Day 65 - A Hungry Wild Canine

This morning we went to Colombo.  We went to find out some information from the Myanmar embassy.  From last spring, we noted the e-visa application for online purchase, but we'd not checked recently.  Yet, since last week, their website has been down displaying text to see an embassy directly.  It took us a while to find it, and we walked completely around the Town Hall grounds in error.  Eventually, we found Rosemeed  Avenue and found the Myanmar embassy in a villa.   It was quite a hike.  With the forms, photos, and copy of air tickets, we need to give them passports for three days.  We figured that might interfere when travelling as hotels here sometimes ask to see them.  So, we decided to do this chore after another big trip on the island.  We have less than three weeks left, unfortunately.  I want a new drug that alters no mental function other than the perception of time.  I would like to at least double the amount of time we are staying here.

We went on another bus and got off at the Fort.  The next goal was to check on my ear stud.  My birthstone is a ruby and Sri Lanka is known for its gems.  I thought I should upgrade the free metal stud I got when I had my ear pierced down in a Bellingham, WA mall three years ago this month.  These two facts prompted me to enter the World Trade Center Towers and I picked out a gem.  The jeweler is having the setting crafted and it will be ready after three days even though I might not pick it up until later next week.



After this,  we walked to Chatham Street.  It had been a while as I believe the clock tower area had been closed, at least during the final war years.  We saw The Pagoda Tea Rooms.  It had be quite some time since we'd been there!   It was pretty upscale now, at least more that I remembered from the 1980's. The establishment had been running at least a hundred years before that. The prices, though were still quite reasonable so we ordered lamprais for lunch. My only squabble would be that there was no hard boiled egg! I am also pretty sure by the time I'd first stepped inside the Pagoda, the restaurant was well known for a few other visitors.  Duran Duran had filmed segments for one of their videos in the place.  I went to YouTube.  It seemed as though two different videos had segments from Sri Lanka.  I will post them here.  The first one doesn't feature where we ate lunch but the second does.





Before heading back to Nugegoda, we had several more passport photos taken, as the lady specifically mentioned needing a white background.  Jay thinks the ten we had kept in Minuwangoda may have had blue backgrounds as are required by some counties.

In the afternoon we just sat around with the folks here talking about events and life.