Happy Wanderers: February 9, 2019 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

February 9, 2019 - Colombo, Sri Lanka - Saturday, Day 34

We have been looking forward to our return to Colombo. We stopped here on the World Cruise last year. Alice bought her Sari here and we enjoyed our first ever TukTuk ride. Today we learned how these three wheeled motorbikes got their name It is the sound they make as they chug along.

We set off along familiar streets to make our way to the old town. We planned to walk to as many sights as possible. Prime objectives were to get much needed haircuts and visit the central market.

We chose to walk along Lotus Road to get us away from the port. This led us past many vendor stalls, but we were not shoppers yet. The selection here was not as good as what we expected to find later. There were no barber shops either.

We turned onto Duke Street and in front of the train station we crossed over to Front street. As we walked along we eyed the stalls lining both sides of the street. Across the sidewalks behind these stalls were shops. I saw a yellow sign that said Salon behind one of the stalls. We could not see the actual shop, but we decided to work our way to the sidewalk and check it out.

Surprise. This was a very short and narrow shop wit 4 chairs and 3 barbers. The barber who latched on to us spoke just enough English to allow successful communication. Yes we could both have our hair cut. Right now would be best. The price was $2 US each. Alice and I looked at each other, not to approve the price, but to approve the risk. We went in.

Only one chair was open so I went first. While I was getting “styled” another chair opened and Alice got in. Fortunately she had already taken a few pictures of me being shorn. My guy used electric shears not scissors to cut my hair until he got to the very end. He used different blades, but he did take off a lot. I am not disappointed in the outcome. In fact every time I look in the mirror now I break out in a grin. My Uncle Frank used to wear an army style crew cut. I rather liked it. That is a good thing because this cut is pretty much like his.

Alice’s barber did a fine job of shortening her do. She seems pleased with her cut also. I know I like it. I reconfirmed the price of $2 each and paid $5 for the two of us. Your can tell we are both satisfied as we rub each others heads. Never did that before.

Later at dinner on the ship we got a few “nice haircuts” comments from the dining room staff. A couple even commented “short haircut”. We had told them we were going to do this. Alice and I just smile.What fun.

Now that our most important objective had been met we walked over to the big market. Last year the place was really bustling. It was a weekday. This year it is Saturday and volume is down. That was a good thing. It made it much easier to get around.

We really enjoyed the one street we walked down and were ready to start up another one when a local man started talking to us as we exited. He found out where we were from and thanked us profusely for the help America had sent after the tsunami in 2004. He marveled at the aircraft carrier that had brought aid. Soon he was leading us to some of the sights we had on our list. The first was the Red Mosque. he led us around it and showed us where we could get the best photos. We were thinking how nice he was. Next was Old City Hall, then the gold district followed by three very nice Hindu Temples and a Hindu wedding hall. Rich Hindus book hotels for receptions, but normal folk book the wedding halls.

More pictures and more talk. Now he was telling us about the Tsunami Temple that was built to replace the one destroyed in the tsunami. Suddenly a Tul Tuk appeared and we were helped in.

I had already asked Samith how much we owed him because we needed to go elsewhere. Nothing he exclaimed. Taking us around was his way of saying thanks to Americans. Now I asked about the TukTuk. Don’t worry it is very cheap.

We were on our way to the tsunami temple. The ride was harrowing. these are not known by the crew as mortal TukTuks for nothing. There were a few close calls, and I did hear a few gasps from Alice as she dug her nails into my arm, but we arrived at the temple safely. This was way off the beaten tourist track and we proved to be the only tourists there. We left our shoes at the door with the shoe watchman.

Samith led us around and explained the various things and gods we were viewing. It was amazing to see how vast the interior of this temple was compared to the small frontage on the outside. There were rooms and altars for worship of anything, The statuary and painting was exquisite. A large sum had been spent in creating this. We marveled at it.

Outside the man brought our shoes to us. He asked for a donation for his service. He first suggested $20 then work his way down to $5. That was each. He got $2, and grumbled after us as we walked away with Samith.

Now we were led to the water where Samith showed us the naked shore where the tsunami had struck and destroyed so much. It was indeed sad.

We explained we must get back to the ship, so Samith had our TukTuk driver come to us. The ride back was as harrowing as the ride out, but we survived more gasps and all. When we got to the drop off the driver whipped out his calculator and told Samith we owed him $15. Samith dropped that bomb and then told us he wanted $20. Alice and I had agreed that the tour was worth something, but now way this much. I reminded Samith that the TukTuk was supposed to be very cheap and that he had told us he did not want any money. His response. The TukTuk was cheap each way and he had taken more time than he expected. We gave him $5 for the TukTuk driver and $10 for himself. He grumbled as we walked away, but he did not pursue us. He may have gotten more than he expected.

We did get some value for our money. We would rather have known up front what the deal was. We were very naive. We were also disappointed that we did not get to do some of the things we would like to have.

We returned to Maasdam tired, hot and wiser for the experience. We also got some good pictures.