Ultimate Colombo

All journeys pass on to other journeys and this Sri Lankan time is no exception. Tonight we fly back to Wien by way of the Maldives and Istanbul.  Tomorrow morning we will have an airport change in Istanbul which means a van trip that includes crossing the bridge over the Bosphorus.  

Last night we braved the lightening storm to have one more meal at our favorite curry shack.  Splashing through the dark in our flip-flops, we clutched our lightening rod umbrellas and hoped for the best.  It was damn good food.  

Imagine living in a terrarium where your meager house plants grow to enormous size.  Coleus hedges, oleander thirty feet tall, all manner of normally potted plants the size of elephants and growing wild.  Now imagine your giant terrarium is about 85 degrees and almost 100% humidity.  Just for fun, add some twisty little roads with Tuk-Tuks running up and down like so many drunken three-wheeled robots.  That image, that is Mt Lavinia.  

Che' Lives!!  Like Bob Marley, Che' seems to be immortal in most of the Third World.  

A lazy last day here in Colombo.   Late brekkie, a bit of shopping for curry powder and then beach walks.  The afternoon thunder is starting right on cue, but I am safe on the veranda with a last cigar. 

South from here, there is nothing until Antartica. 

We walked the beach where the ocean laps your feet with salt foam the temperature of bath water.  Even in the breeze, walking is a sweaty business. We had coffee and juice at a local beach place, hanging with the beach guys and the ex-pats.   Chill, Winston!

Later we will have to break out of our Mt Lavinia cocoon and face the maelstrom of Colombo traffic.  I have a pocket full of rupees so it will be a private car all the way.  A one hour ride, so allow two hours.  Such is Colombo. 

So, Ciao to Sri Lanka for now. I can contemplate a return here and smile.  

Next entry:  back on euro time.