DAY 77-COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

 Our position at noon today.  We just docked at the commercial wharf in Colombo, Sri Lanka.  It is sunny, but hazy, and 91 degrees now.

       Colombo is the capital and largest city on the island nation of Sri Lanka.  Sri Lanka lies just 30 miles southeast of mainland India.  The island has a total population of 20.5 million, and of that, 5.5 million live in and around Colombo.  It is the financial center and a popular tourist destination on the island.
       Because of its large harbor and strategic location on the East-West sea trade routes, ancient traders (Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, and Chinese)  were using it over 2000 years ago.  Portuguese explorers arrived here in 1505 and established a trading post in Colombo.  In 1638 the Dutch arrived and finally defeated the Portuguese in 1656.  Then the British showed up here in 1796 and was finally ceded to the British Empire in 1815.  The Colonial rein ended in 1948 when they gained their independence.  Still today you can see the Portuguese, Dutch, and British influence in their architecture, food, clothing, language, and attitudes.
       There are many canals in the city.  Today there are high-rise office buildings, condos, and shopping malls in the city.  There are many temples on Sri Lanka as 70% are Buddhists and 12% are Hindus.  Also there are 10% Muslims, 7% Catholics, and 1% Christians.
       Most US clothing brands have factories here, ie Lands End and other name designers.  Sri Lanka is a democratic, socialistic country so schools and health care are free.  The workers in the textile factories make about $700 per month.

WHAT WE DID LAST NIGHT:

        We had a great visit and dinner in Compass Rose with Cathi & John Begg from Southern California.  We first met them on our 2010 World Cruise.

WHAT WE DID TODAY:
       Rebecca had room service breakfast and I went to Compass Rose and had breakfast with her.  My main reason for going to the dining room was to ask Stan if we could change our Prime 7 reservation from tomorrow night up to tonight.  He did.  There will be miso sea bass on tomorrow night's menu and did not want to miss that.

WHAT WE DID TODAY:
       I did tomorrow's tour this afternoon so just got back and have to rush to make our Prime 7 reservation.  I will put today's photos on tomorrow's post.

Here is the link to the photos I took back in 2013 when we were in Colombo while on our Beijing to London 78 night cruise.

https://goo.gl/photos/8kAYrWHgmyKR4xvv5