Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
noon, 2pm & 4pm, confirm in advance)
At the end of this quiet little street is the house where renowned architect Bawa lived from
1960 to 1970. The house combines his usual love for traditional local forms with the stark
white architectural palette he favoured. Tours take in the interior, with his custom furnish-
ings, and the small gardens.
Temple Trees
LANDMARK
The official prime minister's house has also been the residence for several recent presid-
ents, including Mahinda Rajapakse. It's heavily protected and they might not even let you
walk along the sidewalks nearby.
NAVIGATING COLOMBO
Colombo's spine is Galle Rd, which starts just south of Fort and runs all the way to its
namesake city in the south. Along the way, it passes the old beach resort of Mt Lavinia,
which isn't officially part of Colombo but is definitely within its urban sprawl. Develop-
ment is frenzied all the way to the airport 30km north.
Note that street numbers start again each time you move into a new district. Thus
there will be a '100 Galle Rd' in several different neighbourhoods.
Some Colombo streets have both an old English name and a post-independence Sin-
hala name. Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha is also known as Green Path, for example,
while RA de Mel Mawatha is still known as Duplication Rd. For longer stays, the 96-page
A-Z Street Guideis useful; Google Maps is up to date and accurate.
Cinnamon Gardens
About 5km south of Fort and inland from Kollupitiya, Cinnamon Gardens is Colombo's
most gentrified area. A century ago it was covered in cinnamon plantations. Today it con-
tains elegant tree-lined streets with posh mansions, embassies, stylish cafes and shops,
sports grounds and a cluster of museums and galleries.
