Oldies On Tour

Woke up this morning to the sound of the Indian Ocean crashing on the rocks, what a

What a fantastic view!

fabulous place this is, the sun is shining, and we have a lovely blue sky.

We took a late breakfast, we both took the English breakfast! yes bacon freshly cooked to how you like it! you never realise how much you miss it! until you can’t get it, so it was a good change.

Back to the room, then downstairs by the pool, with our books, what a lovely few hours just being lazy, we both went into the 30 metre pool which was 24 degrees ( temperature taken at 6.30am) didn’t seem cold it was just right. Geoff had coffee whilst I had a fresh pineapple juice, it was

By the pool looking out on the Indian Ocean

lovely, later he had a beer, I had a fresh mango juice. It is so relaxing here, Geoff is enjoying keeping the flunkies busy!

Back to the room for a late lunch, showers etc, before getting ready, we have been invited by the hotel to a cocktail party. At 6pm we headed for the dining room, where we met Carlos Sanchez, who was the Operations Manager, Geoff had champagne whilst I had a mojito, and very nice it was too. Later Tony arrived he was the General Manager who came from Tasmania, so Geoff and him had long discussions on Rugby! Whilst I enjoyed talking to Carlos, and another guy who was a Commercial solicitor in London, although he was Lebanese! another Mojito, and more champagne, I was slowly getting p….d and more talkative!!  We finally left at 7.30pm and had dinner, which was very enjoyable, we have an early start tomorrow, so I fell into bed at 10pm

After a well deserved lay in and a leisurely breakfast we made for the tourist desk, always a good start point!  About 5 minutes later we had booked 4 trips, the first today, a two and a half tour of Colombo in a private car where the driver is also the guide.

The Old Parliament Buildings

Joseph, our guide, collected us from our hotel and took us along the front passing the old parliament building, fighting all the traffic and Tuk Tuks

Traffic!!!!!!!

Tuc Tuc’s waiting for Fares

to get us to the Indian quarter: Incidentally the proper name of a Tuc Tuc is a Trishaw. We drove through these un-believably busy , colourful and noisy  streets, passing numerous Hindu, Buddha and Christian Temples and Churches and for a few minutes I thought I was back in Delhi, there was no difference.  Christine was sliding from one side of the car to the other

Wall to Wall Bikes

taking ‘photos Whilst Jo, our

Colourful Shops

Driver, was laughing and saying it will get her fit.  Not only did we experience their way of trading, we also past the area where they lived, I must say we don’t always realise how good we have things In Europe.

Colombo’s World Trade Centre

Jo, whilst driving gave us a short history lesson about Sri Lanka. Naturally we knew this was a part of the British Empire and they gained independence in 1948 but like many countries given independence

The BBC Building

The British War Memorial

everything didn’t go smoothly and even changing the name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka didn’t smooth things and eventually the separates who wanted autonomy, the Tamil Tigers as we know them by, rebelled and for 16 years there has been a civil war which only ended in 2009.  It was evident by the number of Army and Airforce bases we passed just how geared up for war the Government was.  The good news now is how peaceful and harmonious the population is.

Moving on from the Indian Quarter we visited the

Central Train Station

main Railway Station

Side street in Indian quarter of Colombo

built by the British, still being used but very run down, past Victoria Park, also set out by the British, Independence Square and all the various Government buildings. We also drove through the “Posh” districts where the wealthy live and past all the Foreign Embassies etc., still fighting the traffic I may add.  We passed the Colombo Test Cricket complex, with all their Cricket facilities ours look very poor, no wonder we lost 5 – 0 to the Bl—y Australians and the

The BBC Building

Ashes!!!!!

Moving swiftly on, we drove past everything that was worth seeing here in Colombo, including two post boxes: A green one from the days of the British, it had GR on the door (King George VI) and red ones for the Sri Lankan post, though the red ones are only used for local post, the green ones are for all

The Two Letter Boxes

other post, there is no escaping their Colonial past!!!!!

Dropped off at our Hotel after a fascinating trip around Colombo in time for a snack before heading out to the local Supermarket for this and that, including a bottle of Gin (& tonics) and a bottle of Port, Christine’s latest drink!!!! And a few biscuits.

Back in the Hotel for a “cuppa” and a catch up with e mails and web site etc., then down to the poolside bar for dinner but unfortunately by now it was raining, so we enjoyed a poolside dinner with wine today!!! In the

The Pool Bar at Night

Paddling after Dark

Hotels verandah.  After diner, rain having stopped, we wandered down to the beach and had a paddle in the warm Indian Ocean enjoying the balmy weather. We shouldn’t be too shocked about the rain, after all one of the charming things about Sri Lanka is the greenness and varied vegetation, not like the sand and more sand we encountered in Abu Dhabi!!!

Tomorrow is a leisurely day, nothing planned but who knows with us!!!!!!!!

After our 4 hour flight on Sri Lankan Airways we arrived at the international Airport, Colombo and with the one and a half hour time zone change it was around 0500 hrs; a short night with minimal sleep on the plane!  We were lucky that though it was a fullish flight we had three seats between us.

