27 August 2019
Today we leave picturesque and wet Nuwara Eliya for Galle. We are effectively starting from almost the highest point in Sri Lanka and going down to sea level. On the way, we will be stopping at Bandarawela to see my only surviving grandaunt who is down from Jaffna to attend a wedding.
After an hours drive, we reached Bandarawela. My cousin in Canada sent me a Google map pinpoint of the address as I have never been here before. We were quite spot on in getting to the right address.
My grandaunt was so excited to see me. I last saw her in 2016 in Jaffna. Her late husband was my late maternal grandfather’s younger brother. She met Dianne for the first time. We had tea and nibbles and chatted for a while. She was staying at her daughter’s house and they all appreciated the effort we made in coming to see them.
Soon we bid farewell and were on the road again.
View half way down from Nuwara Eliya to Galle
After a few hours with a couple of stops, we arrived at Galle. This is the home town of my good friend Faizer, with whom we had lunch in Colombo. Dianne needed a shopping fix and so we stopped at a departmental store. After that, our guide gave us a brief tour of the city within the fort before taking us to our hotel.
I have been to Galle before on day trips. This is the first time I staying here. The Portuguese in the 16th century used Galle as a major trading port and built some fortifications. The Dutch fortified the city extensively in the 17th century.
We are staying at a boutique hotel named Fort Printers. It was an 18th century Dutch built mansion. It was later used as a printing press until 2002. After extensive and sympathetic renovations, it became a private hotel. In addition to the mansion, two other heritage villas were added to the hotel; one across the street from the mansion and one down the road. We were staying in a room in the villa across the street from the mansion. The mansion serves as the central area for the hotel and also has some rooms.
Our room in the villa was spacious with full of old charm. It had many period features and was very comfortable.
After settling in, we decided to head to the rampart to view the sunset. There were plenty of people at the rampart. This included many couples who are about to wed or newly wed with their photographers putting together a fairytale story to their impending marriage or the marriage that had taken place. They were everywhere. Galle had the perfect setting.
