After another super breakfast at the Shangri-La Caesar waited for us outside the hotel to take us to our next destination near Galle on the southern coast.

Turtle incubation

We stopped off at a tiny turning off the main road to a Turtle sanctuary where they look to feed and foster female turtles in tamks so that they are stronger when released.

Apparently 97% of hatching turtles are male. Male turtles are released almost immediately from the sanctuary while the females grow stronger in the tanks.

Galle

We didn’t spend very long with the turtles but headed onto Galle. On the way we passed a memorial to the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami which devastated this area. In all 50,000 people died in Sri Lanka alone.

We arrived in a busy downtown Galle where tut tuts and motorbikes seem to attack from all sides. The principal way of crossing the road appears to be face downwards and never look at the traffic, that way they will avoid you.

We found two things we wanted, cashew nuts and whiskey. I am fed up with paying high prices for small measures of rubbish whiskey so I decided to buy something for the room. I bought a bottle of Singleton 12 year old which is passable.

Quick Tour of Galle Fort

After a brief snack in the fort we waited in a nearby parking spot for a Morris Minor to appear something that hadn’t been flagged in our itinerary. Sure enough a 1954 soft top Morris Minor with a cheerful Sri Lankan arrived.

We climbed aboard and had a driving tour of the fort without a commentary unless we specifically asked about the various buildings.

The whole drive probably took about 10-15 minutes. A lot of fun but not very historic or informative.

Kahanda Kanda

Caesar drove us along the coast to our new hotel for the final 5 nights of our holiday. On the way he stopped at the fishermen on stilts a unique sight on the Sri Lankan southern coast.

We then turned inland to our hotel. As we ventured further and further from the coast I began to feel that Matthew ha set us in too remote a location.

We arrived and gave Caesar a tip for the time he had looked after us and we said goodbye (although he said he maybe able to pick us up onn Wednesday afternoon and take us down to Galle).

We climbed the steps to the hotel to meet the receptionist who took us to the open plan bar/reception. We gave him our passports and received glasses of ice tea to quench our thirsts.

He showed us to our room which has a large four poster bed and plenty of room all round. Outside we have a pool just a little shorter than our french pool four reclining beds, tables and settees. The whole place is really comfortable. We both went skinny dipping after we had settled down.

Evening at KK

We headed towards the bar after relaxing and ordered a drink each. Maggi and I sat next to these two guys and we started talking. Their names are John and Hutch and they come from the eastern highlands of Scotland. They are spending 5 weeks at the hotel and seem much more fun that the rest of the people staying here.

Tonight the hotel presented a Sri Lankan buffet curry. I found it difficult to decide what to eat as cvery little light shone on the buffet. The whole thing was set on a sloping garden and wasn’t particularly comfortable.

I asked John and Hutch if all the clientele came from the county set. They all seem to be upper class English except the four of us. The food was fine but I did suffer from a little indigestion as I closed my eyes and had to sit up to let it pass.

On the way back to the room we booked Yoga for 9 am the next day.