Colombo

Friday 5th
Last day of our long sea journey and we woke to a beautiful morning with almost dead flat seas, however by mid morning we met up with a front and the seas became quite rough and the rain arrived. A pity as they have just cancelled the Crossing Equator ceremony. We actually crossed just after 5.00 pm last night and I don't know why we didn't do it then, instead of the Captain's Circle & deck parties. We went to the latter and it was a great evening, with balmy weather, lots of music and dancing. Vivian showed off her line dancing moves! Shock horror for us as we got to bed at midnight. As a bonus we got an extra half an hour on our clocks overnight.

The highlight of the day (so far) was our Pirate drill practice this morning. The Promenade Deck has been fitted out with all the fire hoses attached to the rails and two sonic boom units also installed - not too sure what they may have done upstairs. Anyway we are all prepared. I envisage that extra security staff will be taken onboard at Colombo, all the way to the Med. To allay any fears there hasn't been a high jacking of a cruise ship in the area before and little or no activity over the last 3 years.  Oh, and they can't catch us if we are going at more than 18 knots - we can do over 20 knots if need be!

Saturday 6th
Actually woke at 6.45.  The sun was just rising and we were making our way into the port with clear skies and no wind.  We left all that behind overnight.  We were actually being accompanied by a couple of Navy patrol boats ( fully armed and manned for action.  We subsequently found out that this was part of a regular security exercise and that special arrangements had to be made to ensure that we could enter and berth as scheduled.

After our usual breakfast we headed out to explore Colombo.  There were only a few of us not doing a tour, so off we walked.  And walked. And walked.  It is actually about 5km from the ship to the dock gates!!!  This is the only port that we have ever been to where there is no restriction on access. However there was no footpath in a lot of places and we shared the area with straddle carriers, trucks, buses and everything in between.  And of course it was hot.  Not only was it hot, but also muggy, as they had had rain the previous afternoon.  We soldiered on.

Eventually reaching the dock gates we were accosted by tuktuk drivers and after negotiations, accepted a ride at $2 (rather than the starting point of $10).  We didn't want the whole one hour tour, which would have included his "uncles" gem factory/craft store etc.  So after 10 minutes along the promenade & lake etc. we got him to drop us off at the museum.  This was under renovation, but was enjoyable. It was filled with passengers on various Princess tours, do we could have got away without paying (,but of course we did).

As we had no desire to go to the markets, we thought that we'd head back to the ship.  We were hot and frankly quite tired.  Problem - to get back to the ship (as opposed to the dock gate) we needed a taxi, not a tuktuk, as they are banned from the port.  We soldiered on.  And on.  Not being too sure exactly where we were, we approached 2 policemen.  Was a bit of a joke, as they didn't know either and the younger one suggested the other one turn the map around!!   Eventually, finger pointed and we were happy that we were in the right direction.

Next a well dressed stranger appeared beside us telling us he was manager of some sort in the Cinnamon Gardens.  After trying to persuade us to go to the gem exhibition he offered to take us back towards the waterfront in a tuktuk and he'd pay. Silly as it may seem but we accepted this and we squeezed into the tuktuk and off we went, with him still trying to get us to the gem exhibition.  No, he did not manage to pick my pocket, nor plant his expensive ring which he was showing off and soon we were dropped off to continue our epic journey.  We were at least in the right part of town as we walked past the Mayor's residence (huge) and around the corner to the Prime Minister's complex with police & armed army in attendance.  We were not invited in.

On we went.  We could see the sea, so apart from confirming our general location, the sea breeze was a God send.  Oh no, here is another tout, smartly dressed and same sort of conversation.  But yes, he had a taxi no problem.  The price of 1,000 Bt was agreed however once we were in the taxi I thought it prudent to confirm.  "Oh no, I want 3,000 Bt.  Will not go for any less".  After some time, he agreed to let us out along the promenade.  We gained about 3km at no cost yet again.

We sat under a tree and consumed the rest of our water.  The temperature by the way was in the high 30s.  After about 15 minutes regaining our composure, we were approached by another tuktuk driver and I must add that they have all been extremely polite and friendly.  We decided that we'd at least get to the port gates and hope for a taxi for the last leg.  Well, when we got to the gates, port security looked at our passes and much discussion and handwaving was taking place.  Yet another very respectable gentleman approached and said, hop in my car and I'll take you to your ship.  He was the Princess agent for Sri Lanka and clearly had a luncheon date with the Captain etc.  so we had a chauffeur driven car right up to the gangway.  Talk about lucky!  He was delightful and chatted away pointing out aspects of the port etc. as we went.

OK we were exhausted and rested for much of the afternoon and straight to bed after dinner.  We certainly had one of the most entertaining experiences to share with anyone who dared to ask how our day went. 

The other thing that kept us entertained, was watching the car carrier ship on an adjacent wharf.  When we got back to the ship, it was unloading trucks & busses, which were parked on the wharf. A pickup truck later arrived with people hanging out the back and they drove them away over time.  In the meantime the ship sailed and yet another car carrier arrived.  It took just under 1/2 hour to tie up and lower the car ramp and almost immediately a whole load of small cars were driven out.  The wharf was almost filled with cars by the time we went for dinner.  As we sailed about the same time, I could well imagine that the car carrier was probably not far behind us. Very efficient operation and dare I say it that unlike NZ, the workers both on and off the ship were actually running.

Sunday 7th
The weather has turned again and the odd shower passing by.  We by passed our morning mile as we reckon we built up a pretty good credit yesterday.  The Captain took the Sunday Service and then time for coffee, where we met up with Christine & Mark2, went to a presentation by Cruise Director, then lunch.  Apart from updating this blog, a pretty quiet afternoon while Vivian bridged.  The Captain has just come on the PA and told us that we are adopting a southerly track to try and avoid the cyclone (first of the season) which is otherwise in our path.  Must say that despite the weather, it is still very pleasant sitting on our balcony, watching the sea and the odd ship go by.