Travels with Carlos: First days of Colombo

So we're living the travelors life by using a driver instead of driving right now. Faezer arrives in his immaculately clean and polished green tuk tuk with fuschia cloth and plastic coated seat covers. Where most of the drivers wear shorts and a shirt with or without shoes, Faezer wears crisply pressed trousers and an ironed shirt. He is a proud man and he gets to share his knowledge with tourists who are interested.He has two daughters, 16 and 13 years of age in governement (public) schools. The eldest will be taking exams this year to see if she gets into the university. He hopes that she does better than he does, for he did not show interest in school when he was young and has had to learn as an adult. He says his two sisters did better by studying in school and now are both working well. But self-learned knowledge he does have.

He takes us to the newly presented Convention Building, "given by the Chinese."

"And what did they want in return?"

"Ah, good question." The Chinese wanted rubber. They wanted a way into the Sri Lanka market. They wanted to be a part of the conversation, and so they bought in. Across and facing the convention center is a 12 foot golden buddha/ Faezer saus. "At the beginning of every meeting, we face the Buddha, bow and honor the Buddha, nver pray just honor. Then we close our eyes for a full minute and in silence we show honor."

Next stop is the Independence Memorial monument and museum. It's a 20 foot high and 50 foot wide columned open-air structure so folks "from far and wide can see the visable freedom earned and obtained from the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British." So who built this? "It's a gift from the Chinese," says Faezer.

"And what did they want in return?"

"Tea and gems And they need to ship the tea, so a port is being given."

Awww, the give and take. Is this how the Dutch came in? They built and gave Ceylon railroad tracks and trains to export the tea in the Eastern part of Ceylon two centuries ago. Then they built canals in colombo. anyway.....The workmanship and park surrounding it is lovely.

Did I mention who tours Sri Lanka? Chinese tour groups are everywhere. They are at the memorials, at the museums, the temples, the restaurants, and they are buying up a storm in all the shops. They are wanted and appreciated.