I got a bit behind ....
I've got a bit behind in this … sorry 'bout that folks.
When I last wrote we were in Galle - we'd walked the ramparts of the old fort, checked out the new town and explored a bit of the actual Fort area.
On our last full day in Galle (Friday) we checked out a few of the museums & other historical sites.
Out after breakfast we headed for the Galle Museum, stopping on the way to have a look at All Saints Church. Consecrated in 1871 it is, unfortunately showing the ravages of the tropical Sri Lankan weather and now in desperate need of a weather-proof roof and TLC and a good coat of paint.
Next, a brief stop at the Bell Tower (the bell is now used in the event of tsunamis) - and studiously avoiding the guy with the cobra in a basket and a flute in his mouth the old Post Office and then on to the Museum itself. Only tiny it has a small collection of artefacts from days gone by.
After the museum, we headed for another look at the Dutch Hospital. Blaring music (and absolutely NOT to my taste) advertised a concert in Court Square that evening. Setting up was in full swing, and it was quite obvious that local OHS regulations were not the same as they are at home. These guys were scrambling over the roof hanging canvas covers without a rope or harness in sight.
One of the shops in the Dutch Hospital is a Real Estate Agent - we did a spot of window shopping and decided on this place, before stopping for a coffee near this gorgeous breadfruit tree with its fabulous foliage.
Ready to go again, our next stop was at the Historical Mansion Museum. Deceptive from the front, you enter into an Aladin's cave that is in fact, the life of a bower-bird in cabinets. Its the product of a lifetime of collecting 'stuff' by one man. Cabinets of every imaginable kind of household wares - china, glass, books, lamps, religious paraphernalia and typewriters - you name it - its here, batik stamps and betel nut cutters included.
Our final stop for the day was the Sudharmalaya Temple with its brightly painted buddhas and the best sign we'd seen for a while, but not before we came across yet another wedding shoot.
We returned to the beautiful Heritage Hotel for dinner and then it was back to the apartment to pack for the next leg of our trip.
Ranjit and Moninna had told us about the Highway Bus so next morning we said farewell to these two delightful people and took a tuk tuk to the bus station for the trip to Colombo. Until now we'd used a car & driver (sourced locally) to bet between our various destinations. We'd seen the buses on the road and decided the drivers were wither crack-heads or maniacs with a death wish and had studiously avoided using them. Moninna told us how she regularly catches the highway bus and how different it was to the local buses so we thought we'd save ourselves $80 and give the bus a go. It was $8 very well spent - it was comfortable, quick and landed us in the outskirts of Colombo a little over an hour after we left Galle.
We avoided the worst of the tuk tuk scrum at the bus station and once the crowd had cleared found a driver who would use his meter. It took about half an hour to get to the apartment block, only to find out we'd had some emails from the owner while we were en-route letting us know that the previous guests in the apartment had broken a tap and we couldn't stay. They had booked us a hotel and arranged transfer there and assured us they had a plumber booked for first thing Monday morning. All going well we would be able to get into the apartment sometime after 1pm on Monday. No point getting miffed, we went with the flow and found ourselves at the very nice Marino Bay Resort - fight on the coast, directly across from the railway line and with an infinity pool on the 10th floor that looked out over the ocean. Sunset from pool-deck was pretty impressive, though I wish I'd stayed later because by the time we headed out for dinner the western sky was ablaze with pink
Our room key-card was even required to get into the pool area - we felt a bit like we were at a train station entry at home but it was important to keep the riff-raff out.
The building site next door was fascinating - hundreds of guys in matching Hi-Viz gear working through the day and at night, the crane delivering loads of concrete.
Plumbing problem solved and we moved into our 22nd floor apartment on Monday. It faces east and has pretty incredible views of suburban Colombo and the ever-busy Union Drive. The almost-finished Lotus Tower will be a fabulous addition to the tourist trail when it opens later this year.
