Blogs from Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Asia

Galle - Sri Lanka #heygo http://www.heygo.com In 1640, the Portuguese were forced to surrender to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch built the present fort in 1663. They built a fortified solid granite wall and three bastions, known as "Sun", "Moon" and "Star". After the British took over the country from the Dutch in 1796, they preserved the fort unchanged and used it as the administrative centre of the district. Our tour started overlooking the cricket ground. The ground was built in 1876 as a race course. There was no permanent pavilion until 1892, when a ‘grand stand’ was built. Eventually the racing ceased and the ground was used for cricket matches more than races. The fort was under renovation so our guide could not walk along the full length of the walls so he ... read more

Sunday 16 February, 2020, cont'd. We had a quiet afternoon. I did a little packing, as we are leaving in the morning. Lights out 10.00 pm. Monday 17 February, 2020. Today we transfer from Mirissa to Tissamaharama (known as Tissa). A reasonable night's sleep, stirred at 7.20 am. Down to breakfast and we actually managed to get some eggs, sausages, toast and coffee quickly from the younger lad who doesn't have a clue. Spotted the better English speaking guy and paid the bill. Told him we have a taxi booked. Back to the room, to shower and finish packing. Brought the cases down at 10.20 am and waited for our driver. Two German girls arrived and we talked with them. Car turned up at 10.50 am, a Toyota Prius and we loaded up and left. The ... read more

Tuesday 11 February, 2020 cont'd We really had quite a long day out in the heat yesterday, so our plans for the rest of the day were to do very little. Pat did manage to get some washing done in the machine we were allowed to use. Lights out 10.00 pm. Wednesday 12 February, 2020. A good nights sleep. Stirred 7.00 am. We plan to do some research for our transfer tomorrow and another visit to Galle. Breakfast location was moved due to ants. Omelettes and toast, with coffee was on the menu. I found a train to our next location tomorrow afternoon from the train station close by. It is not a stop for the first class trains, which is why we didn't arrive at it. We will try 2nd or 3rd class and see ... read more

Friday 8 February, 2020 cont'd We left the room at 6.30 pm, to have a drink before dinner. Sunset is about 6.15pm so the light was fading. It was nice to look at the sea and a full moon behind the beach. Back to the hotel and we had a drink outside by the pool. We went inside and ordered food for our dinner at 7.30 pm. Pat had chicken and chips and I ordered spaghetti bolognaise.It arrived in due course and was pretty good. The other guests were eating at the beach bar area, so nice and quiet for us. Back to the room and lights out was 10 pm. The group that arrived this afternoon, who we haven't figured a Nationality yet, maybe eastern European, were enjoying themselves being very loud and boisterous, but ... read more

After a beautiful red sunset last night we had a 2 hour electrical storm with heavy rain overnight, the first for the tour. Fortunately our riding finished yesterday as traffic conditions are now too chaotic. Mirissa was a lovely beach break to wander around despite the overcast but humid conditions. Like all the coastal towns in the south Mirissa is now undergoing rapid tourist development but some traditional beach shacks remain . Mid afternoon we had a short drive to Galle exploring the impressive World Heritage listed Dutch colonial town ending with a group dinner & return to Mirissa. The towns Dutch fort still has extensive walls and ramparts and many old buildings that survived the 2004 tsunami. We walked around the ramparts & fort late in the afternoon to avoid the baking midday sun and ... read more