Colombo, Sri Lanka

The capital Colombo of former Ceylon has an impressive old colonial quarter with its mighty Clock Tower. The old parliament, the Bishop's Cathedral of St. Lucia, and the Colombo National Museum bear witness to its eventful history.

Colombo is a multi-ethnic, multicultural city. The population consists mainly of Sinhalese, Tamils, and Moors.

The temperature was 31 °C. The sky was slightly cloudy.

When leaving the ship, we were welcomed by a group of locals performing traditional dances. We were the first cruise ship to visit Sri Lanka after the severe COVID-19 period.

In the morning, we took a tour organized by Lucia with a minibus, along with several other participants. We first drove to the old town of Colombo. The driver was very good and explained a lot to us. We initially went to an old hotel with a good view over the harbor.
The streets in the Pettah neighborhood are very narrow and crowded. There are mosques and temples side by side. People drive as they please. However, we hadn't seen any accidents. After some time, we drove to a neighborhood where wealthy residents live. There were wide streets and lots of greenery. There were guys with snakes in front of the parliament building. They were very pushy and wanted dollars. Don't take pictures of them, or else they will get angry if you don't give them any dollars.

Later, we drove to the coast, which is a beautiful modern area. Of course, we couldn't miss a stop at a tea shop. Besides green tea, all the teas had very little flavor. So we only bought delicious but expensive nuts.