Sri Lanka It's Happening

April 2, 2004

Just got back from the Galle Face in Colombo haven't seen so little traffic in the downtown area in ages.

Today was election day. Elections in this country have always been rather bloody affairs with supporters of politians taking pot shots at each other. For this reason the night of the election has almost always seen curfew been imposed.

Fortunately for us this time around the Election Commisioner has stood strong. He made it very clear from the outset that no violence will be tolerated. As a result we have had the cleanest elections in a long long time.

Now to get back to the Gall Face. The Galle Face is a vast open area in the heart of the city located right next to the beach. 'The greens' is usually bustliing with activity and it's nearly impossible to find a parking space anywhere close by.

Today in anticipation of the curfew most people stayed in their homes during the evening. Members of my extended family decided to risk the curfew and ventured to the galle face. To our immense delight we found almost no traffic all the way from home to the greens and the greens itself was as empty as it can ever be.

Posted by raditha at April 2, 2004 2:00 PM