We arrived early morning in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which is an island nation off the tip of Southern India.

Every preconception I had about Sri Lanka was thrown out the door.

Cruise Ship docking seems no different from being a container ship. You can see the cargo trains reaching over the pool deck of Serenity–A first for us. It’s nice to be treated like one of the boys.

The port of Colombo is a busy one–– smack in the middle of the trade route and why China has been investing here (not to the wants of its citizens.. Hopefully this post does not land me on someone’s watch list; If so, I hope they enjoy the blog as much as all of you have. Thanks for the comments and questions.

We have been traveling through Southwestern Asia during the Islamic holidays, so not much has been open.

The benefit of businesses being closed on this day meant zero traffic, which we understand can be bothersome.

With no traffic, it made for a wonderful tour– our bus could stop in the middle of the road and we could get out, no crowds, and walk around, whenever or wherever we wanted.

The city and people are beautiful.; Colombo is a location worth visiting on its own. We were in a touring coach, which means all cargo below and passengers–– of which we were not many––sat up top. With front row seats sporting panoramic windows under AC, all we needed was popcorn and a remote.

Not long into our tour we came up on a one-of-a-kind, Light House Clock Tower in the Middle of the city. An active Clock and Lighthouse at that. Notice all the traffic in this shot.

From our perch it was as if we were immersed in an augmented reality documentary of Colombo with the luxury of no raffic. Others were taking advantage of the situation as well. There were a few photo shoots going on, which we think were pre-wedding shots.

I commend Crystal for making sure there was no traffic for its tours. Bravo.

The architecture is a blend of old and new–all of it beautiful. With no traffic and very few pedestrians, our guide and driver were able to pull up to a Hindu temple and for us to walk around for awhile.

There are so many temples scattered throughout Columbo, but the detail of this one is amazing–especially with the Lotus Tower as backdrop.

It was difficult to focus on anything else, but out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a guy with a Cobra.

There is a reason so many people die while setting up for a selfie– they are not paying attention! Wait… did he just drape a cobra over my shoulder?

You can see from the look on my face I thought it was the Cobra but fortunately for me it was only a Python. A fairly heavy Python at that. You can see the other Crystal passengers were not eagerly lining up in back of me.

There is a lot of restoration going on, but a lot of it seems to be converting old government buildings into shops with residences above.

Tuk-Tuks are the means of travel in this city… and why not? They should be in every city. I think Tuk-a-Buk is a good name starting in down-town Home Sound, going from bar to bar to restaurant to shops to the beach seems profitable. Uber has launched Uber-Tuk in Sri-Lanka. Hope this trend expands to the States.

We continued to tour around the different districts of Sri-Lanka, each having unique qualities but all of them more beautiful than the next, each offering places to stop, take in the history or beauty and plenty of photo opportunities. I could have filled a terabyte drive with all the images I took. Curating is a lonely profession.

We still could not get over how empty the city was, how much we enjoyed seeing the parks, monuments, temples with no crowds. We stopped to see Independence Monument Hall, where it was completed in 1953 in commemoration of the independence of Sri Lanka from the British rule. It was a beautiful open Structure offering a cool retreat from the heat outside. The detail is simple yet perfectly appointed. It felt both ancient, yet modern.

After spending some relaxed time here we rebounded and moved on. As with almost all of Crystal excursions, one really does not feel rushed or cattle driven. Today happened to be exceptional.

Next we visited the Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple, which really would take days to visit and see every crevice. I cannot do justice in describing all there was to see and hear, so these select images will only offer a window view.

Nearing the end of our tour, we had lunch at the Galle Face Hotel , which is the oldest luxury hotel east of the Suez Canal. Not that anyone needed to eat on this tour, because Serenity makes sure of that. But it was quite beautiful and lunch was delicious. I braved a hot chilly pepper (condiment) and OMG… it was hot? But why did I want another? Fortunately the Lion Beer (very good) lessened the sting.

I could easily see us staying at this hotel in the future. Crystal should add this to their fleet.

And now the dressing to the cake…..