Today we sadly said goodbye to our friends after breakfast on Mirissa Beach. Having had a break from curry last night, I decided to have a Sri Lankan breakfast this morning which consists of Hoppers (a type of thin noodle), potato curry and coconut sambol all washed down with the normal Ceylon tea. Then it was time to say a fond farewell to our friends who are staying a little longer in Mirissa whilst we head off to our next destination Galle which is about 45 kilometres down the coast.
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| Farewell breakfast with friends |
Old Galle is unlike any other part of Sri Lanka that we have seen on this trip. It is a fortified city, built my the Dutch and feels like a separate little enclave of calm. Outside the walls in new Galle which is a major city wish all the normal hussle, bussle noise, traffic, markets etc. We took a brief look at new Galle, but much preferred the calm and more organised old Galle with its little paved streets and arty style shops and cafes. It was our first experience of doing a bit of shopping and also stopping for tea and cake. Infact Galle could really be in any European City, if it weren't for the tuk tuks rushing around the streets.
Galle was still very hot, so we sauntered slowly around the streets, stopping every now and then for a drink. As the day was cooling we walked round the top of the Fort walls and stopped with everyone else near the lighthouse to watch the sun set. It seems like nearly everyone in Galle turns up nightly to watch the sun setting ceremony and then they miraculously seem to all disappear and by 9pm everything is shut and the streets are empty.
It felt like we were on holiday in Galle, rather than travelling and for the first time we even had dessert with our meal - the traditional Wattalapam which is like a Sri Lankan version of crème caramel and goes down very well after a curry although it is incredibly sweet so you wouldn't want to eat this too often. In fact Sri Lankan's seem to like sugar and like to put it in tea, coffee and also the popular soda and lime drink. You have to get in quick to order drinks without sugar. The other popular drink in Sri Lanka is Ginger Beer which I found quite funny but also fortunate as I happen to love Ginger Beer.
My favourite place to stop was a little café called the Dutch Hospital which consisted of just 4 tables on a veranda and served up a huge variety of teas, coffees, curries and cakes. We met the owner whose heritage was Moroccan although he and his family of 7 generations have lived in Galle and he was infact born in this house that is now a café. He talked about how the Tsunami in 2004 had hit Galle and was a total shock. He showed us his photo album full of pictures of the impact the Tsunami had had on Galle. Fortunately his family and home were safe but others were not so lucky. It is hard to imagine as we walk through this quaint little town that just 10 years ago it was almost destroyed.
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