The Beach Tour - Sri Lanka 2013 - Sneaky Steps, Tainted Macarons and Amazing Food!

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We've arrived! The 30 hours of travel actually wasn't too bad… We managed to find a great place to sneak in a few zzzzz's during our 5 hour layover in Paris, then I actually slept for 4 HOURS! on the 10 hour flight from Paris to Colombo… When we arrived in Colombo at 5:30 am, I wasn't feeling too bad! We managed to get all our bags, find our ride and got to the guesthouse before 7am. Lucky for us, the room had been empty the night before and we were able to get in right away! Seeing as how I wasn't feeling too bad, I took a shower and ventured out with Barry… Unfortunately, given how clumsy I am, while getting to the shower, I didn't notice there was a step dropping down to the shower, and i took a major fall and smashed my right knee on the tile… after a few minutes of writhing in pain, i managed to get up and while there is some bruising, all appears to be OK lol. Still managed to go for a walk with Barry….

So Colombo dates back before the 5th Century and served as a major sea port between Asia and the West. It was important in a the spice trade as Sri Lanka was and is today a major producer of spices, namely cinnamon. During the 8th century, Arab traders settled near the port. In the early 1500's the Portuguese took over before the Dutch, in the mid 17th century started growing and trading cinnamon. The British took over in 1815 after it was ceded by the Dutch for protection from the French and what is now Sri Lanka became known as Ceylon. The Brits replaced the coffee and rubber trade with tea. Tea plantations cropped up across the country from the 1870's onward. Sri Lanka was peacefully given independence in 1948…

Sri Lanka unfortunately has unfortunately been through decades of civil war with the Tamils. This for years has made Sri Lanka off-limits to a lot of foreigners and also curbed foreign investment. The war officially ended in 2009 and Sri Lanka has seen years of neglect turn into major investment into infrastructure and tourism. Colombo has seen the benefits of this as there is currently a huge building boom… new hotels, shops, restaurants and highways are popping up everywhere. Sri Lanka is predominately Buddhist, with the majority being Sinahlese buddhist.. The Tamils, while mostly Hindu have a minority Christian population. They are culturally and linguistically distinct from the Sinahlese. For years the Minority tamils have felt oppression from the majority Sinhalese after the British relinquished power in 1948. This led to the formation of several ethnic rebel groups - you have probably heard of the Tamil Tigers, and decades of civil war with atrocities being committed on both sides. Violence, while mostly contained to the Tamil-populated north, was also widespread throughout the country.

Due to the years of British occupation, like India, Sri Lanka has adopted British rules and language - although strangely enough, a lot of Dutch law remains. English is widely spoken along with Sinhalese and Tamil. Interesting fact about Sinahlese script - There are no straight lines in their written language. This is because they used to write on banana leaf - they stuck with curved lines as straight lines would tear the leaf! I Have learned a few words of Sinahalese, but while phonetical, it is a tough language to learn! Good thing English works 😊

So back to our first walk in Colombo - We arrived on a Sunday AND a holiday. Every full moon is a holiday in Sri Lanka, so unfortunately a lot of things were closed. We still managed to explore a bit around our guesthouse, found a grocery store that was open… We even stumbled upon a French Patisserie, which we decided to stop for a bit of a snack. They had some macarons, which Barry and I both love… and went on our way…. Unfortunately, while I realize macarons are normally made with almonds, I can eat almonds… these macarons were made with another type of nut. I immediately knew that I was having an allergic reaction, so took benadryl and tried to continue. Unfortunately, it was a bad one and I ended up getting physically ill and had to head back to the hotel, where I stayed for pretty much the entire day with stomach problems. Which was just as well, because I did get to catch up on my sleep…

While I was out of commission, Barry put the bikes together. Unfortunately, he has a loose head set (the part of the bike that joins the front wheel and handlebars, and we have the wrong parts for my bike handlebar bag. So today, Barry is hunting down a bike shop… If he can't get his head set fixed, he will likely have to buy a new bike… it's that serious apparently.

So by dinnertime yesterday, I was feeling better and was actually SUPER hungry. We set out to check out a mall, as the restaurant didn't open until 7pm. We finished at the mall early (Most things were closed as I mentioned) and we decided to stop at a wine bar for a drink. It was a cool, funky, chill place with a patio, so we sat down and tried to order a mojito. Well… apparently, because it was a full moon day, they don't sell alcohol. Sooo… we ordered some fresh fruit juices and some soup. Both were FABULOUS! After the wine bar, where we could have had dinner - the menu was actually really good… We walked to the restaurant. So what I didn't mention, is that the CHOGM (Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting, which Canada Boycotted due to alleged human rights violations of tamils) was taking place. The hotel where the restaurant was, was hosting a lot of delegates of CHOGM, so it was closed and off-limits 😞 poo. Sooo… we went for a walk along the ocean-front promenade and found another restaurant based in the old Dutch Hospital historical site. I will tell you more about the Dutch Hospital in my next blog post, as we will be doing a walking tour starting from that site. Anyway, I had a traditional Sri Lankan prawn curry and it was amazing. The food is a combination of Thai and indian… a lot of the curries are coconut milk based, but have a wealth of other spices that are distinctly different from thai… SO good! I should also mention - because the CHOGM - security in Colombo is CRAZY as in everywhere…. which is a good thing I guess...

After an amazing meal, we headed back early - beat the crazy thunderstorm! and had a good night's sleep. Woke up this morning to tea in bed and had a breakfast of chilled salmon, red rice some kind of green bean sprinkled with coconut and some kind of sambolak-like sauce. So so so good!

So today - I am still at the guesthouse - Barry took off to try and get his bike fixed. We have a walking tour planned for later this afternoon, which is led by an expat photographer. The tour itself has RAVE reviews so I am looking forward to it. If Barry gets back in time, we will also do the national museum. Tomorrow, we are going to try the famous Ayurveda spa treatment… also some great restaurants lined up 😊 will tell you about them all later…

Until then!!!

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