Given we'd lost part of a day in the hotel transfer stuff, we decided to check out the local area a bit rather than head off in search of the bigger-ticket items. Not far from us is a lake with a small Buddhist temple. Unfortunately the lake was green and putrid which spoiled the atmosphere completely.
Just around the corner and covered by a combined entry ticket is the much larger Gangaramaya Temple with its incredible collection of religious artefacts and other 'stuff'.
Ok - so now I've caught up and its actually today.
We're in an apartment, and if we had been staying longer, we'd probably have gone to a supermarket and bought more than just milk (we've been carrying coffee & sugar) so it was just coffee here this morning before heading out in search of something more substantial.
Plans for today included checking out the Pettah and the Old Fort area. Deciding against taking a tuk tuk, we headed out on foot - aiming first for the Colombo Fort Railway station.
On the way we passed Colombo in all its craziness - old houses cheek-by-jowl with concrete skyscrapers-in-the-making, rows of waiting tuk tuks the clocktower and the Red Mosque and into the chaos of the market district we went.
Braving the traders with their trolleys, the tuk tuks delivering people and goods and the local women and their sun-shielding umbrellas.... we lasted only about half an hour. It was manic and not much fun at all. I did stop at a fabric shop and was staggered by the light-weight Sri Lankan men and their capacity to carry rolls of fabric.
On our way to the Dutch Hospital (yet another old hospital re-developed into a modern shopping 'experience') a little train rolled along the track - with way to many men aboard for a regular little shunting engine.
This is the old Fort part of Colombo - lots of old buildings
By now we were both getting hot & more than a bit sweaty, and frustrated at the lack of our kind of shopping (not plastic shit, not elephant pants or Sri Lanka t-shirts) so we headed back to the apartment for a little nap before heading out again to check out sunset at the Galle Face Green. Loved the traffic cop on point duty we passed on the way
When I last wrote we were in Galle - we'd walked the ramparts of the old fort, checked out the new town and explored a bit of the actual Fort area.
On our last full day in Galle (Friday) we checked out a few of the museums & other historical sites.
Out after breakfast we headed for the Galle Museum, stopping on the way to have a look at All Saints Church. Consecrated in 1871 it is, unfortunately showing the ravages of the tropical Sri Lankan weather and now in desperate need of a weather-proof roof and TLC and a good coat of paint.
Next, a brief stop at the Bell Tower (the bell is now used in the event of tsunamis) - and studiously avoiding the guy with the cobra in a basket and a flute in his mouth the old Post Office and then on to the Museum itself. Only tiny it has a small collection of artefacts from days gone by.
After the museum, we headed for another look at the Dutch Hospital. Blaring music (and absolutely NOT to my taste) advertised a concert in Court Square that evening. Setting up was in full swing, and it was quite obvious that local OHS regulations were not the same as they are at home. These guys were scrambling over the roof hanging canvas covers without a rope or harness in sight.
One of the shops in the Dutch Hospital is a Real Estate Agent - we did a spot of window shopping and decided on this place, before stopping for a coffee near this gorgeous breadfruit tree with its fabulous foliage.
Ready to go again, our next stop was at the Historical Mansion Museum. Deceptive from the front, you enter into an Aladin's cave that is in fact, the life of a bower-bird in cabinets. Its the product of a lifetime of collecting 'stuff' by one man. Cabinets of every imaginable kind of household wares - china, glass, books, lamps, religious paraphernalia and typewriters - you name it - its here, batik stamps and betel nut cutters included.
Our final stop for the day was the Sudharmalaya Temple with its brightly painted buddhas and the best sign we'd seen for a while, but not before we came across yet another wedding shoot.
We returned to the beautiful Heritage Hotel for dinner and then it was back to the apartment to pack for the next leg of our trip.
