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Published: March 20th 2024
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We arrived in Colombo on Monday. As we had visited before we had booked the ship excursion to Galle. Having watched the cricket from there we had noticed the old fort next to the cricket ground. It was an all day trip. We started with a 2 hour bus trip through the Sri Lankan country side. Very green with white temples scattered around, it was an interesting trip.
Once we arrived in Galle we drove to the fort. As we entered Galle we passed an picturesque beach where there were many small fishing boats, and fishermen selling their wares on the side of the road.Our guide said they do business there because it costs too much to have a stall in the fish market. Then we drove to the fort.This was a very busy place with many buses dropping off tourists. We stopped opposite the cricket stadium. Our guide, Norman, told us that Shane Warne had donated 10 million towards its upgrade and was consequently loved by all Sri Lankans! Opposite our dropping off point was an old Dutch church which we were supposed to visit but it was closed. We walked past some other old Dutch style buildings and then
went into the Marine Archaeological Museum. This contains artefacts from the many shipwrecks in the area. We were shown part of a film about the discoveries and then took a quick walk through the galleries. Some exhibits came from ships as early as the 17th century while there was one statue washed up by the Tsunami of 2004.
From there we were given the option of walking a kilometre to the restaurant or taking the shuttle bus. We were the only ones to accept the lift as it was very hot and humid. We were glad as we arrived at the Ramparts Hotel without being hot and sticky. While we waited for the others, we climbed up on the walls to get a good view of the ocean.
We had lunch on an outside balcony on the first floor. We had time to get a cold beer while waiting for the others. They arrived much later, hot and bothered. Our lunch was OK without being great. We had another beer. As we were leaving, we visited their shop and Fletcher bought, yes you guessed it, another elephant.
From there we drove along the waterfront to Koggala Beach. Here we watched
the men stilt fishing. This is an ancient tradition and I think is still practised for tourism more than anything else. It was good to witness as one of them proudly held up a small fish he had caught. Then it was a short visit to a handicraft factory where we looked but didn't purchase though there were some huge elephants. Our final stop was at a local turtle hatchery. This is run by a conservational group who collect turtle eggs, bury them and after they hatch, release them into the sea. They also act as a hospital for injured turtles. They had one there which had lost his left flipper.
Then it was back on the bus and a 2 and a half hour trip back to the ship. It was rush hour when we reached Colombo and the traffic was heavy. Not quite as bad as Delhi though.
It had been a long day but it was good to explore more of Sri Lanka.
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