Sri Lanka Visited

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Phuket, Thailand is also a developing area working hard to attract tourists. Our bus drive for an hour takes us the length of Phuket Island, across a new bridge replacing a very ornate one, and on to a rustic pier to board a narrow, simplistic covered wooden motorized craft with movable benches. Our goal is to visit the monoliths just off shore, rising from the ocean in Phang Nga Bay, similar to the ones we saw in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. These limestone mini islands have an additional attraction of grottos dug out by the ocean that you can go into or pass through. Many kayakers ride aboard larger vessels out to these grottos and then paddle themselves through. We also see James Bond Island, so named because scenes from Man with the Golden Gun were filmed here. The tidal changes also reveal the mangrove swamps as we visit a “fishing village” which has transformed itself to a large restaurant community to host the tourists. We have not been scheduled to eat there because gastrointestinal difficulties have been acquired there in the past. We, instead, go ashore to a small hotel for food and drink supplied from shore based facilities. Our return bus ride has to stop by the obligatory large gem shop (a la Tiffany’s) and souvenir store before returning to the ship. Tricomalee, Sri Lanka welcomes us with the usual heat and humidity and we board 12 passenger buses (thankfully air conditioned) for our excursion. First stop is the Tirukonesvaram Kovil Temple which requires the removal of shoes and hats to enter into the ornate edifice. The parishioners are scattered around the floor as they participate in a loud service of high pitched clarinet like sounds, drums and bells. We’re told this is an unusual occurrence with the service at this time of day, caused by a parishioner funding it with all the relatives participating. As we proceed around the parishioners, through the temple we are surrounded by the sights and sounds of Hindu worship. Traveling back through the former Dutch Fort (now Army post), the Velgamwehera Temple is next, viewed from the bus and a refreshment stop at a local resort hotel (quite upscale for this country and very hospitable) overlooking the water. Our drive through the hustle and bustle of the town of Tricomalee is enlightening as we view the local markets, shops and busy interactions of townspeople. Our next scheduled port of call is a disappointment since we were to ride our ship’s tenders in to Galle, Sri Lanka but the 6 foot swells prevent this from happening. We arrived in Colombo, our next Port of Call, at 4:00PM and secured for the night with tours to follow tomorrow.

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