Trincomalee, Sri Lanka

We began the tour (Trincomalee: Capital of the East) with a quick tour of the city, whose sheltered harbor attracted great seamen such a Ptolemy and Marco Polo. We stopped at Fort Frederick, which was built by the Dutch in 1623. We saw wild deer around the Fort.

We walked on to the Konneshwaram Hindu Temple, which is one of the five Ashwarams in the world. It was uphill, and we had to take off our shoes for a good part of it and were warned to bring socks as the pavement can be very warm. Even though it was only about 9 AM, it was pretty taxing. I took many photos of the Temple, and there quite a few locals participating in various prayer services

We also stopped at the fish market, but several of us stayed on the bus, and many of those that went in turned around because of the intense fish smell. I think that we made the right decision; I had remembered the odor at a similar stop during an excursion in Saudi Arabia during CAMEL.

We also visited St. Mary’s Cathedral and a beautifully kept cemetery from the WWII.

Our final stop was the beautiful resort, Chaaya Blu. The beaches in this area are renowned for their powdery sand and gentle waves. The resort was originally designed in the 70’s to resemble a sailing vessel, but was transformed in 2010 in a “retro-chic” design. Whatever, it was really nice.

We raced to find some chaises in the shade as there not only several buses in our excursion, but another excursion was an all-day stay at the resort. It was not easy, but we made do with a combination of odd chaise-type chairs and plastic chairs for our feet. These were located in near a pair of rooms that had been designated for changing. The first thing that I did was take a shower—even before attempting to put on a swimsuit and running into the water.

We arrived about 11 AM and later there was a seafood BBQ buffet lunch. We had taken sandwiches from the ship that were supplemented by some delicious little bananas available at the BBQ. While most were eating, I did a few laps in the fantastic infinity pool at the resort. We stayed over 3½ hours and had thoroughly enjoyed the day despite the heat. One thing to bear in mind if you ever visit Trincomalee and if similar Regent excursions are offered, is the choice of whether to bother with the other stops or just hit the resort. I’m glad we did it all, but as I said, the walk to the temple was a challenge for some.

We had a nice dinner in Compass Rose with the Waterhouses and two Canadian doctors who we had not met before this cruise—Leonore Bowman and Phil Blew.

We were too tired to even attempt a peek at the show.

I will send Karen some photos to post, but even now at 5:30 AM, the Internet is very slow.

----------------------

Eugene