A day of firsts...

14 & 15 July

Saturday night was no different to a standard night in the UK, except for the distinct lack of reality/entertainment TV shows.  We ordered a takeaway pizza, sat in the living room and headed to bed for 10.30pm. This may sound dull to you but it was exactly what I needed.

Sunday morning, we took the National Express (equivalent) to Galle, a town on the coast. An hour and a half went by in no time giving Ravini and I a chance to properly catch up.  Upon our arrival into Galle, you could clearly spot the impact the Tsumani had on this poor town as stretches of homes and building are left derelict.  Even some years later, this part of the island is still recovering from one of the worst natural disasters of my lifetime and one which emotionally hit us all. 

No trip to any foreign country would be complete without experiencing some good ole fashioned public transport.  We took the bus from the Centre of Galle to our hotel.  I'd seen plenty of buses in Columbo and to be honest, I was slightly apprehensive but it wasn't that bad!  Just imagine a very VERY old E1/number 12 bus, half the size, remove the doors and add some sort of boom box to blast music to the passengers and you've got it!  I say this, there's no way you'd catch me on one in Columbo, that's for sure!

Ravini had been recommended this hotel by a lady she'd met on the bus only a few weeks ago.  Although, it looked pretty basic from the outside, it was clean and but that suited me just fine!  We were greeted by a very friendly British guy (Malcolm) who showed us to our room.  We had an upper floor room with views of the beach and out to sea.  The rooms were basic, slightly old fashioned but importantly clean with warm water!  After all, we were paying £30/night so what do you expect?!  As we dumped our stuff in our room and took a few mins to soak up the sun, Ravini spotted the lady she'd met on the bus, Florence.  Florence has worked at the hotel for 17 years and is truly a delight.  She clearly took a shine to us and asked the hotel manager (Malcolm- same guy) if she could show us around.  We saw the £45 rooms, which were obviously much nicer than ours but we were happy. Malcolm then kindly offered to take us on the grand tour, which allowed us to grill him about his connection with this fascinating country.  Originally from London, he gave up his job in the City in search of his heritage as his mum is Sinhalese.  5 months on and he's transforming this hotel.  He's created a bar area which is modern without looking out of place including Mahogany tables, benches and cushions creating a very relaxing ambiance.  Heading upstairs, he's created a tradition Italian stone baked pizza oven for an alternative option to the main menu at meal time.  I tried one and it was probably one of the best pizzas I've ever had!  The same colour scheme is continued upstairs adding a seated bar so that you can watch the sunset whilst enjoying the faultless hospitality.  What impressed me the most other than the friendly staff was the desire to use local produce.  From pepperoni to mozzarella, all their ingredients were sourced a maximum of 10 mins down the road.  Pretty impressive considering they're making authentic Italian pizzas!  

The afternoon didn't end there, Malcolm persuaded us to head into Galle, explore the Fort and try out Crepe-ology (yes a French creperie in the middle of Sri Lanka! Confused? I was too!).  After being sent here, there and everywhere we finally found it - a quaint rooftop restaurant tucked away.  So well-hidden that its no wonder we walked past it!  The food was delicious and their ice blast & smoothies were divine.  A true hidden gem!  We eventually dragged ourselves away and headed up to walk the walls of the fort and wait for the sunset (another Malcolm recommendation).  Surprisingly, we weren't the only ones that had this idea.  We wandered up and down taking in the view and even watched the crazy cliff divers, who for a donation would jump off the fort walls into the sea.  A popular attraction it seemed!  We also spotted a guy fishing with a 2ltr coke bottle.  Yes, that's right!  He attached a line onto the end of the bottle and used the bottle as a weight to secure the line.  He then launched the line into the sea and waited... Less than 5mins later, he actually caught a decent sized fish, which could easily feed a family of 4!  I'll certainly never look at fishing in the same light again.  Unfortunately, the rain arrived (yes it rains here too) and we grabbed a tuk tuk back to the hotel meaning we missed our sunset. 

The evening was spent drinking wine and 'chewing the fat' as my gran would say, with Malcolm and his Kiwi head chef David.  4 hours and 2 glasses of wine (which we now realise was almost as expensive as London and not half as nice) out night ended and we crashed out at about midnight. 

Today, we woke up for a leisurely breakfast at about 10ish - note to self : must befriend the Hotel Manager more often!  I then headed to the beach for an hour or so to soak up the sun and grabbed a couple of sun loungers where Florence entertained us with many a story.  After lunch, we packed up, took a tuk tuk back to Galle and hopped on the National Express back to Columbo.  A pretty easy day really.  

Back in Columbo, we persuaded the driver to drop us off near Rav's house.  I say "drop off" it was a brief 3 second stop.  I think the bus started moving again before I'd even got off!!  Having never walked down a dual carriageway or a road with no pavement/pedestrian markings, I was pretty shocked to see a public bus do a 3-point turn in the middle of a busy road at rush hour.  Clearly this is normal practice here as nobody even matted an eye-lid! I don't think I'll be quite so inclined to insult drivers as much when I return to the UK.

Tomorrow, I am heading back off with my tour guide for some more sightseeing as I only have 3 more days left in this magnificent country...