Tissamaharama to Colombo
After packing our bags in Tissamaharama, it was back into the car for our final destination, Colombo.
Galle
En route to Colombo we made a stop in Galle. If it weren’t for a lack of vacation time (this was my second trip this summer, after my Rhine River cruise), we definitely would have spent more time here. Galle is a cute city, frequented by backpackers. It is along the coast, and along with the salty sea-air, features a fort built by the Portuguese, and many other buildings with Dutch architecture. Galle was the main port for Sri Lanka back in the 17th century, and you can feel that ancient usefulness as you walk around the city. We weren’t here long, but if I go back to Sri Lanka, this is definitely a city I want to visit.
After our short stop in Galle, it was back into the car and on to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.
Colombo
Like most capitals, Colombo is a larger city with lots of taller buildings, business, and traffic. Also, this is the only place on the island that I saw any homeless people – and at that, I only saw 2. Since the end of its civil war, Sri Lanka has worked on educating its citizens, reducing poverty and providing healthcare to its people. These initiatives have worked, and overall poverty levels have fallen as the literacy rate has risen to above 95%. This number surprised me, but also helped me to understand the living standards and lack of poverty I was seeing. However, there still remains pockets of high poverty in the north and east – areas I did not visit.
Back to me and my trip – We checked into our hotel, right across from the beach, and took a few minutes to get settled and take in the views. Then we opted to spend the afternoon at the local mall, picking up souvenirs for family and friends. Almost all the gifts I brought back came from Uptown Kandy, a store many locals shop in. After shopping it was time to shower and get ready – for a home cooked meal! The lovely lady who planned this trip invited us over to her home for dinner. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip – seeing how the locals live is always on my to do list !
Home Visit
We made our way through end of the day traffic to her home, where we were greeted by her family and immediately offered drinks. Her home is connected to her parents home (think condo style), so we began the evening in her parent’s house, chatting, sharing about out trip, learning about everyday life for our hosts, and then moved over to her house for dinner. This being an island, seafood is often part of the cuisine, and that was true for our dinner. We had a lovely meal with a salad and seafood lasagna, followed by dessert. After dinner, chatting and pictures, it was time to get a cab and head back to the hotel. We didn’t get back until about 11:30 p.m. – making this our latest and most enjoyable night of the trip.
The Last Day
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel, and then members of the group started departing for the airport. My flight wasn’t until later in the day though. I used the time to head to one of my favorite places to explore in any city – the grocery store.
The store was very similar to those in India. A wide assortment of items are available, though the sizes are generally smaller than the typical sizes in the United States. Overall the grocery store size was smaller than a typical grocery store in the U.S, but bigger than what I imagined, and a great range of products. Like many islands, many of the items in Sri Lanka are imported from other countries. These items are easy to spot thanks to import stickers on them. Most items come from neighboring countries, but there were items, such as nuts, imported from the U.S.
After that it was back to the hotel to fit all my recently purchased souvenirs into my suitcase. After packing, I headed to the airport for the journey home.
I really enjoyed my time in Sri Lanka. See my favorite spots to visit in Sri Lanka here!
