Getaway in Colombo (2010)

Due to its large harbour and its strategic position along the East-West sea trade routes, Colombo was known to ancient traders 2,000 years ago. It was made the capital of the island when Sri Lanka was ceded to the British Empire in 1815. While returning from our trip to Maldives in April, 2010 we stayed in Colombo for two nights and three days. We had booked our stay at Hotel Taj Samudra.

Galle Face Green is located in the heart of the city along the Indian Ocean coast, and is a popular destination for tourists and residents alike. We walked by the beach and the Fort.

An old canon on the Indian ocean in front of the Fort

The beach of Colombo with the harbour can be seen at a distance

Colombo Fort Presidential Secretariat Building in Sri Lanka: This is the old Ceylon colonial Parliament Building. The British built it to house the Legislative Council of Ceylon during the islands colonial period. It looks older than it really is. The building was opened on 29th January 1930. For 53 years it housed Sri Lanka’s parliament. In 1983 the legislature was moved to the new Sri Lankan parliament building.

On the second day, it was raining so we had to cancel our trip to outside Colombo. When the rain stopped, we went for a short sight-seeing trip in the city.