Today the ship arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The capitol of Sri Lanka, Colombo reflects the multicultural nature of this fascinating country, one home to over a dozen ancient kingdoms, then a colony of the Portuguese, Dutch and finally the British. The city is at the crossroads of many religions and cultures. The Buddhist is the largest religion but you will find Buddhist and Hindu temples, mosques and colonial churches all within blocks of each other.
At 8:30 AM I left on a tour called "Fascinating Galle - UNESCO World Heritage Site". We traveled from Colombo to Galle to see the Galle Fort. We left the ship and traveled 1 hour before we changed to a modern highway. After 1 1/2 hours we stopped for a rest stop. On the way to Galle we saw rice fields, rubber plantations, palm trees, cinnamon trees, tea plants and also other plants and trees. We arrived in Galle at 11:15 AM and we stopped at a local hotel for a light refreshment. Galle was a thriving port long before colonial times. The old part of the city is one of the best examples of a fortified city built by the Europeans in south and south-east Asia. In 1505, the Portuguese attacked and settled in the town, 135 years later conceding it to the Dutch, who built the famous fort. We arrived at the fort and drove around the fort before stopping and visiting the Galle Maritime Museum, originally opened toe the public in 1992 to raise awareness of the marine biological and anthropological aspects of the Southern coastal area. We continued with a stroll through the fort. Afterword we went to a nearby restaurant and relaxed over a nice lunch with a great view of the ocean. We left the restaurant at 2:30 PM and headed back to the ship. We arrived back at the ship at 4:45 PM and the ship left at 6 PM.
After dinner the show was put on by four dancers for Belarus. The dancers have won many awards and were very good.
Below are some pictures from Colombo and my trip to Galle.
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