Again we docked this morning just after dawn so got a good view of the port area of Mangalore. and again it seemed clear that the passenger terminal was an after thought as it was in an area that seemed primarily provided for loading fertallizer and coal. On first imporession it seemed that the air of Mangalore was even more poluted by smog and dust that Kotchi. This imression was re-enforced during tour.

We docked in Kotchi this morning just after dawn so got a good view of the port area during the docking operation. It was clear that the passenger terminal was an after thought in what is a very large and busy cargo port. Like Colombo yesterday the air was thick with dust or polution and visibility was restricted.

Towards the end of todays bus ride Nina saw the road sign shown in the first photo below, and decided that it was a very good single image summary of our perception of Sri Lanka. The country seems to be a mix of the old and the new and this is shown very well in the range of vehicles from late model electric cars to animal drawn carts.

We arrived in Colombo this morning and docked in the midst of the very busy container and general cargo port. There was a sign implying that we were in a Cruise ship port but it was really only a token effort. The other aspect of the port that we noticed immediately was the worn nature of a lot of the port infrastructure and many of the docked ships.

Today we are still traveling west towards Sri Lanka. A bit more activity today as Nina decided to get a pedicure. We finally took some photos of the calm and glassy sea. After dinner tonight we noticed another lunar phenominon a Red or Blood Moon. Some research suggests this effect occurs near a lunar eclipse and is the result of the sun's light being scattered by the Earths atmosphere.