One of the first off the plane and onto a bus to the terminal and wow, the heat hit us, great.  Again one of the first in the queue for passport control only to be turned round and told to fill in a landing card, this should have been given to us on the plane, but it wasn’t. Once completed we were back into one of the many passport control counters And through very quickly, very efficient.  We arrived at the carousel to find our case coming round on the belt, never been so quick before.

An Undamaged Tuc Tuc

Out of the airport in under half an hour then into negotiating with the taxi drivers for the best rate.  The one we decided on was not the cheapest but we both felt more confident with him, don’t know why though!  Cases loaded and we were on our way, still dark, firstly to a petrol station, then to change drivers, odd or what, probably shift changeover.  The first driver was a slow and careful driver but the second was a complete lunatic, driving flat out along an uneven road lined with early morning commuters and shops, honking his horn continually and weaving in and out of the traffic until he only just managed to stop before hitting another vehicle up the backside.  Tyres screeching, burnt rubber as we skidded and he stopped and stalled the engine in the process.  I don’t think you could have put a cigarette paper between the two vehicles and at this point I was compelled to say something, in fact quite a lot.  He then started to drive a little more sensibly, not a lot though, anyway dawn came up and we arrived at the Galle Face Hotel 1 hour later.  I think the white knuckle ride in the taxi measured up to several of the rides in Ferrari World!!!!!!

Name Plate

We tried to check in but 0600 hrs was a little early but they said they would do their best to get us in before the normal 1400 hrs check in.  We waited ’till 0700 hrs for the restaurant to open then indulged in a hearty breakfast.  After our leisurely breakfast lasting about an hour we went on a tour of the hotel.

The Galle Face Hotel, is an typically old colonial hotel opened in 1864 and though it is a little tired is still

Hotel Entrance With Fish Pond

splendid.  There are a lot of re-furbishments  going on and one half of the hotel is a building site.  I particularly wanted to book in here as my Father used to stay here every time he came to Ceylon, as it used to be know as before, and he always had glowing reports about the place.  Of course, the last time he was here was just before he died, 54 years ago, so I was not too sure what I would find, though it is still listed as a 5 star hotel, so far I

Hotel Foyer

am not disappointed, “flunkies” everywhere, a very high staff to guest ratio, wonderful.

We were actually in our room about 0900 hrs, the hotel did us proud, we showered and then had a couple of hours “kip” before venturing out.

Hotel’s Display of Silver from Bygone Days

I received an e mail from Martin wondering if I had had a gin and tonic with my breakfast as now we are out of the “dry” Arab countries and in a Country with a more liberal attitude to alcohol, but I couldn’t even if I wanted as today is a “Poya Day” it is a very religious day in the Buddha calendar , it is a Bank Holiday and it is illegal to consume alcohol in public, so that was that!!!

Entrance To Buddhist Temple

We walked out of the hotel and were approached by a guy who said he was one of the off duty barmen from our hotel and asked if we were going to the Buddha temple to see the holy elephant.  Anyway, we tagged along with him to see where we

Entrance of Buddist Temple

ended up, a Tuc Tuc ride later and he took us into this magnificent

One of the Numerous Statues inside

temple where on certain days only, today was one of them, when the priests display their Priceless gold, silver, ivory and other precious stones and artefacts for the faithful to look at.  We were quite taken at the beauty and wealth on display, no wonder there were police everywhere.  The sad thing is we only popped out to find the local supermarket and didn’t have a camera, only Christine’s ‘phone camera, still she managed to get some pictures.  We were introduced to the holy Elephant, he was a baby (7 yrs old), he sniffed us and we stroked his trunk apparently this will bring us good luck!  Next we were given some cotton wrist bands, touched on the heads by a Buddha Priest with

The Temple Cars

some religious pot, asked for a donation and then told we would have more good luck. On the way out to collect our shoes, yes we had to go in with bare feet, not my favourite pastime, walking in bare feet! We noticed two vintage cars, an old Mercedes Benz and a Rolls Royce, so early, it had the red RR embalm on the front.  When I asked what these two cars were doing here,; apparently  they were donated to the temple,  strange we thought.  So far so good, this chap from the hotel had taken us somewhere we would never had gone to and had we gone there at any other time, we wouldn’t have had the privilege of seeing these artefacts.

Back into the Tuc Tuc and now the real reason for his attention.  He took us to a Gem Stone shop where they tried everything to sell us semi precious and precious gem stones from their mines in Sri Lanka, but we resisted as there was nothing Christine particularly liked.

Back into the Tuc Tuc and onto the hotel where we paid the driver and gave this chap, who took us out and about, a drink.

Back of Hotel (Area Currently under Renovation)

Sitting in the Hotel reading some of the “bumph” in our room, we read and were warned about locals who jump on tourists and say they work in the hotel and offer to take then to see something special, they then guide them to a shop and if a sale takes place, get their commission.  Ah well we had a good morning and very pleased we went.

The Hotel Pool

This afternoon we lounged by the pool, looking over the Indian Ocean and had 40 winks, unfortunately it was overcast and eventually it spitted rain, so in we went for a cuppa.

This evening we decided to eat in the hotel’s only restaurant, it’s. The only one at present due to all the refurbishments, but still nice.  Tomorrow we may eat poolside as they do food out there until 11.00 pm.

Back to our room for a well deserved sleep