The city is within walking distance from the harbour. We moved around in groups. There were streets urchins and men following us, some selling souvenirs, stamps and some changing money. I felt rather irritated and became distracted by the constant touting and harassment. My favourite Parker pen was picked. One of them who had been trying to sell me stamps, pasted on a thin cardboard must have hooked it away with this thin cardboard. I was also cheated US$10. Because I was tempted by the superior exchange rate I was tricked. I was asked to place my money in an envelope he gave me. He sealed the enveloped, returned it to me and asked me to wait while he looked for his boss. Of course he never returned. It was a classic case of ‘envelope switching’ which I learned later. I was naive but I was glad I learnt my lesson early. This lesson augurs well for me as I am to travel extensively in my adult life. It was a real time lesson for street-wisdom.
The city of Colombo
The city was the capital of Ceylon (today called Sri Lanka) with 2 or 3 storeys colonial styled buildings, somewhat similar to Singapore. The streets were rather dirty and the places were crowded with people. Many of them were just wondering around aimlessly. Not to mention, there were also many beggars. Some people just stared at us. English was the widely spoken language. The local spoke Tamil and Singhalese. Like a birds out of the cage, we just went wild shopping. Basically we wanted to buy souvenirs. I bought a black iron-wood book stand, crafted with elephants and till in good condition till this day, after more than 30 years. There were many gems shops dealing with semi-precious stones like topaz, sapphires, cat-eyes and rubies which I did not buy. I had a big meal of jumbo crabs with my friends at Nanking Chinese Restaurant.
Like a tourist
We snapped many photograph of Colombo. See below.
Kandy
A tour was organised for the midshipman to visit the city of Kandy. It was situated north and centre of the island. It is the cultural capital of Ceylon and house many temples, both Buddhist and Hindu. It was a centre for local art and crafts. I couldn’t remember much of what I saw during the tour. Nevertheless, the journey up there was still educational and relaxing especially having been on the high seas for more than a week.
We spend a few more days wondering around the streets of Colombo. In between, we had to do sentry duties on board as well as the usual chores of washing clothes and packing our sleep area.
Goodbye to Colombo
Our ship left Colombo after one week. Our next destination was Eden. Besides midshipman training, the navy had a secret mission to accomplish in this socialist country call Yemen.
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