I was told that the last day on my employment contract would be the 31st of August 2015. My friend would be leaving earlier, so we decided that a holiday would be in order before we would each go our own way. That’s an easy decision, but then the question was where to go. Due to the June timing this wasn’t actually so difficult either. You can’t stay in the Middle East because of the heat; and if you are only going for a week you have to stay as close as possible. The first thing that came to mind was Sri Lanka, so that’s where we went.

Arrival
We flew with Etihad because I thought it would be a great idea to fly at night and arrive in the morning at 3:40am. Silly me, because I should’ve learnt from the Goa experience that when you’re flight is short, you can’t sleep on the plane.

Passport control in Colombo Airport is straightforward, especially since most nationalities can apply for the tourist visa online. Finding the public bus to the bus terminal in Colombo was less straightforward. There are no indicators at all in the airport to guide people where to go. We asked around and we ended up next to a road in front of an open terrain filled with cars. No signs anywhere. The only hopeful signs were the touts trying to convince us to take a private vehicle. After half an hour the bus showed up. It was the usual/expected set up. Bags were stacked and thrown in the bus and on top of passengers (I was holding someone’s surf board); but we were lucky enough to have a seat. Even though the ride was only an hour I wouldn’t have liked to stand.

We were dropped off near or at the bus terminal, but we still had to walk a bit to reach the train station. Purchasing the tickets at the station was very easy, and any time we seemed a bit lost as to which terminal we had to go to; people jumped to our aid. An easy conclusion to make (which is one that I would make over and over in Sri Lanka) is that the locals are really kind and helpful people.

Our train left at 7am and we arrived in Galle at 10am. I can really recommend the train ride. For one, it’s comfortable and there were plenty of free seats. Vendors will come by to sell food and drinks in case you’re hungry or thirsty. The best part is that the views are gorgeous. I would recommend you to sit on the right side of the train to enjoy the view over the sea.

Galle
In Galle we decided to walk from the train station to the Fort area. On the way back we took a tuk tuk, because it does tend to get a bit hot and humid in June. We found a hostel (Fort Dew Guest House) which overlooks the sea and which has a nice terrace and rooftop bar.

Lonely Planet Walking Tour
The next order of business was to go on the walking tour the Lonely Planet advised. The Galle Fort area is not very large, so it’s easy to walk around all the main sights and to admire this UNESCO Heritage listed site. UNESCO says about Galle: “Founded in the 16th century by the Portuguese, Galle reached the height of its development in the 18th century, before the arrival of the British. It is the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in South and South-East Asia, showing the interaction between European architectural styles and South Asian traditions.”

That’s certainly true because most of the sights are either Portuguese, British or (and this is where my national pride kicks in) Dutch.

I’ll sum up the stops and every now and then I’ll add some extra information or a picture:
1. Sudharmalaya Temple – easy starting point of the tour because it was next to the guest house.

2. In order to defend the western entrance to Galle Fort, the Dutch built a long rampart wall linked by four gun platform bastions. These four defensive towers are called: Triton Bastion, Neptune Bastion, Clippenberg Bastion and Aeolus Bastion.

3. Clock Tower

4. Main Gate
5. Amangalle Hotel
6. Dutch Reformed Church – There is that national pride again! In The Netherlands I’m not particularly enthralled by churches, but when I find a Dutch church somewhere else my body tingles a bit. The Dutch church in Swellendam, South Africa is gorgeous on the outside; the one in Galle is not particularly beautiful on the outside, but mainly on the inside. The most striking feature was the amount of graves and plaques inside the church. Every step you take you literally step on someone’s gravestone.

7. Bell Tower – This tower has been built to warn villagers of tsunamis or other dangers.
8. All Saint’s Anglican Church – First a Buddhist Temple, then a Dutch church, and then an English one. You can see how culturally diverse Galle is (and used to be).

9. Old Lloyd’s Office
10. Old Gate 

11. Dutch Hospital – which is now filled with boutique shops and cafes.

12. Lighthouse

13. Meeran Mosque

14. Flag Rock – when the Dutch were in control of the town; they used to flag ships to warn them of the rocks. Nowadays, daredevils are jumping off the rocks, to the big delight of the school children running around the area.

Restaurants
I have tried and tested some restaurants in Galle. First, my loves goes out to the Dairy King for his deliciously homemade ice-cream! As per his recommendation I tried the passionfruit, lime and mango combo and it was fantastic!

Peddlar’s Inn is a nice place for lunch. It wasn’t anything special; but it was one of the only places open on Friday afternoon.

We had our first local beer on the rooftop bar of our guest house. These beers are a massive 625ml.

A place which serves a decent breakfast (sandwiches and coffee) is Barista.

Leaving Galle
As I said in the introduction, we walked from the train station to the Fort area. On the way back, however, we decided to keep the sweating to a minimum so we took a tuk tuk. You can ask anyone in Galle for instructions how to travel onward to your next destination because they are incredibly knowledgeable. We were going to Tissamaharama (aka Tissa aka our base of the Yala National Park safari), so we were told to take the 32 bus to Katargama. At the bus stop everyone was helpful again in advising us exactly which bus to get into; because there are multiple number 32 buses with different destinations.

Conclusion
I only stayed in Galle for one day and that wasn’t even a full day because it was the day of arrival in Sri Lanka. However, I think one day is enough to explore the Fort area. Restaurants inside are quite Western and prices are expensive (for example, I paid 10 euro for dinner (spaghetti) and half a massive beer). If we would’ve ventured outside the Fort area it might have been more affordable, but with our busy itinerary we weren’t planning on staying long anyways.

I did learn a lot about the town, because the people working in hotels and restaurants are keen to strike up a conversation. I learnt that the Boxing Day Tsunami from 2004 reached and destroyed a big part of Galle city; however, due to the water drainage system in Galle Fort (thanks to the Dutchies) most of that area remained unaffected. I also learnt that there are still foreigners living in Galle who own their property from the days of the occupation.

As I said before, my next blog post will be about the stay in Tissamaharama and Kirinda (two bases for Yala National Park).