Colombo Renewal The rejuvenation and expansion of Colombo continues at an incredible pace. Last month I wrote about the opening of the converted old Auditor General’s building by Independence Square into an ornate and upmarket shopping arcade. Now the downmarket area of Pettah opposite the Colombo Fort Railway Station is being gentrified with the conversion… Read More »
Colombo Renewed In colonial days Colombo was regarded as the Garden City of Asia, a reputation it appeared to have lost until the Commonwealth Summit in November 2013 made it necessary for the authorities to clean up the city. Walls around public parks were torn down (with no adverse effects) and revealed once again what… Read More »
Fruit with Attitude This is the month for curious fruit in Sri Lanka, exotic delicacies found only in the tropics. It’s the season for durian, mangosteen and rambutan, a trio of odd looking fruit with attitude, apparently to deter people from eating them. Durian is as famous for its off-putting pong as for… Read More »
Go East The season to visit the East Coast of Sri Lanka begins this month, May, and lasts until October, as the monsoon storms switch coasts and the sea in the east becomes calmer and the weather bright, while the beaches on the west shrink under rough seas. Trincomalee is the best known… Read More »
City Birds As park and playing field walls are being torn down and roads cleaned up, Colombo is fast regaining its colonial reputation as a Garden City. Although the original sprawling cinnamon gardens that once formed the city’s boundary has become the prime residential district of Colombo 7, Vihara Mara Devi (formerly Victoria) Park… Read More »
The Flowering of the Lotus Pond Theatre The inaugural ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Colombo in November 2013 brought to the world’s attention the magnificent Nelum Pokuna (Lotus Pond) Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre. This spectacular building, familiarly known as Nelum Pokuna (Lotus Pond) Theatre, began life as the… Read More »
Christmas in Sri Lanka Season’s Greetings! Sri Lankans love to party and happily join in the celebrations of the feasts or holy days of all religions. December 25 is a public, bank and mercantile holiday throughout Sri Lanka. Even though it is a Christian festival, the government sometimes regards Christmas Day as equivalent to a… Read More »
Colombo’s Bouqinistes Paris may be famous for its bouquinistes, stalls selling second hand and antiquarian books lining the banks of the River Seine, but Colombo also has them. They don’t line the banks of the Beira Lake and tourists seldom find them but they are invaluable for the traveller. These wayside booksellers are to be… Read More »
Escape CHOGM The CHOGM roadshow rolls into town from 10 to 17 November 2013. CHOGM is the acronym for Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and 54 HOGs representing Commonwealth nations around the world, plus 10,000 delegates, spouses and entourage members, as well as participants in Commonwealth youth and business forums, will be taking over… Read More »
Kandy in a Day August is the month of the world famous Kandy Perahera. It climaxes this year on the Full Moon day of Tuesday 20 August with the evening parade of whip crackers, fire dancers, jugglers and elephants, including one bearing a casket containing the revered Buddha’s tooth (or a replica of… Read More »
