Travelling on toward Colombo, we took the coast road passing through Matara where Praki grew up. He lives in Colombo now though. The route is filled with lovely beach side towns which cater to domestic and, increasingly, to international tourists. Sri Lanka is trying hard to grow this industry now that the civil war is over. Lasting 30 years and finishing in 2009, the war was basically between two ethnic groups – the Tamils (15% of the population) who mainly live in the north-east, and the majority (75%) Singhalese people. The Tamils wanted their own land and governance. They say it’s all over now and everyone is chilled. But I reckon that’s not completely true.

Back to the journey – after the tsunami, the government made a rule that you could not rebuild within 100m of the high tide mark. This has been disregarded by most, and the government randomly chooses some buildings and has them demolished. But not often.

Amidst the post tsunami years and now the post war era, the country is gradually getting itself together. Colombo is like one big construction zone.

Busy times in Colombo

We saw a very scary thing here. When the war was over, Sri Lanka needed to start rebuilding and went looking for money from off shore….IMF, World Bank etc. But China stepped up quickly and dropped by to build some world-class road and freeways, the like of which Sri Lanka had never seen. But then, goes around comes around. The Chinese have now taken a 99 year lease on the Port and on top of that, they have deleted a huge section of the beach from Colombo and are currently building 600 hectares of “new land” using sand they have dredged up from the ocean somewhere. Heaven only knows what this will do to the ocean floor. They are going to create an industrial centre on the new space. But the actual use will most likely be a military holding. A bit like the South China sea. Makes me wonder what they’ll do with the Port of Darwin.

This is a great city. Packed with beautiful buildings from the colonial era, many of them preserved and being used today in their full grandeur, some not. The streets are packed with the usual mix of traffic.

That motor cyclist (above) thinks he can fit between the buses. But then, so does the Tuk Tuk. They do have traffic lights here in Colombo, but they only seem to slow things down.
I love the hustle and bustle of the streets packed with activity. The people here are so genuinely friendly and helpful. We never felt intimidated or wary for our safety.

Colombo street life

Market selling flowers to offer to Buddha

Praki showed us most of the districts in the city along with telling some funny stories. Colombia is a melting pot of religions. Even though it’s predominantly Buddhist, the minority Muslim and Hindu groups mingle fairly happily.

Moslem Mosque jammed between the shops in a city street

There is an intersection where there’s a Buddhist temple, Hindu temple, Muslim mosque and a Catholic church on each of the four corners.

Hindu temple and unfinished Lotus tower

The lotus flower tower in the background of the photo above has been under construction for years now. It is destined to be an icon for the city. If they finish it.
We did a lightning tour round the National Museum which has some pretty good stuff in there. Later we wandered along the esplanade in the evening, past street vendors selling roti and chicken. Oddly, every stall sold the same thing.
We had our last dinner of the trip in a Sri Lankan restaurant in the well restored historic 1600’s building called The Old Dutch Hospital, now converted into restaurants and shops.
Before we headed to the airport to fly to The Maldives, Praki found time for just one more temple. This one (Gangaramaya) belongs to a rather well-known and politically active monk. He also appears to be a hoarder. The centuries old building is packed with an eclectic mix of, well, just about everything….jewellery, china, old cameras, musical instruments, elephants statues, photos….endless.

Typewriters, empty bullet shell, elephant tusks….

We were blessed by a monk too. I have found the Buddhists to be the most peaceful, calm and gentle people. And they love their Buddha…….

We farewelled Praki, a fantastic guide. He knew the answer to every question and then some more. He might have made some answers up, but we couldn’t tell. Good bye to Hamayl, the bag man and door opener, and to Naylanga – our driver.
Next stop – Male airport en route to Kandooma!