March 22, 2024 Colombo, Sri Lanka, 43 days left of 138

 

Today we have an all day excursion to Fort Galle. We were stopped before we even got started.

We have just left the port proper when we are stopped in the middle of nowhere. We look around and notice there is a large military and police presence. Our guide let us know we were waiting on the President of the country. Mike looked out and saw two helicopters.  After a little while, several black SUV's arrived and the first larger helicopter took off. Shortly a second smaller helicopter took off and we were allowed to proceed. It is not every day you get to see a President take off. We are told they have a new female president.

These are some pictures of Colombo as we were driving out of town. The beach is always a surprise as the town is built right up to it. 

Sri Lanka has a population of 22 million. Colombo has a population of 600 thousand.  Buddhism is the largest religion at 73%.

I showed a Christian Church to show there are some Christians in the country. We hear that the Portuguese explorers occupied the island in the 16 century and built Catholic Churches. When the Dutch took the city in 1640 they destroyed all the Catholic Churches and built the Dutch Reform Church. 

The country is full of dichotomy, it is over the top wealthy or old and not improved. They keep parts of the city clean, and other parts have trash everywhere. We don't really see a middle class.

Mike just checked the literacy rate and found it to be 92% which is the highest in South Asia. They are proud of their educational system.

We were told that Rubber trees have been replaced with Palm Oil plantations when the market dropped out and away from rubber.

This is rice patties. They grow and eat Red Rice here in Sri Lanka. Our guide said that it has the highest nutritional value.

Our bus ride was a good 2.5 hours. I enjoyed seeing the farmland.

Above are pictures of the fort and its walls. The Portuguese explorers originally built a mud fort. When the Dutch took the fort and city in 1640 and built the fortress, which today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The old cinnamon warehouse has been renovated and is now a Maritime Museum. An interesting fact in 2004 the tsunami hit the island, and the warehouse blocked the old town from destruction and loss of life. The rest of the city was underwater and 30,000 lost their lives. Our guide said that everyone was taken by surprised. Their elders had told them about the potential for a tsunamis, but they thought the elders were just telling stories to scare them. Sri Lanka had only experienced one other tsunami in its history.

This is the fish market. The fish was caught over the night, and for sale today. No ice in sight, they were pouring water over the fish to keep it somewhat cool. The temperature was in the 90's with high humidity. We all were melting, and the fish were very fragrant.

An hour later when we walked back by, some of the vendors had sold out. Good we were all worried. The temperature is in the 90's with high humidity.

The museum was a bit of a disappointment. There was not much there to learn, or of interest. 

I found all the shells interesting. It was a pretty way to display them.

This is the Anglican Church from the British. I didn't get a picture of the Dutch Reform Church, but it is just down the street.

The fort had a great view of the harbor. It was well prepared for an attack from the ocean. The British concurred the fort by coming at it from the city.

On the left you will see one of our fellow travelers that required a little assistance getting up and down the rampart. Mike being a good guy was looking out for her.

Below is the name of the hometown of the Dutch commander at the time the fort was built in 1759.

Another unique post box inside the fort walls.

Below is the ammunition depot. It was located away from the wall and where troops were sleeping. Unfortunately the beach just the other side of this picture was the favored place for the ladies and troops to gather and smoke. Not a good combination.

Below is Marilyn before she climbed up to the top of the rampart.

Next stop is lunch. We are all melting, so the air conditioned bus felt good. We were hoping the hotel would also be air conditioned, but not so much. We walked up two flights of stairs that were decorated with this metal art. The food was good. It was a rice and curry buffet.

We had one last stop at a local shop. Mike did find a beautiful Ruby that we will have put into a setting when we get home. I am a lucky girl.

Rain would not describe what it was doing on our drive home. They say the monsoon season starts in April. I think it may have come early this year. We were happy our driver was able to get us home safe in that rain. Mike saw a sign this morning on the tollway that said the speed was 60 KPH the next line said 40 KPH if raining. We saw with our own eyes that it is a good idea to slow down when raining. It was impressive.

The picture on the left is how the staff greeted us as we boarded the ship in the downpour. Talking about feeling pampered and well cared for Viking Staff hit it out of the park.

Leo took good care of us when we made it to Manfredi's for Dinner all showered and feeling human again. We dined with Mike and Susan. I love Leo's baritone voice. Mike says he sounds like Lou Rawls. 

Ok now we need to explain these pictures. Remember when I told you I would get even with Mike for putting me on stage with our Magician? I met the Magician Jeremy Tan in the back of the theater. I let him know that if he needed a volunteer tonight I thought my husband would be great. I pointed him out and gave him his name. Little did I know that Jeremy would tell the whole crowd that I volunteered my husband. Mike was a good sport and took the stage. The trick was Mike wrote his name on the two of hearts. Jeremy wrote his name on the Jack of spades. He did several tricks where the two cards would end up together. The last trick

Mike had both cards under his hand and when Jeremy flipped the card over there was only one card with both signatures on either side. The Jack of spades was no where to be found. It was an amazing show, and Mike enjoyed his time in the limelight. I do believe I am even lol.