Colombo, Sri Lanka

Walking through the centre of Colombo is a draining experience in more ways than one. Not only is it ferociously hot - much more so than Kerala - and incredibly humid, but I have aching legs and stomach muscles after yesterday's yogic exertions. Surdeep really took it to another level.

But the indulgence of Christmas, combined with the calorific consumption of holiday pleasures, is taking its toll so to combat the extra inches we decide to go for an early morning run beside the railway tracks on Marine Drive. It's still well before 8am but we only manage ten minutes in the roasting air before retreating to the more sensible climes of the hotel.

So it is our walking tour of Colombo after breakfast with Kingsley that gets our legs stretching and the sweat pouring. As it's a Sunday it's much quieter than normal for which Kingsley apologises but which is actually a bonus. We get to see plenty of life without the overwhelming chaos of a weekday, or the craziness we witnessed during last night's drive.

We start in the car however, driving from out hotel past the presidential palace where we see, by chance, the changing of the guard. We're not allowed to take photos of any military institutions or personnel at the best of times but it transpires we've arrived just ahead of a very hotly contested presidential election so security is extra tight.

The next few days could become very interesting indeed as the incumbent president is deeply unpopular but has no intention of relinquishing power, and as we learn more during our trip our anticipation, along with a touch of nervousness mounts. Sri Lanka is on the verge of major political change in just a few days' time and it could impact our trip quite significantly.

Outside the old parliament building is a statue of SWRD Bandaranaike, who was the second prime minister of Sri Lanka, elected in 1956 and assassinated three years later. He was a man of huge importance and a decade later his wife became the world's first female prime minister, ahead of Golda Mair in Israel and Indira Gandhi in India.

We continue on past the few remaining colonial buildings not knocked down in the name of progress and come to the port, where we park and start our city walk. This is the old heart of Colombo, named Pettah, and essentially a winding district of bazaars, shops, stalls, temples and businesses. It's smelly and squalid, vibrant and exciting and during the week would be thronged to claustrophobic levels with thousands of people buying, selling and exchanging.

We walk down Main Street which last night was one big traffic jam and see snake charmers and iPhone sellers side by side, textile stores and spice emporiums. In the heart of it lies the Old Dutch Museum which is 340 years old and was initially home to Count August Carl Von Ranzow. Now it displays, in dim and dusty fashion, the faded history of Dutch imperialism.

Guava sellers try to tempt us on the side of the road and cobblers mend shoes in front of the Old Town Hall. We walk down Sea Street, full of gold merchants and see a few Hindu shrines, next to a mosque, some churches and a Buddhist temple.

Sri Lankan law has dictated religious freedom and tolerance for centuries, ever since an 11th Century king married an Indian wife and erected a Hindu temple for her, so while wars have been fought between ethnic groups they have never been over religion.

We stop at a huge Buddhist temple, Ganarayama, which is 120 years old. It's quite amazing, and within its complex has a Hindu area of worship set aside too. All religions work in harmony here and Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims all observe each other's holy days.

In fact today is one of those days, named a Poya day in the Buddhist calendar, being a Full Moon Day. The temple has a service in full swing, led by a monk instructing hundreds of faithful all dressed in white, none of whom are perturbed by tourists wandering around with cameras.

Back in our blissfully air conditioned car we drive from the old part of town into the gleaming spires of Colombo's fast developing new districts. As we go we pass Slave Island which the Dutch constructed and kept African slaves on to labour in the spice trade and construction, surrounded by a lake of crocodiles to stop them escaping. Thankfully one of the first things the British did on taking control of Sri Lanka was to free all the slaves.

Queen Victoria Park and Independence Square are next, with the colonial Radio Ceylon building behind it now transformed into Colombo's newest and most fashionable shopping arcade.

Kingsley finally returns us to our hotel for lunch, where we ask for a beer and G&T to relax us after the heat and exhaustion of the morning but being a Buddhist country, Poya days mean no alcohol can be served anywhere in the country. Our concierge whispers that we're more than welcome to raid the minibar in our room though! Like we need any encouragement…