Things to do
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Colombo National Museum
Housed in a white Italianate building from 1877, the national collection holds the regalia of the last Kandyan king, Sinhalese swords, Dutch colonial furniture and a gallery of demon masks from the south coast. Labels are uneven and the halls are not air conditioned throughout, so mornings are more comfortable. Two hours covers it without hurrying.
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Galle Face Green
A long strip of mown grass between Colombo's seafront road and the Indian Ocean, Galle Face fills in the late afternoon with kite sellers, cricket games and carts frying isso wade, a prawn fritter eaten standing up. Sunset is the hour to come; the sea wall takes spray and the food stalls run late.
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Gangaramaya Temple
Part working monastery, part museum of donated objects, Gangaramaya crowds its courtyard with Buddha figures, ivory carvings, vintage cars and gifts sent from across Asia. Monks study here and the halls stay in daily use, so shoes come off at the door and shoulders stay covered. Visits are short, and Beira Lake with its island shrine sits a few minutes away.
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Independence Memorial Hall
Built to mark the end of British rule in 1948, this open stone pavilion copies the audience hall of the Kandyan kings, with carved lions along its base and a statue of the first prime minister facing the steps. It takes minutes to walk through. Joggers and families use the surrounding arcade in the cooler evening air.
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Pettah Market
Colombo's wholesale quarter runs street by street: hardware on one, textiles on the next, then fruit, dried fish and gold. Barrows and lorries take the roadway and the noise carries, which is the point of coming. Trade starts early and many stalls close on Sunday. The Red Mosque and the old Dutch church stand in the same grid.
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Red Mosque
Red and white brickwork in broad candy stripes marks the Jami Ul-Alfar mosque, finished in the early twentieth century for Pettah's Muslim traders and still their Friday congregation. Non Muslim visitors are usually welcome outside prayer times, modestly dressed, and the interior is plain after the facade. Its lane is narrow, so the whole building is hard to photograph.
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Viharamahadevi Park
Old rain trees and flowering yellow flamboyants shade the city's largest public garden, laid out beside the museum and named for a queen of legend. Families come at dusk, when the heat drops and the ice cream carts appear. Fruit bats hang in the canopy by day. It works as a quiet half hour between the museum and Independence Square.