We sipped syrupy cardamom coffee from roadside vendors.

Witnesses said that charcoal stoves lit by roadside vendors had contributed to the blasts.

Venture out of the hotel grounds for roadside vendors offering street-food delights all around the island - freshen your palate with juicy mango, lychee or jackfruit, from 80p.

Hawkers, peddlers, small shops, rickshaws transport, roadside vendors and stalls employ a large segment of the population rickshaw-drivers alone number as many as 400,000.

Plastic bags are banned and almost all shops and roadside vendors heed the rule and use recycled paper bags in fear of a social reprisal.