We arrived to Mt. Lavinia hotel and it was just as I remembered, truly. And although there was a new expressway from the airport to Colombo, I thought the city was business as usual, and looked fairly the same.
The guards and hotel staff are dressed in the British Colonial uniforms and they greet you with big happy smiles. They open doors and give the ultimate courteous service you could only dream of in the USA. We got a gorgeous room right on the ocean with a balcony and king size bed for around $100! We had can Lion beers and sat on the balcony and listened to crashing waves.
(photo copied from their website)There are many delightful things about the hotel besides the awesome buffet meals. They have a carp pond, a lush mini- garden on the way to the Governor's restaurants (read the story of the governor's love affair with a Sri Lankan woman during the colonial rule). There are large painted cows here and there. But the best is the pool/restaurant view of the ocean and Colombo. They have a jazz band that plays night and day next to the pool. It was very popular...several Lankan bridal parties were here for photos.
They love it when I use any Sinhala! It started coming back to me quickly...
I was impressed that I was able to answer the first few questions by the first guy who helped us (get a taxi at the airport):
"Where are you from?"
"Why do you know Sinhala?
"What did you do when you were here?"
"Where are you going?"
Haebay, this probably would not surprise any RPCV from Sri Lanka.
We got delicious curry, sambol, hoppers and more for dinner and breakfast. We will be back here for our last night and we are thrilled. Hari jolly, hari lasanay.
http://www.mountlaviniahotel.com/front/index.php
We tuk-tuked to the bus stand, and the driver pointed out the President's house which is well guarded, Galleface Hotel, the Hilton and Galadari Hotel...where we sometimes went to use the pool. I even think I saw the Blue Elephant sign on the other big hotel, even though it was closed. We saw the main station, which I tried to avoid (busy and a little dirty). And even though I tried to get us on a fast Inner City bus, the driver took us to the slow ones. We got on a very colorful bus with loud Sinhala music and blinking Buddha, Ganesh, Shiva and all the other important Hindu gods. Baby pictures were also adorning the windshield. Our bus driver was filling a betel leaf with lime and going at it. The driver's helper was plenty nice and they watched out for us. They made sure they honked the horn lots to get us back on the bus at potty break, and he smiled at us a lot. He avoided conversation with me thought, probably bad for business. We were the only "sudhu minisu" on this bus (white foreigners).
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| Our breakfast view at Mt. Lavinia: the pool and the skyline of Colombo |
By the way, the weather is wonderful. Great time to travel, not too hot, cool breezes, and an occasional shower.
Our Visit with the Nawaratnes
We spent Poya, July 31st-Aug. 1st, with Champa, her husband, her mother and her son Rashmika.
All full moon days are national holidays in Sri Lanka, as a Buddhist holidays. Most people do not work and they go to the temple, maybe several times. You get "pin" which are like points you earn toward happiness in the next life or in "nirvana" if you visit the temple and take flowers to honor Buddha, read or listen to "pali" or scripture, and hopefully meditate.
http://www.officeholidays.com/countries/sri_lanka/full_moon.php
Her mother is a devout Buddhist and loves this meditation temple that she proudly showed us. We drank special tea to help us feel tranquility. A female "monk" talked to us and showed us the meditation rooms for women. They are small and simple. One can stay here a week or longer, preferably two or longer. They rise early, pray, eat breakfast, hear a sermon, and meditate in a special room, gender segregated.
We also met the Loku-Hamaduruwo (the head monk). He told me I needed to meditate, and we could come to this place anytime.
It was a peaceful and somewhat remote temple near Colombo.
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