Last Day

We travelled up to Colombo by train yesterday. There was a bit of confusion about our seat allocation. Bob believed he had booked 2nd Class Reserved seats but when we found the seats there was Sri Lankan woman occupying one of them. She would not accept that our ticket showed 37A and that she was occupying it. Being the 7.15 am train it was not heavily booked so we managed to find two seats together but the woman had the plum seat with full window view and open to the breeze. We waited until there were Rail Staff nearby and then Bob explained the problem.They then explained the cause. Our ticket was for seats 37&38 Car A ie 1st Class. We had to get our bags ready and when the train stopped at the next station get off the train and scurry along to the next car with the staff herding us saving "hurry, hurry". So we ended up with slightly more comfortable seats but windows that were dust and rain streaked but which we couldn't open because it was air conditioned. It was only a 2.5 hour trip so we were soon back in Colombo. We then cloaked our luggage and hired a Tuktuk to take us for a drive around Central Colombo. We have been booked into accommodation both times out near the airport in an area called Nogombo. As such we have explored this area and not been in to the city. Our driver took us to a brief stop over at the Botanic Gardens which were pretty but didn't rank as high Kandy. We then saw a bit of the city scape as we drove to Independence Square and back to the Railway Station. We then used "Pick Me" to hire a car and driver to take us out to Nogombo. Pick Me is a local cheaper version of Uber which was recommended by our first hostess and which has been highly reliable. By 3.00 pm we were ensconced in our accommodation and had nothing more to do than have a rest and walk down the street to dinner. This morning we caught a succession of Tuktuks to go out to the Nogombo central shopping area which is quite a long way. We explored a couple of the department stores and then went out to the beach to watch the fishing boats, the young people surfing and have an ice cream. The weather is quite hot now and because of the humidity we sweat a lot so it was very pleasant out there in a breeze and watching the hawker trying

to earn his living. He had quickly realised he wasn't going to get anywhere with us even though he had modified his stock of necklaces to include some without shells or wood. We have late checkout at our accommodation so we can stay here until we leave for the airport. So tomorrow morning we will be back in Perth and it is over and out from me.

Galle Day 4

This morning we went to breakfast at a more upmarket place than we have been frequenting. I ordered French Toast and this is what arrived.

Galle Day 3

This morning our host took us on a complementary walk up Church Street to visit two major Christian churches. These are the Anglican and the Dutch Reformed churches. They were both built in the early 17 hundreds.There is another building which is of the same era which was a church but is now a Mosque. They were all impressive buildings built of stone and rendered white or cream and with magnificent timber interiors. We only visited the Christian ones. From there we walked back to our accommodation in a very leisurly and circuitous way.We walked down past Sri Lanka's longest building which is the old mercantile traders building and is now converted to two museums. To fit in with our host we had commenced this walk without breakfast so it was our first priority when we arrived back. Bob ate his usual two egg, sausage, chicken bacon serving but this morning he was served baked beans as well. We always seem to be eating so I settled for a banana milkshake. We were joined by three scrawny kittens who seemed to be obsessed with Bob's shoes and socks. We did our best to ignore them but they were quite cute. Eventually one of the men serving us took a carton of milk outside and filled up a couple of improvised trays for them. No sign of mother cat. We came back here after breakfast to pick up a tuktuk to go exploring the department stores up in the main town. The Fort area has all variety of offerings for tourists and most of it is good quality but we have travelled enough not to want "things". My main requirement was a new backpack as mine won't accommodate the few things we have bought. Found just the item at a reasonable price in the school requirements section. After a rest it was approaching lunchtime. Just as we set off it started to rain. Big heavy drops but it didn't last long and we just waited on our first floor verandah and watched the street parade. Lunch was easy to find and then we had another walk around town. Then it was rest time again. Only a few hours to dinner time now. Life is tough.

Galle Day 2

After going out to find breakfast because this is the first place that doesn't supply it we took a car with driver to Merissa. This is the town 30+ kms back along the coast from the direction that we came from yesterday. We didn't pass through it then because our driver brought us along the main highway which is also a toll road. Merissa is one of three surfing communities along the coast from here. It is a pretty coastline but we found there was no major town centre to explore. It is rather like the stretch of road between Busselton and Dunsborough with endless accommodation places and restaurants. We went up to a local lookout called Coconut Tree Hill for a view of the coast and bay area. You will see from my photo how it earned it's name. The surf didn't seem particularly larly significant to me and I was much more intrigued by the out rigger fishing boats. If you can enlarge my photo you will see the outrigger is made of rough bush timber and apart from providing stability it is very useful for dragging these heavy boats up the beach at the end of the day's fishing. There were 8-10 men working on the one we photographed to lift/drag it up the beach. Even though Merissa is only about 30 kms away the road is narrow and winding like most roads here so it was an hours travel each way. When we arrived back we went for a walk around town until it was lunch time. Scouting was beneficial as we found a bakery with freshly baked rolls. We needed the change from rice or noodle dishes for lunch and dinner. They were delicious even though Bob was disappointed that the best option was tomato and white (bland) cheese with pesto.I also bought two chocolate chip biscuits because the commercial biscuits are pretty tasteless. They were a success. Might go back tomorrow. This evening we went for a walk after dinner around the top of the Fort walls. These are very tall being about 25 feet high, built of stone and broad at the base. They were commenced by the Portugese in the 15th Century and then improved by the Dutch invaders and finally the British. They also provided protection from the most recent Tsunami. Tomorrow we have been promised a walk around points of interest by our host. Particularly the magnificent old churches that we haven't ventured into.

