Arrive in Colombo at 12:30pm, bargain with taxi to Galle, settling on 7000 rupees (about $55) for the both of us. Horrible traffic coming out of Colombo. Note to self: avoid driving through Colombo at all costs in the future. Share a ride with a very friendly gem salesman, drop him in Beruwala and change direction to Kosgoda.
A day-old turtle hatchling, getting ready to meet the world.
Stop at Kosgoda turtle hatchery at 4:30, where they rescue stolen turtle eggs from poachers at the local market. Tour the facility and hold some day-old hatchlings ready to be released. Get a Fanta at friendly Rasta cafe down the road to wait for sundown.
A variety of turtle eggs, saved from poachers and buried until they are ready to hatch
Torrential rain begins. Hatchlings unable to be released due to weather, so we taxi on to Galle. Check in at 6:30 at the boutique Fortaleza hotel, and drink a much-needed beer.
Hanging out at Galle Fort
Dinner at French fusion restaurant La Clochette, who is out of our order twice. Food is just ok, but interesting conversation with some Canadian tourists on the last day of their month-long holiday. Early sleep.
A standard room at the Forta Liza hotel, Galle
Hotel owner orders a car for us at 5:45am from the hotel to Mirissa (6500 return). Join Mirissa sports club whale watching tour at 6:30am for 9000/pp. including a breakfast box, coffee, and a little pamphlet about qualifications.
Early morning fishing, Mirissa
Waters are relatively calm, and about an hour out, saw one blue whale, acrobatic spinner dolphins, and 2 pods of sperm whales. Mirissa is emerging a one of the world’s best places to see Blue Whales in their natural habitat, and the documentary makers were there in full force.
A pod of sperm whales in Mirissa
Depart Mirissa for lunch at Wijaya beach– yummy prawn coconut curry, coriander prawns with 3 salads, and “ceviche”, which is actually sashimi. Delicious. I play on rope swing with a little girl, relax with a beer under the sun.
My little friend, who spoke no English but knew how to have fun!
Our driver took us back to Galle, stopping to photo some traditional stilt fishermen along the way.
Stilt fishermen of Weligama, Sri Lanka
Such an early start requires a nap, then out to explore the town- walk the fort wall surrounding Galle, stopping to watch a college cricket match and look at antiques.
The entire town came out to watch the cricket match
Returning back to hotel, we read about the history of what we had just seen over pate with chutney and delicious coffee frappe.
An entrepreneur along the fort walls not only had this little guy, but a cobra in the basket behind.
Out to find a restaurant, but after circling town twice with not much open, we finally choose the Rampart hotel restaurant overlooking the ocean . Order two curries- fish and chicken- both are spicy and do the trick, but the restaurant smells like burning paint. Back to room for bed with a fumes headache.
The train schedule at Galle station
Hop on a 7:25 am train from Galle, arriving in Colombo at 9:30. Check-in at the Hilton Residence is delayed- the room isn’t ready, so we sit sipping coffee by the pool for 30 min.
The living room of our massive suite, looking out over Colombo
Because of the delay, we get upgraded to a suite- two bedroom two bath with kitchen and laundry, more than enough room for a small family. Playing it safe, we return to the train station to buy tickets to Kandy for the next day- 7am 2nd class at 220 rupees.
Ministry of Crab’s Garlic Chili Plate
A quick yelp search directs us to lunch at Dutch Fort’s Ministry of Crab– we order a kilo of chili garlic crab, their famous ice tea soda and Pol Sambol, a mixture of coconut, onions, and chili powder.
Pol Sambol, one of my new favorite things
Holy crab, it is delicious, and a ridiculously luxurious midday meal.
Some of the many offerings at Fose Market
To Pettah market next for shopping, then onto the vegetable market to ogle the beautiful produce.
Atrium of the Cinnamon Grand hotel
Switching gears, we hire a tuktuk to Cinnamon Grand, the upscale hotel and shopping mall, then to Ganjaramaya temple to meet Ganga, the temple’s revered baby elephant. As usually occurs when taking recommendations from a tuktuk driver, we end up Gem shopping, but buy nothing, and return to the hotel for tea.
Ganga, the temple’s resident elephant
Dinner that night is back at Cinnamon Grand- a drink with live band out by the pool at the Breeze Bar, then Chutney’s for a sampling of curries and their namesake.
After-dinner mukhwas at Chutney’s by canclelight
Dinner is very very good, the server is quite cheeky, and it’s “Earth 60 day”- when major hotels turn their lights off for one hour to save power. It is quite beautiful, with candles everywhere to compensate for lack of electricity.
Candles outside the Cinnamon Grand hotel for Earth 60 hour of darkness
Morning train to Kandy- on a comfortable 2.5 hour express train, with assigned seats so no rushing necessary.
View our of the train window en route to Kandy
Once in Kandy, we walk straight to the Temple of the Tooth on foot- only about 15 min walk.
Temple of the Tooth, Kandy
By talking to the flower vendors outside the gate, we learned that we must hurry- the relic doors were open for puja, and we must hurry to be able to see it.
Flowers we purchased to present to the relic of Buddha’s tooth
Sure enough, the line snaked out the door, and everyone pushed for position to be able to see the relic.
Waiting to catch a glimpse of Buddha’s tooth relic
Our 3 seconds in front of the opening zip by, as we pass our offering to the monk and snap mental pictures before being shoved off.
A photo of the tooth relic from behind the masses
The afternoon train to Pinnewalla (or Rambukkana) left at 12:30, to get to the elephant orphanage there and still get the last train to Colombo at 6:30. The station worker tells us which platform to get on, train departs right on time. Two stations in (or an hour ride) later, I realize that the landscape looks very different.
This landscape looks too green…
Check the map- we are heading due South instead of West. We ended up in Hatton, renowned for their tea plantations and tragically devoid of elephants. Since we were flying out of Sri Lanka that evening and the 5 men that had befriended us could not come up with a solution to get us anywhere in time, we found our own solution. A four-hour bus ride straight to Colombo.
Prayers at Temple of the Tooth
Lessons learned: Ask for advice, then check it twice. Two sets of directions can still be wrong, all three rarely are.
There is a wide range of lanscapes in Sri Lanka, all of which you can easily enjoy by taking the wrong train.
Sri Lankan people will do everything they can to help you, even if they can’t.
Baby Sea turtles apparently do not like rain.
Everything tastes better in the dark.
