At the street level there were numerous shops catering to tourists. Here Sister Dosdall is being hustled by some helpful vendors who pulled a dress over her head to show her how well it fit her.

The other conspicuous presence on the street was military. 12% of the population is Hindu Tamil, who after centuries of oppression by the Sinhalese majority, formed under the leadership of a non-Tamil named Prabagharin, the LTTE or Tamil Tigers which has waged a terrorist civil war for 25 years. In this downtown area the security was intense. On every corner were sandbag emplacements with armed soldiers. Walking to their stations the automatic weapons were on their shoulders. In place, they were in hand and at ready. We were forewarned not to photograph them.