Galle Day 1

We had a comfortable trip down to Galle in a Toyota sedan with a driver who was friendly but didn't pretend to be a guide. The accommodation we have here is in a big old renovated house. The business owner is an architect turned artist so the ground floor is a gallery for his work and the upper floor is the accommodation. Comfortable room though not spacious but with a good bathroom. We had a rest and then went for a walk around the main tourist streets which are within the walls of the old Dutch Fort. Later we went down to walk some of the path along the top of the earthen/rock walls and to watch the sun go down over the ocean. I will need to take photos this evening because I didn't take my tablet last night. We went to a restaurant to have fish for dinner as this is the local specially and we haven't had any since we have been here. Prices are higher here because it is the premium tourist town so it cost a lot more than we have been paying. Elsewhere meals and accommodation have been a lot less than Australia. I am posting a photo of a photo of a leopard which our previous host had above his desk. It was taken by a professional photographer who stayed at his accommodation.

Tissa Day three

Today hasn't quite panned out a planned. Initially we set off to visit the local Temple which like previous ones is Buddhist. We had also mentioned to Saji , who is Buddhist, that the Hindu one sounded very interesting but this vanished like vapour as he mapped out a logical progression geographically. We drove to the Lake which was on our way to elsewhere . This is a huge lake created by the reigning Monash in the 1st century BC as a water supply. It was then restored and had the capacity increased by the British in the 1850's. It makes a restful centre piece to a busy town. The temple was photographed from the outside as Bob was wearing shorts which didn't cover his knees. I knew this decorum related to women's dress but hadn't realised that it applied to men also. While we were standing admiring the building which was interesting I noted a young man ignore the protocol and stroll in. This obviously happens but not on Saji's watch. The temple was interesting because it had a rectangular Stupa compared to all the others we had seen which were round. This may be because it was built in the 3rd Century BC and was governed by the technology of the time. From there we went downtown and indulged in a bit of shopping. Because we bought locally produced items it was very reasonable. It remains to be seen how successful our purchases will be. For lunch we dined at what Saji said was a genuine Sri Lankan restaurant as opposed to a tourist one. The vegetable side dishes for our curry and rice were certainly more varied and one of them was the spiciest we have eaten. We went vegetarian which seemed the safest as there were a few flies buzzing around. No repercussions yet. The plan was to return to the hotel for a rest and the Saji would collect us at 4pm to go to The Hindu temple. However he phoned us at about 2pm quite distressed because his family had phoned to say his mother was ill with chest pains. He was obviously worried and naturally wanted to go home. He has arranged another car and driver for us who will hopefully turn up at 10am tomorrow to take us to Galle. He came around as he was leaving because our rain jackets were in the car and so that we could give him his tip for his work until then. He was a cheerful young man who was a good driver but didn't know much more than Google did about the towns we have visited. Bob is currently swatting up on Galle because we have four nights there and the driver is an unknown quantity. He is being supplied by the original travel agency that recruited Saji so there is some reliability in that history.

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Tissa Day 2

This morning was notable because we were up, dressed and ready for the driver at 5am. This was Safari door to door service so we were collected in the Safari truck that was our vehicle for the day. Our usual driver was a leisure around Tissa for the day. It took about 55 minutes to reach the entry gate to the Yala N.Park so we joined the queue and like all the others headed to a series of waterholes where the leopards come for their early morning drink. We shuffled around between water holes unsuccessfully before the driver headed off to show us other features of the Park. Besides managing the road which varied from smooth to very rough where there were rocks or wash aways he was very adept at watching the bush for animal siteings. There are a lot of small deer through the Park but the places where we really saw wildlife was around water. It has been very dry here with no rain since the end of the wet season. They didn't even get the thunderstorm we had in Ella. We saw lots of waterbirds including quite colourful Storks, Herons, Egrets, and several different small colourful birds similar size to our New Hollands. These latter ones had names that didn't translate easily.Nearly forgot the Sea Eagle and his nest and a brown eagle. In the animal kingdom we saw lots of buffalo, a marmot, water monitor lizards and eventually some elephants. The elephants were scattered around various watering places and three we saw were belly deep in a huge area of water plants having a great feed. One of these was a female with a baby at heel. He was just big enough that his head and back were above the water plants. Bob got a great photo but mine is a bit distorted by the enlargement needed to cover the distance. We were taken back to the cafe for lunch but this was more for seating as our driver unpacked bowls od rice, chicken, beans, and Dahl prepared by a friend who owns a. restaurant. This was delicious especially be cause the beans were obviously fresh picked compared to the tired frozen ones we have been getting in the restaurants. By now we had been on the road in the Park for 6hours. The agenda provided a two hour break with the tour recommencing at 2.00pm. Bob and I had a confab and decided that we had been foolish to book a full day and the possibility of seeing a leopard at dusk didn't stack up against another 3-4 hours in the heat and bumps. We convinced our driver that we wanted to bail and despite his reluctance he brought us home. Rewarded with the appropriate tip. The swimming pool was first stop at our accommodation and it was bliss. Dinner at our accommodation and relaxation sealed the deal.