Exploring Galle

Galle is one of the coastal cities in the island of Sri Lanka, situated at the tip of the southern west part. It's equally loved by both locals and foreigners. It is a living time capsule, still preserving the remnants from the colonial era. The place has many beautiful beaches with long sandy stretches and lively waves.

On the way to Galle, we took a small detour to visit the famous Richmond castle, which was built more than a 100 years ago, when the country was still being rules by the British. It's magnificent architecture is simply amazing and it still stand strong, now being used as a children's home. The actual life story of the Mudlier who once was the proud owner, is both saddening and interesting. It is a long story but anyone can get to it if you google by the castle name.

Detailed decorations

Still standing trong

Stained glass

Court yards

Glamorous interior

Our next stop was Galle itself and we checked in to a cheap motel which gave us a room with just a bed and a decent bathroom with no meals but with a deluxe view. We couldn't ask for more. It was more like a backpackers lodge, anyway we weren't planing to stay indoors so it was more than fine with us.

Morning view from the room

Evening view

Leaving our stuff in the room, we set off to take a walk in the famous Galle fort. There are formed paths to take you around the fort. It was extremely hot, so we had to eat ice pops every 15 minutes and there are plenty mobile food trucks that sell those including few other street food.

Galle fort

Charming chapel inside the fort

Inside the fort is a small, yet clean town with colonial buildings and shops mainly targeting tourists. You find a few nice eateries and cafes in here that are of complete contrast to what's outside. The sun was so bright

The beach closer to our room is given the name 'Dalawella' meaning the beach with a light textured sand and you can feel it when you take a handful. So finally we climbed down to enjoy the blissful sea which we were so looking forward to. The words can't express the feeling. We swam in the sea until it's very late that we had to fight with huge waves on our way back to the room. That was a lovely day and we sat in the rustic balcony just above the bashing waves and enjoyed a nice simple dinner(take away) over a glass of wine. that is life!

The next day we headed off to see another nice and a famous hidden beach named 'Unawatuna'. We had to walk a long way through a jungle to get to this lovey beach. The place looked magical. We couldn't enjoy it for a long time due to the crowd and so we decided to head back.

Unawatuna beach from a distance

We were so impatient to get back in to the sea, that we decided to stop exploring further and spend the rest of the time in the sea. We walked along sandy beaches looking at the diverse coast line and snorkeled in the nearby reefs that were full of colorful fish and corrals.

A pack of playful stray dogs

A wild crab?

A wall full of sea urchins

 By the end of the three days, we were so badly sun burnt and exhausted. But it was the best coastal getaway I have ever had. It was such a wonderful experience and the place is definitely worth a revisit.