20250507 Regent Seven Seas Voyager Cruise Bangkok to Dubai, Day 16, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Regent Seven Seas Voyager Bangkok to Dubai Day 16 - Colombo, Sri Lanka - Country #107

We docked this morning in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is our 89th U.N. Member State and 107th country overall. Located off the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, is a country of around 23 million residents. They are roughly 70% Buddhists, followed by Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. Colombo is a mostly modern city with bustling industry and trade. Per our guide, as a country, Sri Lanka produces about 45% of the world's cinnamon. A little internet research shows that they produce, at best, 15%-16% of the world's cinnamon, so I'm not sure I believe anything our guide said.

Today's tour was a bus tour around Colombo, taking in the many sights the city had to offer.

From the ship, we could see the 1,153-foot Colombo Lotus Tower

Top of the Supreme Court Building

Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, also known as the Red Mosque - we passed by it on the tour, but this was taken from the ship

Sambodhi Chaithya, a stupa and Buddhist shrine near the port

The mixed skyline of Colombo

Colombo Galbokka Lighthouse

Fort Sambuddhaloka Temple

Old Parliament Building

That small, yellow building in the back-right was a former jail - the final jail used by the British to imprison locals

Colombo Fort Old Clock Tower - it was a lighthouse

They have reclaimed so much land that the lighthouse was not near the water, so it was repurposed as a clock tower

An old government building

Sir Edward Banes' statue - British influence is still visible

The former British Cargills Ceylon Limited department store - now, Bank of China

Another glimpse of the Red Mosque

Old Town Hall

Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, or Red Mosque

Our guide said it was the only red mosque in the world

We got a side view of a Hindu temple

This 60-story building was determined to be improperly built, so it will be torn down and rebuilt to code

Another drive-by of the Sri Sambuddhaloka Maha Viharaya temple and stupa

A row of Buddhas sits under the stupa

Hindu Temple of Sri Kailawasanathan Swami Devasthanam Kovil

War memorial

We made a stop at Independence Square and wandered around.

The Sri Lankan flag

The Buddhist flag

We drove past at least six cricket fields - Sri Lanka is crazy for cricket

Our next stop was at the National Museum

We walked past this guy on the way in - he was perhaps 1.5 inches long

It appeared to be a dotted garden skink

The Nelum Pokuna (Lotus Pond) – Mahinda Rajapakse Theatre

The "little white house" and the new Town Hall - it was still being renovated

The similarities to the White House are striking

Right across the street from the New Town Hall, we see  meditating Buddha - the Vihar Mahavihara Devi Park Buddha

We made a refreshment stop with orange juice and small sandwiches at the Taj Samudra Colombo

Interesting sculpture

The United States Embassy

Our final stop was at the Gangaramaya Temple - a large Buddhist temple.

The Blue Water Lily - the national flower of Sri Lanka

An impressive engraved wall

We toured the grounds of the temple.

We entered a main chamber with multiple Buddha statues.

We continued touring through the facility, looking at the different displays.

A stupa at the temple, contrasted with the modern Colombo skyline

With the temple visit over, we ended the tour and returned to the port. The weather looked like it was coming, and as we arrived at the port, the wind was whipping, the sky was dark, and it looked like severe weather was going to hit at any time. But, it didn't. It never rained.

We had a couple of points opportunities in the afternoon. We tried our hands at skittle bowling and crazy putting, gathering more Regent points to redeem at the end of the cruise.

We hit the showers and headed up to trivia. It continued to be rough, but our 11/15 was good enough to grab third place. Our misses:

• What year did the English Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) open?
• We guessed 1989 -it was 1994
• How long was the French Revolution?
• We guessed 7 years - it was 10 years
• What are the bottom two colors on the Olympic flag?
• We guessed yellow/black - it was yellow/green
• Where was tennis player Gabriella Sabatini from?
• We guessed Spain - she is Argentinian

We opted to return to Sette Maria at La Veranda for dinner tonight. The food was wonderful once again, and we made a good choice.

We are rocking and rolling tonight. That weather system that didn't drop the expected rain is messing up the Laccadive Sea that we are sailing through. It's not bad, but there is definite movement.. Lucky for us, it is in the range of ship movement that we enjoy, so we should sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow, we'll dock in Cochin, India, around 11:00 in the morning. We will get off the ship shortly after that to start our Taj Mahal overland experience for the next four days. Time to pack a suitcase.