Sri Lanka’s first capital up to recent times, Colombo, is a fascinating city, not only for its blend of the east and west, but also for it’s cosy mixture of the past and present. It remains the commercial city of the country with a mix of sinhalese, tamils, muslims, and all kinds of cultures. The cosmopolitan side of Colombo includes stylish theatres, cinemas, restaurants, cafés, museums, shopping complexes, galeries and markets. Colombo history involves successive ruling by the Portugues, Dutch, and British and it was a major port on the East-West trade during that era.