March 24th, 2024

Since we had canceled our tour for the second day in Sri Lanka we had no plans. We went to the market by the pier to see what they had. Sri Lanka is known for sapphires and they say you can get good deals on them. I was interested in blue sapphires since that is our birthstone. We also needed a magnet since we have never been to Sri Lanka before. They also like to wheel and deal and you are never supposed to take the first price. I was able to find a shaded blue sapphire bracelet that I liked and after a little haggling we agreed on a price.

My new bracelet

While we were at the market the boat had a drill. They have one almost every week but this was a bomb drill so almost all the crew had to “evacuate” the boat. It was very hot to stand outside. Our room steward explained that they only did this drill once every 4 or 5 months.

The crew drill

Our plan was to walk around the market and then go back on the boat and decide what to do for the rest of the day. While we were at the market a taxi driver approached us and offered us a 2 hour tour for 5 dollars. He showed us where he would take us and most of the places was where we had been the day before. We told him where we would prefer to go and worked out a cost. He had an air conditioned car which was the most important part.

First stop was another Buddhist temple

Then we went to Gangaramaya Monastery and Museum which had lots of different rooms and antiques.

And old car and buggy in storage An old rope elevator

More of the monastery. Reminded us of a mini Borobudur temple.

We went to the Lotus Tower, the one that lights up at night, and we thought about going up to the observation deck but it was 20 dollars per person and we were worried the view would be hazy due to the heat.

The Lotus Tower

Since we had left the boat from the market and had not gone back up to the room we did not bring any water with us. We asked our driver to stop somewhere so we could get a bottle of water and maybe a coke. He pulled into a grocery store and I ran in and got a big bottle of water and a coke zero and since I had no local money and they did not take dollars I charged it. The charge was for .96 cents.

We also asked if he knew where a flower store was because we like flowers in the room and he took us to a beautiful shop with tons of cut flowers. Kathy picked out what she wanted and we got a nice bundle.

The florist shop

The flowers in our room. The greenery is from the bundle that Kathy bought back in Hawaii.

The last stop was to the beach.

It is a non swimming beach

All the buildings on the waterfront look brand new and according to our driver they re office buildings and not apartments or condos.

Building on the waterfront. Very modern.

This is a huge construction project funded by the Chinese on reclaimed land to build a new port city.

After about 2.5 hours we went back to the ship and we had a late lunch and walked around the ship taking some pictures of the city.

City views

The Lotus Tower

The Red mosque in the background

We saw tons of refrigerated trucks getting unloaded before we sailed.

Sunset as we sailed away

We have a day at sea before our next stop which is Cochin, India. This is our only stop in India and lots of people are getting off here to do a 5 day overland trip to see the Taj Mahal. They will rejoin us in Mauritius, East Africa after 5 days at sea. With all the people who have left the ship due to the change in itinerary and those doing the Viking overland trip the boat will feel very empty for a few days.