Sunday 7 Feb 2016

We woke up at a leisurely time and had a relaxed breakfast at our hotel in Mirissa.  The food here is reasonable but we were spoilt at other places.  We were visited by some cute puppies that decided to sleep at our feet as we had breakfast.

After breakfast we packed up and were on the road again for a short trip to Galle.  I have been here before in 2013.  It was still interesting to visit this place again.  It is rich in history.

After Galle, we had lunch as a restaurant that was off the main road to Colombo and by the ocean.  It was a popular place and the food was good.  Following lunch, we dropped off two in the group to Bawa House, the residence of the late Geoffrey Bawa who was the most influential architect on the island.  His house is like a museum with long flowing gardens.  The rest of us went to Bentota Beach to relax and take in the views.  This beach has pristine white sands.

We arrived in Colombo in the early part of the evening and checked into the Grand Oriental Hotel.  Our guide Jagath booked this hotel as it was close to the Colombo Railway Station.  Our train to Jaffna the next morning departs Colombo at 5:35am.  The hotel was once the residence of the Dutch Governor and also became military barracks.  It became a hotel in 1870.  That evening Susie and I met her friend whom we had missed in Batticaloa.  He ran the orphanage there.  We retired early as we had an even earlier start the next day.