Colombo

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4.02.2007 En route to Colombo, Sri Lanka

Today is our 3^rd day at sea since leaving Phuket. We have sailed in waters that were heavily affected by the earthquake and the resulting tsunami in 2004 with some islands in this area being moved a hundred yards or suddenly one island suddenly becoming three islands. We have had calm and beautiful seas and today saw our first whales off the starboard side. We have kept busy with our usual activities. Steve Dachi has given lectures on “The Forts and Palaces of India: Legacy of the fabled Maharajas” and yesterday,Palm Sunday, an appropriate one on “Minority Religions in India,” The Story of Christians” and today on “Sri Lanka: Buddhist Sanctuary, tearing at the Seams”. Since we will be visiting several of these large and beautiful palaces in India later this week and will be in Sri Lanka tomorrow, I found the talks very interesting.

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Saturday night, Sallie and I had a very interesting dinner with Sherry and Carl Magdil from Chevy Chase. He had serious injuries in WWII as an young Army Officer in the South Pacific and had quite a career as Editor of The U.S.News and World Report and she as an educator. Their work has resulted in them having traveled a great deal, living in different countries and having been involved with government officials who have played major roles in our lives.

Last night following another reception for the Virtuoso group, the West’s and the Wallace’s ended up having dinner with our friends, the Moore’s from Amelia Island and a new friend, a widow, Roberta Greenwood from The Pacific Palisades in Calif. She is an archeologist and the owner of a good size company doing work all over the state of Calif. She, too, has traveled a great deal and was wearing a beautiful brocaded jacket she had made in India on her last trip there. The Silver Shadow Quintet played lovely music for dancing during dinner. One of the couples on the dance floor having a great time was the bridge lecturers, Bob and Cindy Bernstein who had just come aboard in Singapore to relieve Joanne and Denny Sprung from Philadelphia, who we had come to know and like very much. This morning about 11:00 Bob, following a workout, suddenly suffered a heart attack and died.. He was in his early 60’s and was Professor Emeritus of Political Science and a former Chair of that department at Auburn University. He was a former North American bridge champion and he and Cindy had won the North American Mixed Pairs and represented the U.S. in international competition. Bob was a grandfather and although we had not gotten to know him well, we share the grief of Cindy , the family and those who did know him as a friend.

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Tonight the pre dinner entertainment is a vocalist, Steve Washington who does a cabaret tribute to Nat “King’ Cole and dinner will be a outdoor barbecue on the pool deck. Carola,,the Ass’t Cruise Director has ask us to join another couple Marilyn and Bob Bocci from Portland ,Oregon for dinner. Tomorrow we will be in Colombo.

P.S. Sallie just asked me to look out of the glass doors with binoculars to see what I believe is the largest cargo container ship I have ever seen. Looks almost like an aircraft carrier.

Carola and Marilyn & Bob Bocci
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4.03.2007 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Sallie and I were up early and watched our entry into port from the treadmill. We were surprised at how big the Port of Colombo is. I believe it is the only major port serving the entire country of Sri Lanka. Colombo is the largest city in this tear drop shaped island. Located on the west coast, the engaging and vibrant city mixes modern life –as boldly displayed by the magnificent Twin Towers- with telltale colonial ruins.. Due to the large natural harbor and its strategic position along the east-west sea trade routes, Colombo was known to ancient traders as long as 2,000 years ago. Having switched hands from Portuguese to British to Dutch to British colonial rule, and on to win independence in 1948 the city has a colorful history. The Portuguese occupation ended with the siege of 1656 when the Dutch captured the city and occupied the city and other parts of Ceylon (former name) for 140 years until the British captured Colombo in 1796.The British started their rule in 1798. Many educational institutions were established during this period. English language was taught to the locals. The Jaffna Tamils were given higher ranks in government institutions. The present civil war in Sri Lanka has its seeds in the favoritism shown by the English to the English speaking minority. The Buddhist represents the majority, 72% of the population and after independence and democracy tried to impose their language and wanted the government’ jobs and that has led to civil unrest.

Cochin Town Hall
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I took the city tour this morning. Hank goodness it was a local holiday because the

traffic was horrendous but we were told it was light. We drove through the commercial

District and past Vihara Mahadevi Park, formerly known as Victoria Park (Queen Victoria) when it was created by the British as a botanical garden for tropical species. We arrived at The National Museum at 9:30 but had to return at the end of our tour because it didn’t open until 10 AM. Some organization! By the way, this place is hot –in the 90’s with high humidity. We then went to Gangaram Temple. In the 15^th Century this Buddhist temple served as home to the Gaimavasi monks. The highlight of the morning was our visit to Galle Face Hotel where we enjoyed tea and a small excellent buffet of good snacks. This hotel was built in 1864 as a British Officer’s Club. It overlooks Gall Face Green, a mile long esplanade along the oceanfront. The hotel still lays claim to its position as the first hotel in Asia. It is beautifully located and it’s apparent that the British lived well abroad. We finally made a stop for a quick tour of the non air conditioned National Museum. It is a lovely elegant white colonnaded building built by the British and houses many artifacts that had once been sent to England and since returned.

Gangaram Temple
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Besides heat and traffic there was evidence of high security everywhere with armed soldiers, vehicle checks and a thorough check of all vehicles entering the port area. The city wasn’t as clean as we were told it would be but the people were very friendly and there was some begging. Back at the ship, many merchants had set up shop on the pier but didn’t offer much and it was too hot to shop. I returned to find Sallie reading in the lovely air conditioned Panorama Lounge and we decided to have a cool drink before a late lunch. My pin’a colada was wonderful. Like Sallie, the West’s decided to stay aboard and miss the heat. Tonight the four of us are having dinner with Judy & Brian Robertson, the couple who have hosted us while representing Virtuoso. By the way, I forgot to mention a couple of weeks ago we had dinner with June and Tom Cooper from Marco Island. Don and Dot Harris suggested we meet them as they are good friends of mutual friends, Gail and Soc Socrates of Potomac and Marco Island.

Temple Collection
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While writing this, I have been watching with amazement the activity of three big cranes on the pier as they load containers onto flat bed trucks. They do it rapidly and with great efficiency. Also, there are about one hundred new buses on the pier that have just arrived from India and will provide local bus transportation-more traffic. It is 5 PM and the Capt. Has just announced we are leaving. Net stop, Cochin,India. Am now going out to take a few pictures of the port as we depart.