Colombo 26/9
Another interesting port,
Colombo looked quite beautiful in parts and I would enjoy more time here. I had
a buffet lunch ashore at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel with shipboard friends,
Stephanie and Graeme. It was a magnificent buffet with many beautiful Sri
Lankan curry dishes as well as Thai dishes, a carvery, desserts (including a
crepe station) and cheeses. The price – only AUD$18 per head. Even the imported
wines were reasonably priced (by Australian pricing) for a five star hotel.
Before lunch we crammed into
a tuk-tuk to take us to a shopping centre but the driver ran out of petrol on
the way there and had to lead us on foot for the last several hundred metres. After
he returned to the shopping centre to pick us up, he either ran out of petrol
again or his machine was suffering from vapour-locks. Either way, we again had
to walk the last part to our destination. We paid him the agreed amount anyway
– he wasn’t having a good day.
 |
| The Colombo pilot launch approaching at sunrise. |
 |
| The pilot boarding. |
 |
| The harbour entrance. |
 |
| Backing up to the berth. |
 |
| Other shipping in Colombo harbour. |
 |
| On the road in the tuk-tuk. |
 |
| Tipping it up to drain the last drops of petrol into the engine. |
 |
| Shipmates Stephanie and Graeme at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel. We previously sailed together on an Asian cruise aboard Sun Princess in 2011. |
 |
| The mutton curry, especially, was delicious. |
 |
| Not how I’d choose to go to sea. Imagine being aboard this in very heavy weather! |
No comments:
Post a Comment