shop. Our driver asked about Kuniko’s country, and then said, “Ah, Japanese ladies have an open heart,” – whatever that meant. 

The second time we arrived at the Red Mosque, the neighborhood was very lively. Cars, people, wild dogs and total chaos. It felt like walking through Bangalore when we were in India – too many people doing too many things all at the same time. Unfortunately the gate of the Red Mosque was still locked up despite being past the opening time. A guy nearby said that maybe soon somebody would come open the gates, but it was too hot and crowded to wait in front. We found some refuge at a corner store, eating a few fried snacks with two tiny Sprites, and chatting with the staff. I think for some people they were eager to practice using English, or else eager to be seen by others chatting with foreigners. Anyway, after an awkward conversation or two we left but the mosque was still locked up. We decided to give up on our plan to visit, and had to be satisfied with some photos from outside. 

We went back to the hotel area to get away from all the people for a bit, and drank some beer to clear our dry throats. Riding around in tuk-tuks is a good way to inhale a lot of fumes in a short time. While drinking beers we watched a guy with his four girlfriends (?) sitting across from us, taking endless selfies and chatting. Cute! We did some shopping at a local grocery store, and discovered that one of the drinks we had purchased – it seemed to be a strawberry tropical drink – was actually the concentrated syrup of a strawberry tropical drink. No wonder the price was ten times higher than the other drinks we bought! 

For a late lunch/early dinner we headed back to Galle Street to try to find a chain restaurant that was recommended for traditional Sri Lankan food. Unfortunately they closed their kitchen after lunch, and it was too early to open the kitchen for dinner. We were pretty hungry, though, so we caught another tuk-tuk, and asked the driver to take us to one other restaurant I wanted to try. The driver knew the place right away, and while taking us there he tried to talk us into going to a jewelry store after we eat dinner. We politely declined, but he explained that by taking us there he would receive a coupon for 5 liters of fuel for his tuk-tuk, which was worth about 1000 Sri Lankan rupees (about $6 USD). These kind of kickback schemes are pretty common on tourist routes, and we again declined – I’d rather use my time to enjoy our stay. The guy whined a bit, and kept mentioning the 1000 rupees – making it seem like we were the ones taking 1000 rupees out of his pocket. Again, this is the wrong approach if you want to get extra money (at least for us) and we paid the regular fare only and he left us at the restaurant with a very disappointed look on his face. 

Upali’s restaurant turned out to be a big hit. First, they had air conditioning, which felt great after zooming around the city in heat all day. The restaurant was laid out like a family restaurant, with foreigners like us seated in one area and locals in another – it took me a while to realize that probably only some waiters spoke English so the English-speaking ones were assigned to our area. They had a huge menu of Sri Lankan dishes, and I wished I had taken a picture of it. The dishes were laid out with a few short sentences in English explaining each one, and we wanted to try everything. We narrowed it down to a few, and the cheerful waiter took our order with a friendly Indian-style headshake to indicate that everything was A-OK. 

While sipping fruit juices through paper straws we waited for our food and saw that our poor waiter was covering a lot of tables. People seemed to be waiting a long time, asking him detailed questions about dishes on the menu and the ingredients, making the waiter sign their phone into the restaurant’s WiFi – the poor guy had to do everything for a busy room of customers. But for some reason our food came promptly while others were still waiting, and the waiter gave us a big smile that made me think that maybe he had expedited our order somehow. 

The food was excellent – a rich mutton curry (we paid extra for no bones), two paratha (toasted golden brown with melted cheese and onions inside, Upali’s chicken kottu, and a dish of Sri Lankan noodles (which were cut short – almost like a long pilaf, and had a delicious red chilli sauce and peppers in oil). It was a lot of food for two people, and even sitting in the air conditioned restaurant I built up a lot of sweat as my body was processing all these spicy peppers. So delicious! 

After “lunch/dinner” we took a tuk-tuk back to the beach area, and found that it was quite crowded. Perhaps our timing wasn’t right the night before, but this time we found many families out at the beach enjoying the cool breeze, flying kites, and eating food from little temporary convenience stores set up along the pathway. As we walked a guy paced us from behind and then started talking to us. Immediately I wonder what he is selling, and as it turned out he knew of a special festival happening tonight where we could see an elephant covered in jewels, and by the way did we know there was a famous jewelry store nearby? It was hard to lose him since we were on foot, but eventually we escaped. 

Along with the big crowds of people we saw big crowds of police and soldiers, heavily armed. Every time we walked by police or soldiers they always smiled and nodded at us, and I could tell the government was very concerned about the effect of terror attacks on tourism. If we asked the soldiers to give us a lift to our hotel I’m sure they’d have been happy to do it. As we walked back north toward our hotel it was nice moment with the sun starting to go down on our left over the ocean, and we thought it might be nice to find a hotel with a view of the beach and sunset to sit and have a cocktail. As it turned out, the nearest hotel that fit the bill was the Shangri-La – one of the hotels that was targeted during the Easter terror attacks. Apparently a suicide bomber had lined up for Easter breakfast with the other guests and managed to kill quite a few people. 

Other than the security checkpoint in front of the hotel (cameras built into the ground to check under cars, and a bomb sniffing dog who didn’t mind posing for photos with local children) the Shangri-La shows no signs of any kind of attack. We walked into the lavish reception area, and it was easy to get a couple of seats outside, despite our casual attire. The staff served me a smoked whiskey sour and Kuniko and I sat and watched the sun slowly descend through the clouds towards the ocean. We didn’t make a dent in the bowl of cashews as our stomachs were still full. We had a nice quiet moment on the patio not far from where terrorists had committed their horrors. Things there aren’t completely back to normal – but they are close. If they can continue to prevent extremism, recovery will not be so far away. 


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