Galle and Colombo, Sri Lanka

I had been curious about Sri Lanka or Ceylon since I was little. I think I had stamps from there and thought it was so far away, that small island country off the southern tip of India. We had joined a small group tour so were off the ship and ready to go at 8. There was a market on the pier so very tempting to shop but other than getting a tiny T for Piper, there was no time. We immediately headed out of the city towards Galle. We were told it would take 2 hours to get there. Seemed like a long way to go when we had never seen Colombo either. But the drive was beautiful. The road was like a well maintained American freeway. We passed by palm, rubber and tea plantations as well as Buddhas and stupas. A huge monitor lizard crossed in front of us on the road. We don't see that in the US! It must have been 4 or 5 feet long. 

We finally arrived in Galle and headed to the old Dutch fort. It was quite impressive built up right on the water. The guide said we would have an hour there. We told him 30 minutes would be enough. We agreed on 20 minutes then drive to the other part. I think he had planned to walk the entire fort rather than drive. The vendors started hounding us with beautiful little dresses trimmed in lace. They also had beautiful tablecloths. We took pictures there at a clock tower then rode down further to the point. There was a nice hotel across the street so we all used the restrooms. And of course shopped. There was a lady set up in a corner of the hotel making the beautiful lace, all done by hand. She was selling it by the meter. I probably should have bought some but wasn't sure what I would do with it. I did buy an old looking mask with Cobras as eyebrows. Under a part of the fort back across the street was a small store. They had very colorful masks, one shapped like a peacock, bought one of those too! Our world cruise wall will be even more crowded after this trip. 

We made several stops in Galle then headed north toward Colombo on the old beach road. We passed hotel after hotel, most of them new after the tsunami that hit the area around 2004. Everything had been destroyed. We stopped at the Tsunami Museum which was an open air former home with tsunami picturs on the wall. The damage was extensive. We stopped at a beach so we could put our feet in the water. It was so warm and crystal clear, it was very tempting to just jump in with my clothes on. The air was hot. We continued on until we reached a sea turtle rescue. After the turtles came ashore to lay their eggs they were collected and brought to the rescue to hatch. There were too many predators like mongoose, to leave them on the beach. They had "gardens" full of eggs, each nest was labeled with species, how many, and date they were laid. There were a number of different species. Inside a well protected area they had tanks with the babies that had hatched overnight, there were hundreds of them. They also had a tank with several blind turtles and one that had lost 2 legs to fish nets. The tanks weren't very big but they were clean and the turtles appeared to be well taken care of. It was an interesting stop. 

We were supposed to stop for lunch but by then it was after 1 and we still had almost 2 hours to get back to the ship. We decided to forget about food and just get back to Colombo. This was the third tour we had taken that said lunch, with no lunch. Fortunately I carry some bread and an apple, Mel carries ham from the ship. We were very hungry when we did finally get back to the ship though. 

The traffic was pretty heavy. We finally reached Colombo. The guide took us to see several sights, nothing spectacular. We saw their convention center, independence square and a number of cricket fields. Cricket is big in this part of the world. We then went by what they call Galle Face, a large green area next to the ocean right in Colombo. It reminded me of the marina in San Francisco. The guide said he would take us back to the ship, it was 3:30. I asked if the craft market was nearby, and it was. It was not at all what I was expecting. We walked into a modern, air conditioned building with beautiful jewelry cases. We were told the crafts were upstairs. They did have a lot of native crafts as well as tea. Ceylon has always been famous for their tea. Most of the crafts were about double the price we had seen elsewhere so I didn't buy anything other than tea. I did try on a sapphire that was about an inch in diameter, wow! I did not even ask the price, it was unreal. 

We were back at the port by 4:30. All aboard was 5:30 so we spent some time shopping on the pier. I picked up a sari for sari night on the ship as well as some tea in nicely decorated boxes. I also found a nice Sri Lanka t shirt, unusual place to have one from. We boarded the ship, took quick showers and were in the dining room in time for dinner at 5:30. If we ever visit again, I think I would like to spend more time in Colombo. But seeing Galle and the countryside was a wonderful experience.