Across the road from Colombo's famous seaside park, Galle Face Green, a tent city filled with young people has been buzzing with activity for the past four months.
It is the hub of Sri Lanka's anti-government protest movement — a motley collection of colourful tents that has become home to a few hundred people.
"It is good to live here with like-minded people," Buddhi Prabodha Karunaratne, one of the protest leaders, told the ABC.
"We gather around in the evening and we discuss and we plan our strategies — what should we do and what shouldn't we do — and I think living here has helped us to plan many things and fight against this government."
It was inside one of the tents that plans were hatched to occupy the luxury residence of strongman president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the colonial-era office of his hand-picked prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Sri Lankans blame the pair, as well as former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president's older brother, for the unprecedented economic crisis that is crippling this island nation.
"We were planning [and thought] well maybe at some time if millions of people decide to come into Colombo, we might be able to acquire [the President's residence]," Mr Karunaratne said.
He was one of the first people to get inside the compound, then thousands followed over the next five days.
Sri Lankans who had been battling to make ends meet for months lapped up the palatial surroundings — even swimming in the pool, using the expensive gym equipment, taking selfies on the sofas, and making curries in the kitchen.
"People are struggling in their lives and their jobs, they are running out of food, and people are dying because they don't have medicine, but still the luxuries were there [inside the president's residence] and they were living their same old life," Mr Karunaratne said.
The young advertising executive emerged as a protest leader after he was one of the first people to set up at the tent city in early April.
Fed up with seeing his community hit by power cuts, inflation, and shortages of essentials such as food, fuel, and cooking oil, Mr Karunaratne put out a call on social media.
"I am going to get on the streets to protest even all by myself. These ruling blokes don't understand. If nothing else, at least get on the road near your home and protest," he wrote.
Support came flooding in and the very next day Mr Karunaratne found himself leading a rally of around 400 people.
After that he joined up with other emerging protest groups and took a break from work to concentrate on the 'Gota Go Home' campaign.
"I'm just an individual, I am not representing a political party. I am not coming from any trade union whatsoever, I am just an individual who made a statement on social media and I wanted people to join," he said.
"But now the whole world knows this is a protest, this is a struggle by commoners, by real citizens in Sri Lanka."
Environmental psychology consultant Kasumi Ranasinghe Arachchige has also been living in the tent city since the protests began.
She told the ABC she was "very proud of the people of Sri Lanka for standing up for themselves" by protesting against the government.
"To be truthful, I had been sceptical about how united Sri Lanka was," she said.
"But I [have seen] more and more people getting involved and helping in different ways — it doesn't have to be people just protesting, it's distribution, it's contribution, it's providing a service in different ways, in your own capacity."
Sri Lankans don't believe politicians will keep promises
President Rajapksa fled the country in a Sri Lankan Air Force plane in the early hours of Wednesday — just hours before he was expected to formally resign.
He flew to Singapore on Thursday aboard a private jet and sent a copy of his resignation letter to the parliamentary speaker back in Sri Lanka once he had landed.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana confirmed the letter's authenticity on Friday morning and announced it to the nation.
Mr Wickremesinghe also promised to stand down as prime minister, but is clinging to power as acting president until the parliament elects a new leader.
That is due to happen this week, but the people are so used to politicians breaking promises they are not quite ready to believe it yet.
On Wednesday, thousands of protesters stormed the office of the prime minister, demanding he stand down immediately.
Security forces used tear gas and water cannon to try to fight off the group, and accused some of the activists of violent tactics too, but ultimately the angry mob made it into the secure compound.
Ms Arachchige said protesters have wanted new leadership for Sri Lanka since the beginning, but they are still in disbelief that it is happening.
"We achieved something and I'm actually hopeful. I'm hopeful [for the future] because of the fact we were able to achieve this in such a short time span," she said.
The protest movement is dominated by students and young professionals, but people from all walks of life have been supporting their occupation of government buildings.
When they heard the protesters had stormed the President's residence, they came from towns near and far to look inside the opulent building for themselves — even with the high cost of transport right now.
Queues to get in snaked along city streets for several kilometres, with entire families lining up patiently for several hours in the hot sun.
Once at the front gate, they were greeted by some of the protest leaders who had taken on caretaker-like roles, only allowing a certain number of people in at once, and tidying up as groups went through.
Asanka Ranasinghe and Samangita Ranasinghe came with their three children because they thought they would never get the opportunity to see the colonial-era mansion again.
"This presidential bungalow is very important for the locals, this place is very important," Ms Ranasinghe told the ABC as she took photographs of her family inside the luxurious rooms.
But she added that it was hard to see such grandeur during tough times.
"This is a bad time… there is no fuel, no food, very expensive," she said.
Student Rashid Firdause brought his parents and younger siblings to see the residence.
He had been contemplating trying to leave Sri Lanka because of the economic crisis.
"The situation is very difficult to stay in this country," he said.
It's something many Sri Lankans have considered, including high school student Shiffna Nilam, who came to see the residence with her family.
"I feel like leaving but we don't leave because this is our country," she said.
"We are protesting, we will fight for this, we are Sri Lankans so we will fight for this."
Even once a new president is in place and a new government takes shape, Sri Lanka's dire financial situation and cost of living pressures will take time to address.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) paused negotiations for a bailout due to the political and economic crises, but said it "hopes for a resolution that would allow the resumption of IMF dialogue with Sri Lankan authorities".
India has given its island neighbour more than $5 billion in aid money this year, and other nations have also contributed. Australia provided $50 million last month.
Sri Lankans know there is a long road ahead to recovery, even with assistance from the IMF and other countries.
All eyes will be on the parliament this week for the presidential vote and the subsequent choices that person makes for other key leadership positions.
Protesters have left the buildings they occupied but are planning their next moves.
Their tent city has been up for exactly 100 days now, but they don't plan to dismantle it just yet.
