Colombo, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is an island country located off the southeast coast of India. It is about 25,000 square miles in size (about the size of West Virginia).  It has a population of approximately 21 million.

 

 

Colombo is Sri Lanka’s largest and former capital city with a metropolitan population of around 2 million.

 

Colombo is a bustling port located on the southwest coast.

 

 

Being a crowded city "took tooks" or three-wheeled taxis are a popular mode of transportation. We did not get a good clear photo of a took took, so you will have to piece one together from the following photos.

 

 

 

The topography around Colombo is very flat and marshy.

 

Sri Lanka is known for having many lakes, with about 4% of the island being made up of water.   This was a small one and mostly covered with lotus plants.

Rice is a common crop in this part of the country. Tea is grown in the mountainous regions of the country.

 

 

Sri Lanka has a large amount of forested land. From the wood many different types of carvings are produced.

 

 

Sri Lanka is also known for its large elephant population. This one was not real happy about being chained up.

 

 

Cows were seen roaming about.

 

 

 

We also saw a monitor lizard. This one was reportedly a small one. They can grow to over 10 feet in length.

  

We visited the Kalaniya Temple established some 2200 years ago.

 

 

 

As with the other Buddhist temples there were seated Buddha’s

 

And reclining Buddha's

 

 

But this temple also had some very detailed wall murals depicting various Buddhist stories.

 

 

 

We visited another temple that seemed more like a museum with a vast collection of all sorts of different items.

 

 

I found this a curious addition to the base of a building. But then I thought, rather than be like Atlas and go it alone, why not invite a few of your friends over to lighten the load.

Amongst all the old style architecture this newly constructed local municipal government building had a little bit of our White House and Capital combined.

The end of another fine day.

Next stop Cochin, India.

 





Phuket, Thailand

Phuket is located along the southwest coast of Thailand. At approximately 200 square miles, it is Thailand’s largest island, measuring about 30 miles in length and 13 miles at it’s widest. Phuket has a population of about 350,000. There were about 250 people killed here from the tsunami on December 26, 2004.

 

Being an island Phuket has many beaches of all types.

 

 

Farmed fish operation.

 

 

Fish being cooked by street vendor.

 

 

Many choices provided by a street vendor.

 

 

Not sure, again, what these things are.  We could not find anyone who knew and spoke English.  They looked like dried jelly fish.

 

 

Typical street scenes.

Local taxi cab.

And we complain about not having enough room in the family car!

 

 

This is the Heroines Monument. In 1785 the Burmese invaded Phuket. The Governor had recently died, rather than surrender the Governor’s widow and her sister rallied the citizens and troops and successfully repelled the invaders.

 

 

We visited Wat Phranang Sang reported to be the oldest temple in Phuket at approximately 550 years old.

 

 

Three golden female Buddhas.

 

The temple guards are obviously more recent additions. I doubt assault rifles grenades and hand guns were standard issue 500 years ago. They might have also considered more protective body armor.

 

Devotees place small patches of gold leaf on statues of local deified monks.

 

 

 

We also visited Wat Phra Tong Temple.

 

There were sacred temple roosters roaming about.  Reminded us of Key West, Florida.

 

 

Wat Phra Tong contains a half-buried Buddha. Legend has it that anyone who touches the statue will be cursed and die prematurely. We did not go any closer than this.

 

 

More mystery fruit on an unknown type of tree.

 

 

Banyan tree...I think?

 

 

Sunset at Phuket.

 

 

Next stop Colombo, Sri Lanka



Langkawi, Malaysia

Langkawi is an island located approximately 25 miles off the mainland of Malaysia in the Andaman Sea. Part of an archipelago made up of 104 islands Langkawi has a population of about 65,000. Traditionally thought to be cursed the Prime Minister declared it a duty-free province in order to attract visitors and began transforming it into a tourist resort in 1986. In 2007 it was designated a UNESCO World GeoPark. Noted primarily for its population of native eagles, found mostly in the forested mountains.

We chose not to get off the ship at this port, no need testing the legendary curse. J



Some of the 104 islands as we sail away.

 

 

Next stop Phuket, Thailand.