Although the inner streets of Galle fort are fascinating, the most impressive feature of this place is the well maintained outer wall (A wall? Impressive?)
which inevitably attracts photo taking tourists.
Today there were coach loads of Buddhist monks, clearly not the reclusive type as the plastic toy seller was doing brisk trade selling the younger ones Chinese made rubbish.
I’m sure that the sunsets present good photo opportunities but generally I have never been a fan of pictures merely of just flat sea.
Standing on the edge of this edifice, I couldn’t help being slightly alarmed at the complete absence of any safety precautions.
The Health and Safety Executive has obviously not ventured this far yet.
I would like to have seen the diving display but maybe they don’t do this in front of Buddhist monks.
So, I settled for watching the man with a python instead
although I wasn’t too sure what he was doing with it.
Although Sri Lanka is around 90% Buddhist, in Galle fort there is a strong Muslim presence, many of the followers of this faith apparently owning nearby jewellery shops! So, to have such an impressive mosque in a prominent position in this ancient Buddhist town, built by Christians, struck me as being splendidly quirky. Religious tolerance was clearly working better back in the day than it often does now.
On the way back to my hotel, Mr Tuk Tuk wanted to know if I was interested in buying a rather large teak elephant at a cost £85,000.
On the basis that I haven’t any space in my suitcase, I declined.
I was dropped off at the edge of Unawantana so I could collect my £2.50s worth of laundry from where I walked back to my hotel enjoying (?) the sights
before flopping on the beach and paying an extortionate amount of money for a mango.
The UNESCO Heritage site of Galle Fort is lovely and well worth visiting but I still prefer a hotel within crawling distance of a beach sun lounger .
Phileas
thelasthurrahsite 