it was 7am and outside our room a wedding party was assembling. A group of colourfully dressed musicians were practising. It seemed an early start as when a marquee was erected in the U-shaped open area of the hotel yesterday we were told the celebrations would be 7pm till midnight today. Anyway it made for lots of entertainment as we breakfasted. Around 9am the musicians led the wedding party to a small area set up closer to the water. Once there the musicians could be seen doing some theatrical acrobatics before the ceremony began. It seemed it would be a day long celebration.
The musicians lead the family to the little stage set up for the ceremony
The bridal party waits. Most of the guests arrived later.
After that diversion, we took an Uber into the city. We are about 30km from Colombo, and this method of transport is recommended over taxis. It is good as the bargaining etc is taken out of the equation. Easy to give the driver a tip as well. From here we took a tuk tuk to the Gangaramaya Temple, first travelling along the coast and then by beautiful Beira Lake. The temple caters for Hindus and Buddhists, has a number of buildings - a temple, a Pagoda, a sacred Bohdi tree and a museum and is said to do a lot of Buddhist welfare work. There are many valuable statues from very small to large. Some made of many kilos of rare jade, and some with kilos of gold and precious stones. Unbelievalbe how much these must be worth. but wealthy benefactors perhaps believe donating to the temple will benefit them in the afterlife. I can never understand how they can believe this gives them brownie points rather than helping the poor. Of which it is obvious there are many.
Outside the Bank of Ceylon where we were dropped off
Tuk tuk ride
Driving south along the coast
Inside Gangaramaya Temple
The Bohdi tree
A white jade Buddha
Offerings by the sacred Bohdi tree
A stepped pyramid adorned with Buddhas and stupas
Back in town we wandered around the Fort area. There are so many tuk tuks here, and each driver seems bent on getting us to do a $5 tour or a $2 tour. Many men are just trying to earn a living but it can be a nuisance.
The Fort area is so called as the Dutch built fortifications here after they expelled the Portuguese in 1658. My Dutch ancestors sure got around the world..Colombo has always been an important sea port and is on valuable trade routes. The British occupation started in 1796 and the fortifications were demolished to make way for more construction. The area has many colonial era buildings which are the reminders of those occupations when the country was known as Ceylon. The buildings we walked past were in varying states of repair. Some beautifully maintained, some derelict.
Clocktower, once a lighthouse
The De Mel building, built in 1870, was once the tallest building in Colombo
The Cargills building like many of the buildings here has ground floor colonnades offering a welcome respite from the sun and would be handy during deluges.
Cargills, once a local retail giant
Lankem Pantations House, built in 1860. This building is presently the headquarters of Lankem Tea and Rubber Plantations
The ornate Whiteaways building, originally a colonial emporium of British India
Once the headquarters of Lloyds but also other companies
Past beauty
Rickshaw statue outside the Grand Oriental Hotel
Sleeper bus
The Stupa of Sri Sambuddhaloka Viharaya Temple
We were now looking for a place for lunch - somewhere cool. Seemed to do some walking in circles. but we found a coffee place outside the old Dutch Hospital. The hospital is believed to have existed since 1681 and was established to look after the staff of the Dutch East India Company. It had 5 wings to allow breezes to circulate. The building it still in good repair, with a lot of teak timber looking well maintained. It is now called a shopping precint, but eateries in the open spaces are all that seem to be functioning.
Outside the Old Dutch Hospital
Lots of timber used
Old hospital grounds are now eateries
Dutch Pub nearby
It was hot so back to our Negombo hotel we went. By now schoolchildren were making their way home in the usual Friday afternoon traffic situation of any city. As we arrived back at the hotel wedding celebrations could be heard. Loud Indian dancing music came from the function room. We wondered what was going to happen in the marquee set up outside. Did they really have the stamina to have another session at night? All was revealed later in the afternoon when a different bridal party arrived!
Driving home along one of the canals
Our Uber driver really wanted a photo with him
A rest, a swim, watching the sunset, and a delicious dinner. Not much chance of sleep though, as the DJ at the wedding only knew one volume level. High..My ears didn't like the thumping bass, but is was great music, so really should count it as free entertainment. And so we were finally lulled to sleep..
Looking up through a frangipani tree after a swim
Sunset over the Laccadive Sea
Second wedding setup
Our dinner Pad Thai
This featured blog entry was written by jannettek from the blog Time to travel.
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