Pettah Markets

Pettah MarketsWatch Colombo come alive in this maze of markets. An open air area, here you can find everything from food to clothing to jewellery. Make your way to the food vendors and sample locally-grown fruits and vegetables. It's chaotic, colourful, vibrant and noisy. Watch as locals in chaste Sinhalese bargain over a bunch of bananas or a kilo of brinjal.

Talk to the friendly vendors, who are only too happy to share recipes of their favourite local dishes. Find fiery-red spices sold by weight, wrapped up in plastic bags; or get a taste of Sri Lankan wood apples. Once you're satiated, and very possibly, bursting at the seams, head to the nearby clothing stalls (how convenient!). Here, you can invest in a more voluminous wardrobe, embellished with local emblems such as the elephant.