4 Places to visit in Colombo in a day
After Hikkaduwa and Galle, it was time to end my journey in Sri Lanka. Visiting the capital Colombo, with just one day in hand, I tried my best to cover it all. So let’s get started with what all you can see in Colombo in a day.
1.Pettah Floating Market
Started the day early as I had to visit all the mentioned places in this post. And planned to have my breakfast at the floating market. With lots of expectation to see boats and people selling stuff on top of a lake. But it was a small market with shops built beside the lake and nothing much exciting about the place. So I headed over to the next spot which was the Old Dutch Hospital.
2.Old Dutch Hospital
One of the places that everyone would suggest to visit when you are in Colombo is the Old Dutch Hospital. It is considered to be one of the oldest buildings, dating to the Dutch colonial era during early 1600. A perfect place for lunch and dinner with many options including the famous Ministry of Crab is also located here. But getting a booking there requires you to call at least a week before. With some dishes to be told in advance for them to get it ready. And not just food there are shops for you to buy clothes and some souvenirs for your visit to Sri Lanka.
3.Seema Malaka Temple
The 3rd spot of the day was the Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple, but by mistake, I wasn’t able to find the location. And headed over to this beautiful floating temple on top of the Beira Lake called the Seema Malaka Temple. Which is also a part of the Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple, located just a few metres away from the main complex. Just a walk away like the Old Dutch Hospital from the floating market, but with a hot sun out there I would suggest you take a Tuk Tuk. An entry fee for tourists coming there to maintain the whole complex is required to be paid. And then you enter the beautiful complex with lots of Buddha statues.
And space for people to meditate and rest, and a complex where you will find mentions of all the places that you can visit in Sri Lanka. With lots of things collected in the main complex statues and gifts from the devotees.
4.Dehiwala Zoo
Later, I took the bus just next to the Beira Lake to reach the Dehiwala Zoo. Which was located around 8kms from there and is one of the spots I would suggest you take the whole day to explore as its huge with so many animals to see. As I was surprised after reaching there that every corner, I see had a new animal I had never seen before. Plus, they have different shows during the day like the sea lion, tiger and the most famous show of the elephants. Which included the elephants performing different stunts to excite the whole crowd there. Not much excited about the same as I read somewhere that the animals are really treated badly while they are taught to do all these stunts and obey the commands of the master.
The zoo opens from 8:30 am to 6 pm every day for everyone and being a weekend it was crowded with lots of people and getting a glance of the show was really tough. The Dehiwala Zoo has a huge aquarium and the snake zone to see the different types of fishes and snakes you can find all around the world.
And yeah, that was a wrap on the different places you can visit in a day. As I had to grab my flight back to India the same night I headed out of the zoo just before the closing time and ended my journey in the beautiful country Sri Lanka. To know more about the journey and the whole budget from hotels and route I took stay tuned.
Expenses For The Day
Bus to Floating Market From Hotel – 3$
Bus to Dehiwala Zoo – 1$
Dehiwala Zoo Entry – 5$ SAARC Country Tourist
Food & Water – 10$