Ranjit and Moninna had told us about the Highway Bus so next morning we said farewell to these two delightful people and took a tuk tuk to the bus station for the trip to Colombo. Until now we'd used a car & driver (sourced locally) to bet between our various destinations. We'd seen the buses on the road and decided the drivers were wither crack-heads or maniacs with a death wish and had studiously avoided using them. Moninna told us how she regularly catches the highway bus and how different it was to the local buses so we thought we'd save ourselves $80 and give the bus a go. It was $8 very well spent - it was comfortable, quick and landed us in the outskirts of Colombo a little over an hour after we left Galle.
We avoided the worst of the tuk tuk scrum at the bus station and once the crowd had cleared found a driver who would use his meter. It took about half an hour to get to the apartment block, only to find out we'd had some emails from the owner while we were en-route letting us know that the previous guests in the apartment had broken a tap and we couldn't stay. They had booked us a hotel and arranged transfer there and assured us they had a plumber booked for first thing Monday morning. All going well we would be able to get into the apartment sometime after 1pm on Monday. No point getting miffed, we went with the flow and found ourselves at the very nice Marino Bay Resort - fight on the coast, directly across from the railway line and with an infinity pool on the 10th floor that looked out over the ocean. Sunset from pool-deck was pretty impressive, though I wish I'd stayed later because by the time we headed out for dinner the western sky was ablaze with pink
Our room key-card was even required to get into the pool area - we felt a bit like we were at a train station entry at home but it was important to keep the riff-raff out.
The building site next door was fascinating - hundreds of guys in matching Hi-Viz gear working through the day and at night, the crane delivering loads of concrete.
Plumbing problem solved and we moved into our 22nd floor apartment on Monday. It faces east and has pretty incredible views of suburban Colombo and the ever-busy Union Drive. The almost-finished Lotus Tower will be a fabulous addition to the tourist trail when it opens later this year.
Given we'd lost part of a day in the hotel transfer stuff, we decided to check out the local area a bit rather than head off in search of the bigger-ticket items. Not far from us is a lake with a small Buddhist temple. Unfortunately the lake was green and putrid which spoiled the atmosphere completely.
Ok - so now I've caught up and its actually today.
We're in an apartment, and if we had been staying longer, we'd probably have gone to a supermarket and bought more than just milk (we've been carrying coffee & sugar) so it was just coffee here this morning before heading out in search of something more substantial.
Plans for today included checking out the Pettah and the Old Fort area. Deciding against taking a tuk tuk, we headed out on foot - aiming first for the Colombo Fort Railway station.
On the way we passed Colombo in all its craziness - old houses cheek-by-jowl with concrete skyscrapers-in-the-making, rows of waiting tuk tuks the clocktower and the Red Mosque and into the chaos of the market district we went.
Braving the traders with their trolleys, the tuk tuks delivering people and goods and the local women and their sun-shielding umbrellas.... we lasted only about half an hour. It was manic and not much fun at all. I did stop at a fabric shop and was staggered by the light-weight Sri Lankan men and their capacity to carry rolls of fabric.
On our way to the Dutch Hospital (yet another old hospital re-developed into a modern shopping 'experience') a little train rolled along the track - with way to many men aboard for a regular little shunting engine.
This is the old Fort part of Colombo - lots of old buildings
By now we were both getting hot & more than a bit sweaty, and frustrated at the lack of our kind of shopping (not plastic shit, not elephant pants or Sri Lanka t-shirts) so we headed back to the apartment for a little nap before heading out again to check out sunset at the Galle Face Green. Loved the traffic cop on point duty we passed on the way
Galle Face Green is not exactly green at the moment (mid dry season) but its a hive of activity late in the afternoon/early evening. The Presidential Guard section of the police were out doing their fitness, kite sellers had their kites aloft, food stalls (offering both Halal food AND beer) and masses of tourists - local and international were out for sunset. We even had the chance to try real 'prawn crisps' … pass!
Tomorrow is our last day in Sri Lanka - we're planning on checking out the area round Independence Square and have been fortunate enough that the owners of this apartment are not expecting another guest in till the weekend. We've organised to pay for an additional half day so we can stay till 7pm and have a shower etc before heading to the airport for our midnight flight to KL. Back to Sydney Thursday night.
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