A Day Out in Colombo (Part 1): Art Gallery and Sri Lanka Tea Board

A fortnight ago I had a day out in the city of Colombo, where I currently live. A bit of introduction for those of you who have never heard of this place: Colombo is the capital city of a tiny island in the Indian Ocean, south of India, called Sri Lanka. It’s renowned for its aromatic spices, tea and precious gems. It has a tropical climate surrounded by beautiful beaches.

Now that you’ve come to know a bit about it, let’s head on to my trip!

(This is going to be a picture-heavy post, hope you’ll like it! I’ve also divided it into two parts as it felt too long.)

Plate Limited

When we entered the place we were hit by a strong musty and damp smell. Could be a mixture of the paint oils, wood and incense. They didn’t have the air-conditioners on, only the fans.

You can see the mezzanine floor, which houses artist supplies, after going through the entrance. Supplies were expensive as compared to getting them in China. Well, duh, what did you expect, Arden?

We didn’t visit the gallery, which I later regretted a bit.

There was a placard stating that photographs were not allowed but I just couldn’t resist snapping a few shots! I love the wooden interior, it has a very traditional vibe.

Sri Lanka Tea Board

Could that be a traditional tea brewer or some such contraption standing sentinel on both sides of the tea shelf?

Lots of varieties of tea in a range of packaging styles.

Cute miniature tea packs.

Guysss, look what I discovered! Tea packaged as BOOKS!!! I wanted to buy them all!

They even had it marked as volumes! Vol I to Vol. IV.

After visiting the Sri Lankan Tea Board we checked out The Body Shop(Galle Road branch). Average price found there was LKR 2500(US$15) and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a few vegan and vegetarian options! Wish they were alcohol-free though, like Spa Ceylon, as I’m a Muslim.

We then walked half a block to the bookshop and later the vegetable market, which you can check out in Part 2.