Sticky Colombo

The commuter run North to Colombo proper, thirty minutes of standing up and getting up close and personal with the locals. 

85 degrees Fahrenheit and 100% humidity.   That's what Weather Bug has for the Colombo forecast.  The "Feels Like" index was 99 degrees with an 80% chance of thunderstorms.  A perfect day for walk-about in Colombo's busy Pettah and Fort neighborhoods, the heart of the old city. 

Pumpkins in the wholesale market. 

We ducked from the train station at Fort into the steaming labyrinth of the wholesale produce market. This is a monkey's nirvana, with huge bunched of bananas of all kinds. Steaming?  Yes, literally. Walking in the shade is sweaty business and we did the best we could to stay out of the hammering sun.  

The dark and close of the real market, where people move about carrying huge bunches of bananas or bins of produce. 

Not for tourists, not this place. 

Watching the bustle at the Old Town Hall while sipping a sweet milky coffee with the locals. 

The tangle of Pettah's mercantile streets. 

The motion and traffic and activity is sheer chaos. We slipped out of Pettah and across the bridge to Fort.  The streets open up a bit here and walking is easier.  Traffic, well, not so much. 

Here is a little street seen near the bridge to Fort:

http://youtu.be/JXlePlLGOXk

In Fort, we ducked into the air-con oasis of the Hilton.   Yes, the Hilton.  I needed a cigar and we both needed a real coffee.  Jazzed up on our euro priced espressos and with my Cubano safely tucked in my bag, we were slammed by the heat as we headed out the door and towards the shore walk called Galle Green. 

Ah, the breeze off the sea as the clouds pile up.  Rain is a'coming Boys. 

A huge pelican sliding in for a landing

Sounds bad.  

The locals gleefully ignoring the signs. 

New street food!   Crustacean snacks!

It's a shrimp paste pancake thingy.  Very very good.  Weird, but good. 

Sweaty and wrung out, we are back on the veranda and debating going out into the storm for grub. It will be a splasher for sure.  Flip flops, umbrellas and nothing else, off we must go for curry. 

Ciao  for now!

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