Colombo, Sri Lanka

I love days full of new sights, sounds, and learnings.

Ever see a sunrise over Sri Lanka? You sure have.

Remember yesterday I wrote there was a lady who wasn’t going to get off the ship today because there was nothing worth seeing? Well, I’m glad she stayed back and left it all for us. Our early morning city tour in Colombo, Sri Lanka was great. We had heard so many things ahead of time – things we were glad hadn’t deterred us.

Be ready for a country opposite of what you’ve experienced so far. 
It sure was and we saw so much that was new. Temples and churches and buddas.

Buildings and businesses and green spaces.

Like the laundromat sign?

 

And the people. So interesting to watch.

The sign said saloon but by looking at the picture in the corner I think it meant salon.

The cleanliness you saw on the streets of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Muscat will not exist in Sri Lanka. 

While the streets were not spotless, they weren’t left trashy either. There were workers all around the city cleaning up. 

Look at the brooms they were using.

Plan on toilet paper to be absent from restrooms and for them to not be Western style. 

We made a couple stops. I used the ones in the hotel where we had a little snack. Restrooms there were immaculate. And Western-styled.

Look at the beautiful entryway of the Kingsbury hotel. Those are real roses.

Nervous Nellies will not want to sit near the front of the buses or transportation or tours because of the way the drivers will be driving. 

We had a great driver. But yes, the traffic was crazy. Cars and buses and tuk tuk drivers all going in all different directions.

Plenty of tuk-tuk drivers waiting outside the port gates.

Air conditioning in the transportation – Princess tours included - may take quite some time to cool things down, so expect to be hot and sticky and wet.
The air conditioning worked great and we didn’t get overheated at all.

Weather forecast calls for 89 degrees, high humidity, and a 100% chance of rain, most likely from intermittent downpours. 
Not during our early morning tour. It was a beautiful, comfortable day.

We had a grand time. I’m glad grumpy-pants lady stayed behind and we didn’t.

Tomorrow we have another sea day. Then another one after that and another after that. Three sea days in a row before our next port. Like I mentioned yesterday, the Internet in the southern hemisphere is painfully slow. While I’ll be writing the blog each day, it may not let me post it. But if I can, I will. (I was actually surprised when I checked my phone today and saw that yesterday’s post had made it. I thought it was lost in space somewhere.) So if you don’t hear from me for three days, I should be able to get them posted once we hit Kuala Lumpur. (Gotta love it when your cellular network allows you to use your phone as a hot spot no matter what country you’re in. Now if they could just make it work at sea that way!)

Sea Day, December 1

It was a dark and stormy night. Lightning was brightening up the cabin and the thunder was reverberating throughout the ship while this gal coughed her way through all of it. I’ve been trying to stave off the sickness going around the ship but I think my healthy days are running out. Note to self: Must. Keep. Healthy.

I was late waking this morning and missed the sunrise but soon found there wasn’t a sunrise to see anyway. The dark and stormy night turned into a dark and stormy morning with even more thunder and lightning. We watched it from the Promenade Deck but as the clouds moved in closer, the torrential rain blowing sideways chased us away.

It was a wet one out there today. Add it in with a few other things and it made for an interesting way to spend a sea day.

• The outdoor pool area was drenched and deserted and the indoor pool area was full. Can’t go there. An FYI on the pools on this ship…they are open from 7 am-11pm with the exception of the Neptune Pool where the Movies Under the Stars is held. That pool closes at 5:30pm.
• One section of the buffet seating has been closed due to water coming through the ceiling. No one will be sitting there for lunch or dinner.
• As we are heading towards the southern hemisphere, the satellites were being switched over and the Internet was out. Not like I have plenty of minutes to use anyway.
• The TV in the cabin was fixed yesterday but is back to a black screen today. Again I’ve reported it and again I’m told they’ll send up a technician. I do think they’re getting tired of my calls day after day. So no on-demand movies on a rainy day.
• What about today’s Pub Lunch? I’m trying to stay away from all the sick passengers (and there are a lot) in the indoor spaces so we didn’t go. On this ship Pub Lunch is in a dining room. It’s such a better venue than the Wheelhouse Bar.
• Head to the library? The library here is small – and loud. It shares space with the Captain’s Circle Desk and Future Cruise Consultant and all the people waiting for both those ladies. Also, the library only has certain hours where the books are available for checkout – or even for browsing. Outside those specific hours the book cabinets are locked.

So what to do? Stop by the 2 for $20 t-shirt sale to pick up Rome and Abu Dhabi shirts for E for Christmas. We don’t do presents, but Santa does fill stockings for those at our daughter’s house on Christmas Day. (You’re welcome, Santa.) Speaking of the holidays, I know some Princess ships are seeing Christmas decorations going up already, but not here. I wonder if it’ll happen once we hit Singapore and the ship moves onto its Asia itinerary for the season. 

Thankfully by mid-afternoon things started working again. The Internet was back up and running (but oh-so-slooow) and the technician fixed the TV for the umpteenth time (and showed me how to reset it myself). The rain let up some but left us with 80 degree weather and 90 percent humidity. It was steam-room steamy, but too hard to for me to breathe in when it felt like an elephant (from the elephant orphanage on one of tomorrow’s Princess excursions, perhaps?) was sitting on my chest. I have a Z-Pak I’ll take if I don’t feel better after tomorrow’s excursion. (No, not the one to the elephant orphanage.)

It’ll be an early morning city tour in Colombo, Sri Lanka for us. We’ve already been cautioned not to expect too much. To be ready for a country so very opposite of what we’ve experienced so far. That the cleanliness we saw on the streets of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Muscat will not exist in Sri Lanka. Plan on toilet paper to be absent from restrooms and for them to not be Western style. Nervous Nellies will not want to sit near the front of the buses or transportation or tours because of the way the drivers will be driving. That the air conditioning in the transportation – Princess tours included - may take quite some time to cool things down, so expect to be hot and sticky and wet. The weather forecast calls for 89 degrees, high humidity, and a 100% chance of rain, most likely from intermittent downpours. All of those reasons probably contributed to why I heard someone today say they weren’t going out in port because there was nothing worth seeing. But we’re here one time and one time only, and we need to see it (whatever it is – or isn’t) for ourselves.