Colombo 2

My host agreed with my decision to take the air-con bus instead of the train because I had already seen the best bits of the Colombo-Badulla railway. He said that the buses left regularly from near the Central Market. I bade goodbye, walked out to the main road and took a tuk-tuk to the terminal. Eventually a bus turned up and passengers started boarding. The bus was totally packed, they even used the aisle for swing-out seats. The biggest problem was that there was no luggage compartment and my backpack would not fit in the overhead compartment. So I ended up propping it up on my lap. I had to keep shifting the weight from thigh to thigh to avoid leg fatigue for the 3+ hour journey. In the middle of the journey I noticed that if I passed a back strap through a window bar, it would take a lot of weight off my lap. That made it a bit more comfortable but I was very relieved when we reached Colombo.

The bus terminal was not at Fort Station, the main one, but about 200m away. I decided to start walking towards the Old Dutch Hospital, and take a tuk-tuk if a metered one accosted me. My destination was the Ministry of Crab, a famous restaurant.

I was very sweaty on arrival, but they very kindly seated me inside. The open architecture allowed a refreshing sea breeze to blow through.

View from my table.

I ordered a small crab cooked in garlic, vegetables, bread and an iced tea soda. The waiter tried to upsell me but by the end I felt that I had ordered just the right amount of food.

Close-up of the crab dish.

Of course after eating crab by hand, one needs to wash one's messy hands. They provided lemon soap for this, just under a poster with a most admirable sentiment. They had also provided a single use plastic apron with the same slogan, which I never needed to use so I got to keep it as a souvenir.

It was a most satisfying lunch and reasonably priced.

They also run cooking classes.

From the Old Dutch Hospital I hailed a tuk-tuk to take me to the Metro City Hotel which was only about 10 minutes away as the fare was cheap enough to not have to get sweaty again walking.

It was a joy to retreat to an air-conditioned room and have a refreshing shower.

In the evening I walked to the nearby Galle Face Green, an ocean-side urban park.

Stallholders were starting to set up for the evening.

The backdrop of the Green.

The promenade. The stallholders were selling very similar offerings.

Waders at the water's edge.

Kites against the upcoming Colombo skyline.

Getting only their feet wet.

More intrepid souls.

The viewing platform and ubiquitous crows again.

The middle of the walk. That WiFi sign did indicate public WiFi, but only for subscribers of that telco. In any case I had mobile Internet access.

Waiting for sunset.

End of day.

Evening market now.

Lit up public buildings.

The tuk-tuk I took to return to the hotel went the wrong direction. I pulled him up short on that and showed him the right way to go (I had a good mental map of that area of Colombo). On alighting I gave him a piece of my mind and 120 LKR for what I reckoned was a 100 LKR trip. I don't know if he was genuinely clueless or playing dumb to take me on an expensive scenic tour.