Hoofing It Around Colombo


I had the morning and afternoon at leisure

I was on my own for the morning and afternoon before the wedding, so I walked around the neighborhood, Bambalapitiya, for a bit. Marwaan directed me to two handicraft stores: Barefoot and Lanka Hands. I found Lanka Hands easily on Queens Road, a nice walk from the Hotel. But, all along the way, tuk-tuk drivers kept stopping to ask me if I wanted a ride. I felt like I was getting more out of being on foot, even though it was hot as hell out. And yes, it's the humidity that's the real culprit.

Lanka Hands is a two-story emporium of hand crafted souvenirs. Woven batiks, brass and copper candlesticks, painted elephants and wood carvings. Between this place and Barefoot, I got all of my souvenir shopping done.

After going back to the hotel for a bit of air conditioning, I headed over to an Internet cafe on Galle Road, which is a main thoroughfare from Colombo to Galle. My hotel, the Indra Regent, is on Duplication Road, which is another major road that runs parallel to Galle Road. The Internet cafe was full of overgrown teenagers who were playing Internet video games with each other and yelling across the room to one another.

After banging out some emails, I crossed the street to Barefoot, another crafts emporium that also has a nice bookstore. A lot of the books are about the prospects of peace in Sri Lanka, which has been in civil turmoil for 22 years, on and off. The Tamil minority in the North and East provinces want to break off and form a country called Tamil Eelam. Right now, the hostilities have taken a break.

After browsing and shopping at Barefoot, I stopped in the courtyard to get something to eat. I had the forbidden pork sandwich. It was quite good. See it here.

Posted: Sat - March 19, 2005 at 03:12 PM        

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