Day 14

 Our last day here... ☹️today is all about temples and tuk tuk. Our driver Morrison picks us up at 10:00 and we go on a 2 ½ hour joyride around Colombo 

It feels like we hit every temple in Colombo... There's a lot of them - Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic, Mosque

Here's a selection -

St Anthony's is a very holy place where miracles happen apparently. Unfortunately it was also a target for Islamic terrorist in 2019 and 57 people were killed.

Had to cover up for this one.... I could get used to the freedom of the ensemble.

Some more sights of Colombo -

Independence Square

Main port area and Buddhist temple 

The port is being redeveloped with a massive Chinese investment 

I'm halfway up - 200 steps and the lift doesn't work...🥵

Great view from the top though

Some fabulous old colonial buildings. Some renovated and some still waiting

This is the old post office

And this is modern Colombo. Lots of skyscrapers.

We encountered a huge line of worshippers that are queueing to view the sacred Devnimori relics from India. These are on display for 24 hours only at the temple near the lake. The queue was already about 3 km in length.... It would take about 3 or 4 hours in line before you got to the temple - temperature was around 31°c - 

We're at the Galle Face hotel tonight for a little bit of dinner and cocktails

It's a beautiful place in a fantastic location. It was built in 1864 and it consistently wins awards for the best hotel. Everyone from George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward, Clement Atlee, Lawrence Olivier, Roger Moore and Che Guevara have stayed here.

A lovely end to a great holiday. We've loved Sri Lanka, especially the people. It gets 5 stars from the Sweets.

That's all for now - see you next time.....👍

 

Day 13

 We're at Galle station for the 7:00 train to Colombo

Just a couple of hours up the coast to Colombo - a nice trip. 1st class ticket is £2.50 each... an absolute bargain! If you want to slum it in second or third class, it's a £1 or 50 pence

We're staying at the Ramada for the last couple of nights. On the way from the station our tuk-tuk driver sold us the idea of a tuk-tuk tour of the city which we're going to do tomorrow. 

Ok - I've seen better views out of a hotel window

We're hopping on another train this afternoon and going down to the Mount Lavinia hotel.

Third class travel this time but it's not too bad - about 10p a ticket.

The hotel was the old governor's house and dates back to 1805. Later on it became a hotel and then in WW II it was a military hospital. It was also used as a filming location for the hospital scenes in Bridge over the River Kwai. The whole movie was filmed about 50 miles east of Colombo. There's nothing there to see now - the bridge is all gone (obviously)

Back on the 5.00 commuter - it's rush hour

 Last day tomorrow ☹️

Day 12

 We start off the day with the 2 km walk around the ramparts. It's Sunday here so there's a lot of other people doing the same thing. 

A couple of views of the cricket ground from the top of the ramparts including an iguana 

The fortifications of Galle were built by the Portuguese, then the Dutch and finally British

This is a 20 lb British articulating cannon - its range is about 2½ km

The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1930

These guys dive off this rock into 1½ m of water. They'll only do it for money and they obviously hadn't collected enough when we were there....  So no pics.

VOC is the Dutch East India company logo

Loads of lads around playing cricket 

This is our hotel - after several cold showers I've just noticed the switch to fire up the electric pump...🥴

Dinner of prawns and calamari from the restaurant across the road. This is the fish selection

Snapper,crab,prawn,calamari,oysters - beautiful!

We're off to Colombo tomorrow for our last two nights. First class train - naturally, a 2 hour hour trip up the coast.

Day 11

 Heading off from Matara today. It's been a lovely 3 days here. Really chilled - a beautiful beach. Hotel was pretty good and a lovely quiet location - just what we needed. 

We're going to be hopping on a train for an hour to go along the coast to the town of Galle.

 

The carriages look a bit tired. We're in second class. Maybe that's why..

The town is a world heritage site and at one time was the most important port in Sri Lanka - mainly trading with the Arab world at that time. It's mentioned on charts dating back over 2000 years. The Portuguese arrived in 1500 and they held the city for about 150 years and then the Dutch took over in 1640. It became a major port for the Dutch East India company. The Dutch fortified the city and built the ramparts and bastions all the way around the peninsula. But it wasn't enough to keep the next lot out - in 1796 the British showed up and because the Dutch military presence was depleted because of the Napoleonic wars they were able to take Galle. Over the next 20 years the British moved all through Sri Lanka and took over the whole island. 

This is Galle cricket ground. Some say it's the most beautiful ground in the world. Indian Ocean on both sides.

Sri Lanka was hit by the 2004 tsunami and especially the South and West coasts. The cricket ground here was absolutely devastated. Apparently there was a match going on and the waves hit the ground 20 ft high and they had to climb up onto the roof of the stadium. Most of the stadium had to be rebuilt later on.

Dropped in at the Galle Fort hotel for a couple of g&t's and a glass of wine.

 It's about £250 a night here. We're staying in a lovely little boutiquy place - it's £33 a night... 🤫 - don't tell Coral...

Dinner tonight - octopus salad and grilled parrot fish with lime cream sauce....mmm

Will be doing a walk around the ramparts tomorrow morning first thing.