12.2016 Colombo, SRI LANKA

Colombo!

We arrived in Colombo bright and early after a 2.5h train ride from Kandy in the 1st class cabin. It felt so surreal to be in a big city after all our travels were in smaller places.

We quickly dropped off our things at our hotel, Ivy Lane, and then made our way over to Barefoot (which is a cute shop and cafe that I'd been wanting to go to). And it was a very cool shop with a beautiful garden cafe, that unfortunately was not open until lunch. Grr. So, we went for a walk to find another place, and long story short, this proved unsuccessful, leaving me once again hangry, and us returning to Barefoot for lunch.

At this point, I took the liberty to order a huge basket of fries along with my lunch, which made me happier =)

After lunch, we headed downtown to the Dutch hospital, or the previous Dutch hospital, which is now a shopping centre. Colombo was strangely very empty, or at least all the places we visited. There were a couple temples, parks, and sights we wanted to see so we began to walk and were quickly approached by a tuktuk who offered us a tuktuk tour of the city at a very low price. We figured we had nothing else to do, so went for it!

Our first stop was at the red mosque, which only men are allowed to enter. It had a Russian feel to it.

Second stop was a really intricate Hindu temple where a celebration was happening.

Third stop was at the park which had a Buddha and beautiful landscaping. 

Last stop was at a monument, and we got dropped off at the Odel Shopping Centre which we walk through of course. Especially for bubble tea and really delicious gelato! 

After that, we visited two more temples, including one on the lake. We then did some shopping at White House.

Dinner was upscale Sri Lankan at the Cinnamon hotel. It was a buffet, so I ate everything! Freshly made appams galore =)

And this was the end of our time in Sri Lanka!