Met John and Hutch at the yoga studio at 8:30 for 90 minutes of very enjoyable stretching breathing and even a headstand. Our yoga master showed me how to improve my back so it doesn’t have the awful curve it currently has. Of course this will require regular exercise. I believe Im prepared to put in the effort.
We came out of the studio somewhat sweaty and had our breakfast. I think the breakfasts are somewhat disappointing here. They are the same everyday and the buffet selection lacks any originality or variety.
Anyway from breakfast I returned to our room while Maggi went off to have an hour’s free massage. I showered and messed around in our suite and the hour quickly passed.
Now at midday my turn for a free massage. Maggi hung around while I talked to the male masseur and requested just a back massage. I am not that keen on being manipulated by strangers and so am always rather apprehensive whenever a massage is suggested. What I really don’t like is being covered in oil and sliding all over the table. This has happened in the past and I am not keen on it recurring.
Our masseur, however, used the minimum amount of oil and gave my back a good going over. I didn’t feel any better or worse after the massage and so it really isn’t worth it.
Trip to Galle
We waited for the heat to subside and staid in our room until 4 ish and then requested the complimentary tuk-tuk to transport us to Kahanda Kanda on the beach.
We arrived and met the hotel manager who showed us around. While quite nice KK on the beach doesn’t match the luxury of the main resort up in the hills.
From the resort we travelled on again by tuk-tuk to Galle. The second part of our journey lasted about 35 minutes on the main costal road. This road is not only extremely busy but also full of pot holes. The tuk tuk bounces around the road as it tries to escape the various obstacles facing the driver.
Time in Galle
Eventually we arrived at Fort Galle and had a walk around the tourist shops looking for a reminder for ourselves and a present for Gill Cook whose birthday is also in February.
After wandering around a dozen shops we found the Kahanda Kand boutique. They had butter dishes on sale which Maggi had liked at the hotel. We bartered with the shop manager and he gave us some but not enough discount. We decided to go for our meal and choose Fort Bazaar, which one of the KK guests had recommended.
We walked into the air-conditioned section of the restaurant to find no one else eating. We both choose the vegetarian curry which tasted fine. Certainly the meal cost much less than we would have paid at KK.
Meal over
We returned to the KK boutique to see if we could convince them to sell at a lower price. I did eventually batter them down and we bought two very nice butter dishes. I hope Gill appreciates the present.
When we exited the shop our tuk tuk driver approached me and he drove us all the way back to the hotel. We faced the same hazardous road conditions on our return. By the time we exited the tuk tuk at the hotel we were both completely shaken up and exhausted. We returned to our room.
Sri Lankan Buddist Holiday
Every 4 weeks at the full moon the Sri Lankans have a one day holiday called Poya.
Poya is the name given to the Lunar monthly Buddhist holiday of Uposatha in Sri Lanka, where it is a civil and bank holiday. When earth makes Full Orbit of moon is normally considered as the poya day in Sri Lanka every month.
Poya also means no alcohol available in shops, restaurants or hotels. One dry day a month seems like a good idea. Unfortunately I broke the ban when I returned to the room and had a small scotch from my bottle.