Colombo

The late Geoffrey Bawa continues to provide us with some of the most pleasurable sights in Sri Lanka. First he impressed us with the Kandalama Hotel, then with the gardens of his weekend house in Bentota and now, in Colombo, with the Seema Malaka Temple in a city lake and his former architectural offices, which have been converted into a cafe and small shops. His temple contrasted dramatically with a vulgar temple only a half-block away.

Aside from that, the National Museum was worth a visit. Full of fine pieces whose beauty overcomes the discomfort of going through its hot, humid and sometimes airless rooms with only the help of a few electric fans. The food market was also satisfying, especially because it was a Sunday combined with Puya (Buddhist New Moon Holiday) which made the narrow aisles easy to navigate. On a normal day it would have been very hard to move through there.

My Mac Air was out of service for two days, but the local Apple service found it was simply not getting a proper charge from the electric shaver outlet I was using in the hotel.

Bawa's Seema Malaka Temple, a small gem.

For once, a profusion of Buddhas does not seem like overkill.

A pelican adds a psychedelic element to the waters near Bawa's Temple

The vulgar temple down the block from Bawa.

The National Museum

A masterpiece from the collection - about 18" tall, I think

The market is particularly worthwhile if you like dried fish.

Tonight we fly to Bali through Singapore. Setting up a base in Ubud for about three weeks.