For the first time in several days, we woke up to blue skies. We had a nice breakfast outside, and then decided we'd wander around the area inside the old Portuguese fort. Blue skies mean that there is nothing to cut back the sun, so it was very hot, and worse, very humid.
We began our first walk at about 9:30. Our first goal was immediately outside the fort where the fishing vessels are moored and where they sell fish. That was fascinating.
We were armed with sun glasses and sun hats. If our general outward demeanor wasn't tourist, our getups certainly were. Of course, once we were done looking at boats and fish, our wandering around the tourists shops gave us away immediately. The average Sri Lankan wasn't stupid enough to go strolling around in the heat. We walked around the fort area, did a little poking around the shops, and by 11:15 were literally dripping wet. I looked like someone threw a bucket of water at my middle. We staggered back to the hotel and hid in our room for a bit until our clothes more or less dried out. We decided, hey, if one idiotic trip out in the heat wasn't enough, how about another? We began our second foray about 1:30 or so. We staggered back around 3:00 in the same condition as we were in the earlier stroll. This time, we both immediately took showers, and decided our strolls were over. Fortunately, our room is large and comfortable and air conditioned, and a bit of a rest many days into our trip, really was a good idea.
We began our first walk at about 9:30. Our first goal was immediately outside the fort where the fishing vessels are moored and where they sell fish. That was fascinating.
Marlin, sharks, tuna, red snapper - lots of fish I recognized.
Little tuna fish, groupers, red snappers
Fish drying on the boats
Some of the boats. The fishermen go out at night.
The city of Galle in the distance. There is a rather large harbor area here.
We were armed with sun glasses and sun hats. If our general outward demeanor wasn't tourist, our getups certainly were. Of course, once we were done looking at boats and fish, our wandering around the tourists shops gave us away immediately. The average Sri Lankan wasn't stupid enough to go strolling around in the heat. We walked around the fort area, did a little poking around the shops, and by 11:15 were literally dripping wet. I looked like someone threw a bucket of water at my middle. We staggered back to the hotel and hid in our room for a bit until our clothes more or less dried out. We decided, hey, if one idiotic trip out in the heat wasn't enough, how about another? We began our second foray about 1:30 or so. We staggered back around 3:00 in the same condition as we were in the earlier stroll. This time, we both immediately took showers, and decided our strolls were over. Fortunately, our room is large and comfortable and air conditioned, and a bit of a rest many days into our trip, really was a good idea.
The central court house in Galle. There were loads of people lined up inside the building.
In this photo you can see the crowd lined up in the court house. The man on the bicycle is carrying a large load of coconuts. I didn't know until I came on this trip that there are many different varieties of coconuts.
Across the square from the court house is the police station.
Charlie in front of the lighthouse. He got much sweatier on our walk than the photo shows.
The mosque in the city was rather old. The Arab traders established the mosque long ago.
Lots of shops for lots of tourists.
I had seen the collapsed roof of the post office yesterday, about is the warning sign
I hadn't noticed the hanging wires yesterday.
The old Dutch church
The school children got out of school at 1:30.
Most of the little girls wear they hair parted in the middle with two braids.
Mosque and lighthouse.
At 4 we went down to the veranda for tea. There was a huge crowd (more than 45 people) all chatting loudly in Spanish. We found a spot a distance away from the noise. When they left, we asked the waiters where the crowd was from. They were a bit put off. Apparently, a small group from the large crowd showed up for beers on the veranda. Then the whole group swept in. The hotel doesn't deal with huge groups like that, and the waiters were thrown for a loop. They were too polite to chase the crowd off with brooms, but I did get the impression they would have liked to do just that.
Dinner later. Tomorrow we drive to Colombo.
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