Quite an early start again today, 7o'clock, as Abey wanted to complete the town walk before it got too hot.
Galle was originally a Portuguese port, although its trading history goes back much further than the involvement of Europeans . In the 17th century it was taken over by the Dutch, who were responsible for building the ramparts and the three bastions - sun, moon and star.
In 1796 it became a British colony, the Fort remained largely unchanged.
It was already pleasantly warm and we were not the only ones making an early start. The fort area seems to be a natural gym or fitness centre; there were joggers using the paths, people exercising on the flatter sections of the ramparts and even one guy in perfect lotus position doing his yoga. Sadly he did have to take out his phone to check his position so it wasn't as impressive as it sounds! There were some interesting statues depicting the military heritage of the area too.
We walked the ramparts feeling quite tired with all this activity going on and had some great views over the beach and parts of the city. It is quite an attractive place with lots going on.
We were told about theTsunami of December 26th 2004 which devastated the area killing thousands of people, including a group of school girls waiting for their bus. The cricket ground was also badly damaged but was rebuilt and resumed hosting test matches on December 18th 2007.
Our tour gave us glimpses of the fish market, small shopping area and the small museum.
It was soon time to move on, our next stop being the turtle sanctuary. Our sanctuary guide took us through all the various conservation stages they follow from receiving eggs from the fisherman through the hatching and growing stages of the turtles. Most are returned to the sea when they are big enough to survive in the wild. There were some that were quite old that will never be returned to the sea because of injury, they will be looked after by the sanctuary for their whole lifetime. It was really interesting and the guide was anxious that we hold the different sizes and types of turtle; they are quite pleasant to hold - like soft leather and the little ones were very cute.
We continued to travel along the coast passing through some interesting little townships that had obviously been set up for tourists but we were not staying in any of these.
Eventually we arrived at our destination the Avani Bentota Resort and Spa. The resort is absolutely beautiful, right next to the beach and our room is great.
The next two days are owners to do as we choose so we will enjoy the pool and just relax a while.
Time to explore and a walk on the beach was soon planned. The weather is warm and the sea is pleasant. Hard to imagine that it's January!
To night an amazing meal at the hotel restaurant finished off a really great day. Tomorrow just chillin!!