Colombo, Sri Lanka

Another new country for me! I went on a tour in the morning - "Colombo Highlights." We first drove through the poor but vibrant parts of the city, with colorful markets and ladies in Saris all around. We saw the old clocktower near the harbor, a temple, and many british colonial style building from the time Britain occupied the area. The locals get around on cars, motorcycles, public buses, and trishaws, also generally known to us as tuk-tuks, small open air motorcarts with one wheel in front and two behind, ideal for quick manouevering through heavy motor and pedestrian traffic through the narrow streets and alleys. We saw 'slave island' - where in olden times the slaves were kept at night on an island in a local lake. We visited Independance square where monuments were erected 60 or so years ago to celebrate Sri Lanka's independance. By the way, ever heard of Ceylon tea?? It is from Sri Lanka, which was known by the name Ceylon until the year 1972.

My favorite moment of the day was an unexpected treat of a look into truly local culture. As we drove along a street, we started to pass teenage boys dressed in black and gold, waving matching banners and riding on top of trucks and cars. It was a local cricket team, creating excitement for an upcoming match, parading through the streets. As we passed by each group of guys, the waved and smiled enthusiastically at us, yelling for their team. Near the front of the procession there was even an elephant, draped in the team's colors. And at the very front were two boys with whips. They swung the long, dangerous leather ropes around, cracking them loudly on the street, demonstrating their extremely effective traditional way of clearing the street before them, to make way for the parade. Well, that's one way to do it!

After the tour, I ventured out with my friend Yuri, our petite, sweet and fearless Japanese hostess. She and I braved the streets near the port to find ourselves some food and experience the atmosphere walking around. We were so obviously out of place in the area that everyone was staring at us. But the Sri Lankan people are so friendly, once you smile at them their faces instantly light up and send it back to you, and immediately you become a fellow human being, instead of a white stranger. It is am amazing feeling when that tiny transormation happens. Yuri asked to take one fruit vendor's picture, and he was so thrilled he put on one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen, and proudly posed for it. Afterwards he inspected the result on the digital camera, then insisted we take another, and smiled even bigger for it. Yuri and I had a snack and mango juices (amazing and so cheap!!) At a very local cafe, and went to a street vendor for the Sri Lankan golden coconuts they serve as beverages. The vendor was kind enough to machete them open for us and gave us straws. Yum!

One more favorite moment of the day was two little girls standing on a box by a public phone, pretending to call someone and giggling. Oh and finally, while we were touring a museum in the morning, several Sri Lankan classes of young girls and boys were having a field trip there. When they saw us, they were so excited and leaped at the opportunity to speak English to us. Most of them only know two things: Hello, and "what's your name?" I was asked this half a dozen times. When I answered they were thrilled, and repeated my name back to me with huge grins. What a neat day!
------------------

Penang, Malaysia

To make up for spending my last port in Malaysia at a mall, today I went on the "Grand Penang Tour." It was a really well done tour, and if it got back a bit late I was in no hurry since I had a night off to look forward to!

We started out visiting the Mansions of two Chinese millionaires who lived here more than a century ago. The houses were of course, lavish, beautiful, and filled with expensive antiques. The second one we saw, the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, recently won a major UNESCO World Heritage award for best project, regarding the major restoration some private investors put into the building a few years back.

After the mansions, we visited two contrasting temples, both Buddhist, but one Thai style and one Burmese. The Thai temple has the 4th largest reclining Buddha in the world, and yes, it was big. It was really interesting to me to see the urns of people's ancestors displayed in cupboards in the walls, like small gravestones stacked on one another along all the walls. Apparently, the higher up your ashes are placed, the more expensive the "plot."

We had a great lunch at the Golden Sands beach resort and some time for photos there, then our next stop was the Penang Butterfly Farm. I saw a sign claiming it was the first live tropical butterfly farm in the world...could it be true? Who wants to google it for me? :-) Anyway I love butterflies so enjoyed having a bit of fun with my camera. Next we headed on a drive around the island (about 800,000 population), with stops at a spice stall and a local village. It was really a great day and I enjoyed myself. I love feeling like I've picked the best tour. :-)
------------------