On the Walls in Galle
Our accommodation in Galle is a lovely apartment on the first floor of a 200yr old home - owned for 5 generations of the Goonewardena family. Its in a quiet street inside the World Heritage Listed Galle Fort, less than 100m from the ramparts.
No chance of a sleep in this morning - I woke at about 7.15am to loud kids voices - I looked out the window and realised we were about 50m from a school. At 7.25am the bell went, the national anthem played, then the school song, then the daily announcements and another bell and it went quiet (relatively) as the kids started class.
We decided to start exploring Galle from the outside in - which means starting with a circumnavigation of the fort via the ramparts of the old fort. The first 'fort' built here was in 1589 when the Portuguese built a small fort during one of their squabbles with the kingdom of Kandy which they later expanded with a series of bastions and walls. When the Dutch arrived in 1640 they destroyed most traces of the Portuguese and built themselves a nice new fort. The Brits arrived in 1796 and Galle was the major seaport for Sri Lanka until they constructed a breakwater at Colombo and made it their major harbour.
There are 12 bastions dotted along the rampart walls bearing such celestial names as Sun Moon, Star, Neptune, Aurora, & Aeolus …. we started at Neptune Bastion at the end of our tiny street and headed clockwise round the walls.
Imagine our surprise to come round a corner and see hundreds of schoolgirls - in their pristine white uniforms (and some in jackets despite the temps in the late 20's even at 9am). They were preparing for some kind of interschool sports day and these ones appeared to be rehearsing some kind of precision display.
Star Bastion is at the top west most corner of the fort and has great views into the new town part of Galle from the top.
Heading along the rampart towards the Sun Bastion at the north eastern corner of the fort we were both getting pretty hot & very sweaty, so now seemed as good a time to come down off the walls and go in search of a drink.
We passed the National Museum (in what is thought to be the oldest Dutch building inside the fort), popped into the Dutch Reform Church built originally in 1640 and re-built with its gravestone floor stones in 1752. Much plainer than its European counterparts it was a welcome respite from the now blazing sun.
From the Sun Bastion I had looked down on a small local fishing fleet and market so that was our next stop. Out through the Old Gate we came face to face with all the goings-on of Day 1 of the Galle Writers Festival. Making our way through the beautiful people we found the fish market.
The fish was literally swimming a couple of hours ago, and the locals were hard at work cutting it up and selling it. I loved the makeshift newspaper apron on the guy in the orange shirt - I guess no-one had to wash it. Rick Stein would have been in heaven - so many beautiful fish waiting to go home for someone's dinner.
The Dutch Hospital - where hundreds of victims of tropical diseases breathed their last, as now been fully restored and become a VERY upmarket shopping/dining destination.
Continuing on along the ramparts you come to the British built light-house (the current one was built in 1938) before turning across the southern edge of the fort and views of the lovely Meeran Mosque.
Flag Rock no longer has its flagpole but you get the idea of the need for flags and light-houses. We even saw a guy snorkelling in the shallow water. Along past Triton Bastion and we were almost home.
Then we came upon the girls again - changed from their whites into sports gear … and playing hockey on the roughest hockey field I have ever seen. They were very much beginners and the ref … well after watching for just a few minutes …. he sucked!
I had almost finished writing todays entry when our host/landlord called - inviting us for tea. A wonderful couple of hours I'll tell you about some other time.
No chance of a sleep in this morning - I woke at about 7.15am to loud kids voices - I looked out the window and realised we were about 50m from a school. At 7.25am the bell went, the national anthem played, then the school song, then the daily announcements and another bell and it went quiet (relatively) as the kids started class.
We decided to start exploring Galle from the outside in - which means starting with a circumnavigation of the fort via the ramparts of the old fort. The first 'fort' built here was in 1589 when the Portuguese built a small fort during one of their squabbles with the kingdom of Kandy which they later expanded with a series of bastions and walls. When the Dutch arrived in 1640 they destroyed most traces of the Portuguese and built themselves a nice new fort. The Brits arrived in 1796 and Galle was the major seaport for Sri Lanka until they constructed a breakwater at Colombo and made it their major harbour.
There are 12 bastions dotted along the rampart walls bearing such celestial names as Sun Moon, Star, Neptune, Aurora, & Aeolus …. we started at Neptune Bastion at the end of our tiny street and headed clockwise round the walls.
Imagine our surprise to come round a corner and see hundreds of schoolgirls - in their pristine white uniforms (and some in jackets despite the temps in the late 20's even at 9am). They were preparing for some kind of interschool sports day and these ones appeared to be rehearsing some kind of precision display.
Gorgeous views out to sea and of the rocks surrounding the fort.
We've come to expect the unexpected on our travels - my guess was this Russian couple (we heard them speaking as they walked past) were headed to one of the bastions for some 'sit & pout' Instagram photos - just loved the heels!
Star Bastion is at the top west most corner of the fort and has great views into the new town part of Galle from the top.
Moon Bastion is the centrepiece of the part of the ramparts facing the new town, home to the clocktower (which I am told always shows the correct time thanks to the fine British made mechanism inside). It also has outstanding views into the Galle International Cricket Ground - where in 2010 Sri Lankan legend Muralitharan played his last game.
Apparently the Barmy Army took over the entire stretch of ramparts wall during the last Sri Lanka V England game rather than paying the ground entrance. I cant say I blame them, the views of the ground are fantastic.
From the Moon Bastion we could also see kids from the local school doing their calisthenics class - complete with drum & cymbals to keep them in time. Looking back at the cricket ground, a game had started, we watched for an over and a 0 for 1 off 1 - left them to it. Nothing on the scoreboard gave any clues as to who the two teams were.
We passed the National Museum (in what is thought to be the oldest Dutch building inside the fort), popped into the Dutch Reform Church built originally in 1640 and re-built with its gravestone floor stones in 1752. Much plainer than its European counterparts it was a welcome respite from the now blazing sun.
From the Sun Bastion I had looked down on a small local fishing fleet and market so that was our next stop. Out through the Old Gate we came face to face with all the goings-on of Day 1 of the Galle Writers Festival. Making our way through the beautiful people we found the fish market.
The fish was literally swimming a couple of hours ago, and the locals were hard at work cutting it up and selling it. I loved the makeshift newspaper apron on the guy in the orange shirt - I guess no-one had to wash it. Rick Stein would have been in heaven - so many beautiful fish waiting to go home for someone's dinner.
Back via a coffee stop in the pop-up Writers Festival area in (we pretended we were supposed to be there) before checking out the National Crafts Council display of artisan handcrafts. The young man making lacquer ware was fascinating.
Back into the fort via the old gate again and round towards the Dutch Hospital via the High Court and a swag of schoolkids on an excursion
The last remaining Dutch canon still sits proudly on the rampart at Akersloot Bastion, though I doubt it would be much use now.
The Dutch Hospital - where hundreds of victims of tropical diseases breathed their last, as now been fully restored and become a VERY upmarket shopping/dining destination.
Continuing on along the ramparts you come to the British built light-house (the current one was built in 1938) before turning across the southern edge of the fort and views of the lovely Meeran Mosque.
Flag Rock no longer has its flagpole but you get the idea of the need for flags and light-houses. We even saw a guy snorkelling in the shallow water. Along past Triton Bastion and we were almost home.
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