After 11 days of wandering across the country, our trip ends where it began: in Colombo. We had deliberately saved the capital for last, just to do a little shopping, relax, and enjoy one last bit of Sri Lanka before parting ways: she was going back to Thailand, I was going to France.
A brief aside: contrary to popular belief, Colombo is no longer the official capital of the country . It was during the British colonial period and for a few decades after independence, but since the 1980s, Sri Jayawardenapura , a suburb of Colombo, has held that title. Nevertheless, Colombo remains the country's economic capital, with its 600,000 inhabitants and vibrant energy.
Return journey to Colombo from Sigiriya
And that's why staying overnight in Sirigiya was a particularly bad mistake… Besides the poor location of our hotel, we simply learned that to get back to Colombo, some 170km away, we would have to go through Dambulla anyway … What's more, forced to take the overpriced tuk-tuk from our hotel, we ended up spending 2,500 rupees to get back to Dambulla… Whereas the bus to Colombo would only cost us 500 rupees…
The little walk the day before in the surrounding villages fortunately made up for it a little, but I think that staying overnight is not really worth it.
Arrived at our hotel
In Colombo, the prices are also higher, as it will cost us 600 rupees to go from the bus station to our hotel, a very good choice that I recommend here, the Monsoon Suites.
The journey between the hotel in Sigiriya and this one in Colombo will take us about 6 hours. Enough to leave us barely enough time to "admire" the sunset, the owner's 2 vintage cars and especially to go eat.
We will ask what is in the area and we will be sent 2 steps from our hotel, barely a few hundred meters further at the next crossroads, the Steam boat. We will fill our bellies well and decide to eat there the next evening as well.
Gangaramaya Temple
For this last day, we were entitled to rain. Well, since we didn't have to complain about the weather for the rest of our stay, it's not really dramatic. And that helps us with our choice of visit, namely that we start by taking a tuk tuk, direction the Buddhist temple of Gangaramaya located on Sri Jinarathana Rd.
Since it's a temple, you'd think you'd be sheltered from the downpour that was beginning to fall heavily. Built by a wealthy merchant 120 years ago, the temple is a blend of Thai, Indian, Sri Lankan, and Chinese architecture. The complex includes all the classic Buddhist temple buildings: vihara, Bodhi tree, and pagoda.
The temple is also known as an educational center, many personalities have come here, a small museum is also present within it.
When we arrived at Gangaramaya, it was raining so hard that we just had time to take shelter under the tent to take off our shoes, we had to wait for a while even though the entrance was barely 5 m away.
At the rear is a stuffed elephant and a set of small stepped chedis which at the time reminded me of the Borobudur temple on the island of Java, in Indonesia.
Inside one of the buildings a surprise awaited us. The architecture is truly unique, with a mix of paintings on the walls, sculptures and statues. In the courtyard we find the inseparable little white chedi, while the rain still did not let go of us…
Sima Malaka and Lake Beira
With the rain finally stopping, we could stop exploring the temple for a bit and go see something else (we weren't going to spend the whole day there...). So we headed towards the shores of Lake Beira , our next stop, to see, among other things, the small temple of Sima Malaka.
The small temple of Sima Malaka is a recent temple (built between 1976 and 1978) but nonetheless charming ; it is also part of the Gangaramaya complex. It is a meditation center and a gathering place for monks.
As we arrived in front, we came across a wedding scene, it's always interesting to see this kind of scene from the point of view of another country, the costumes are superb.
Colombo Waterfront Walk
After visiting the temples, we decided to walk to the waterfront, about 1.5 km from Beira Lake where we were staying. We spent an hour there, enjoying the sea air and having a quick snack. It was a shame the weather was gloomy , but that didn't stop it from being a lively place to watch.
This also gave Jitima time to rest a little (as a reminder, she had just had an operation a few months earlier, it's not fatigue due to laziness or anything I want to clarify).
Unfortunately, this was not enough, because after this break in the open air, without really knowing what to do or where to go, I decided to go further along the railway line which runs along the seafront some 1.2km from the Galle Face esplanade where we were.
The journey was too much for my wife who was no longer following, walking very slowly, so much so that when we arrived in front of the US embassy, we were stopped, because I think they found our behavior suspicious while I was waiting for her right in front...
In the end, it was just a quick passport check. With no benches nearby, she ended up sitting on a low wall a little further away. I went to see "my objective," just a few meters away, and picked up Jitima in a tuk-tuk on the way, heading to a shopping mall to clear my head and, more importantly, to buy souvenirs as the day drew to a close.
Shopping time!
At the Jitima store, we find a smile again, we buy t-shirts, teas and other things. We then look for a restaurant and start ordering from one of them, but everything we wanted was not available.
Since we didn't find anything else of interest in the area, we decided to go back to our hotel and eat at the Steam Boat again (and we treated ourselves to a good meal for 1 rupees!).
After our meal, we had about an hour left to pack everything in our bags and get into the taxi, booked through the hotel to take us to the airport (3000 rupees), thus marking the end of our trip to Sri Lanka.
Back to Thailand for my wife and off to France for me (first time back in almost 5 years!), with a stopover in Dubai.
Is Sri Lanka on your bucket list?
