Rebirth In Galle

Galle was the town in Sri Lanka that had the most fatalities in the 2004 tsunami. The  East Coast suffered more physical devastation but the area was less populated than Galle and has had to recover more in terms of livelihood and overcoming fear of the sea. There are now sports charities which help people to learn to swim  and therefore to feel more confident in the water.

  However, it is easy to see that devastation has occurred in Galle in the recent past. There is an enormous amount of rebuilding going on sometimes on top of old foundations. A new bus station has replaced the old (which was under water during the tsunami) and there are now signs of new enterprise. I think that the goverment must have directed aid in this direction because the first motorway/highway has recently been constructed from Colombo to Galle. The old colonial fortress walls seems to have protected its interior  town but even here there is a resurrection taking place. The town’s roads are being recobbled and refurbished  and many  western expats have bought up the old Dutch villas and are renovating them for the tourist market. For now, the town still has a rather down at heel but hip vibe and the cafes we looked into were delightful. The museum has seen better days (I hope!) but I rather enjoyed its peeling, crumbling, disinterested air. Such a contrast to the rather too bright and INFORMATIVE western museums  who have overall themes and interaction which commands your attention. Here, some interesting objects were left to decay slowly and you could look at them if you felt like it or not!

 The old dutch streets had a feel of walking in Bruges without the self conscious neatness. I found the Dutch reformed church utterly depressing with its stark table but a large pulpit with a huge canopy with its emphasis on hearing the word rather than participating in liturgy.

We wandered slowly through the baking streets, saw a man with a cobra in a basket ( much to my astonishment) and chased us with a python round his neck trying to persuade me to wear it also. No Than k-you! We bought a few reasonably priced souvenirs and were often pressed into buying outrageously expensive ones. I found that I was unable to enter into the spirit of bargaining so just refused to buy anything that  I considered overpriced. We had lunch in one of the hip cafes where I enjoyed a beautiful king prawn salad and another refreshing smoothy.

We returned to our hotel with its calming view of the ocean for a well earned siesta, than popped down to a nearby beach  at Unawatuna where there is naturally safe area for swimming. Tehani and her boyfriend went into the water but I just sat on the beach happily watching as families enjoyed them selves and the sun went down. I walked along the darkening beach, paddling in the incoming tide and then we sat having a coffee in one of the many beach cafe's as lights and music went on all around the bay. This beach, is now the beach party location and there was to be another Big celebration that evening. Mercifully, we returned to the hotel for supper before it got started.