Today's program includes a visit to Gall Fort, the old part of the city, from the time when Galle was under Dutch rule (after a time when the Portuguese already used Galle as an important trading port), the Sri Lanka was then known as Ceylan.
The fort and the old Dutch and English style buildings (which took control of the island in the late 18th century) are listed in the Unesco World Heritage.
After this visit to the old historic city, we headed towards Koggala to see the famous fishermen balancing on their sticks perched above the sea.
On the way to the fort after picking up a rental scooter from our guesthouse, we first stopped on a beach along the way, a few hundred meters further, just to soak up the sea air. We stayed a few moments, the time to observe these fishermen repairing their nets and Jitima to start making some sketches and portraits that will be his "common thread" along this trip.
After that we stopped a little further at a spot with fresh fish for sale and fishermen in action hauling in or deploying a net from the beach while their colleagues on the boat at sea unrolled the net.
Bonavista Bay, its name, is located concretely between our hotel, itself next to the beach of Unawatuna, which we will not even see in the end, and the city of Galle. In the distance, we see the old city with its lighthouse sticking out, our next stop.
In the middle of repairing/untangling a fishing net.
The waves are legion on the west coast, which is also popular with surfers in certain spots.
Jitima begins what will be a long series of portraits drawn throughout our trip to Sri Lanka.
On the nearby beach, next to the port, there are some fishermen selling the freshest fish.
The Galle lighthouse can be seen in the distance.
Ho hoist, Ho hoist!
A short history of Galle
The first version of the fort dates back to the arrival of the Portuguese on Sri Lankan coasts, at the end of the 16th century. At that time, it was a basic defense, made of tree trunks and mounds of earth. Then the Dutch "took over" in the middle of the 17th century and considerably improved the fort, adding watchtowers and fortifications, extending into the sea while building a church, court, hospital, etc.
Before coming under British rule between 1815 and 1948, the year of Sri Lanka's independenceThe British, who only added a tower to mark Queen Victoria's jubilee in 1883. The original lighthouse was unfortunately destroyed by fire in the 30s and was replaced by the current one dating from 1938.
First steps in the old town of Galle
After parking our scooter near the entrance (at the Captaincy), we walked straight along the courthouse and then the old hospital which was being renovated at the time (apparently now a beautiful hotel), before reaching the famous lighthouse where we bought hats from a local street vendor. With the heat, a hat is the minimum you need to have when visiting the area...
Many students were on a school trip, all dressed in white. The seafront is pleasant, the color of the water is superb. Here, we come across a snake charmer, a few monkeys that climb the facades of the houses bordering the road.
Change of scenery, we are now in the grounds of the Galle fort. Here, the building of the Captaincy which serves as the entrance gate. Originally, the Commander of Galle was located there, the Captaincy was intended to control maritime traffic in Galle.
The courthouse, like all the other administrative buildings (all of which are in the fort), is part of old colonial buildings. Most of them were built by the Dutch in the late 18th century. Most of them were built by the Dutch in the late 18th century.
The back court of the building under renovation. This is the old Dutch hospital.
Here we are at the lighthouse, built in the colonial part of the city that is the Fort. Originally built by the Portuguese, its strategic location was to warn of the arrival of hostile ships… A precaution that ultimately proved inadequate, as it was destroyed during a battle with the Dutch, who in turn rebuilt it from the stone blocks of the surrounding fortification.
The main building opposite is a mosque.
In the distance on a hill next to Unawatuna beach (where our hotel is located) is a pagoda offered by the Japanese (simply called Japanese Peace Pagoda, because it was built to inspire peace in the world). These peace pagodas were built from 1947 on the initiative of the Buddhist monk Nipponzan Myohoji, there are currently 80 of them spread across the world (including 3 in Sri Lanka).
Pose with the souvenir seller from whom we will buy hats (given the heat it was better) and of whom Jitima will draw his portrait.
Coconut recovery.
A whole group of schoolchildren are out.
A snake charmer, basically the photo is paid…
A group of schoolchildren pose.
We will take advantage of the seafront and our desire to eat to go to the local Indian restaurant, the Indian Hut which I recommend. Be careful because in Sri Lanka, it's like in France, restaurants only open for lunch and dinner (unlike Thailand where it's at any time of the day or even night). So we had to wait a little for it to open.
After a good meal with a great view of the ocean, I went to take the scooter back to the square near the entrance to the old town, not being sure if it could be used within the fort. Since apparently we could finally drive with it, Jitma then kindly waited for me at the restaurant while I went back to the square to take our 2 wheels and picked up Jitima.
The rest of the visit was done by feeling, wandering through the small streets, passing in front of churches, climbing the ramparts, etc.
The Indian Hut restaurant where we had lunch today.
Hum what to choose…
A street in old Galle.
In front of the mosque. The Muslims of Galle are said to be descendants of Middle Eastern businessmen who traded with the Portuguese and Dutch, before the British occupied the city.
Back to the Captaincy near the square where I pick up our scooter and go to pick up Jitima.
A temple at the bend in a street in Galle Fort.
Preparations for games that are part of the festivities approaching the Buddhist New Year.
Galle Fort Walk
For example, we passed the Dutch Reformed Church, the current version of which dates from 1755. It was built by the settlers so that the first European settlement in the city would have a place of worship.
Its construction was mainly initiated by a Dutch army officer on the site of an old Portuguese church, which had been established on the same site in 1640.
In the nave of the church are the tombs of the first inhabitants (some died during the journey without reaching Sri Lanka, like two of the first three priests who had the mission of evangelizing the region). Most of them died young, taken by tropical diseases.
Dutch Reformed Church from 1755. It was built by the settlers so that the first European settlement in the city would have a place of worship. In the nave of the church are the graves of the first inhabitants (some died during the journey without reaching Sri Lanka, like two of the first three priests who had the mission of evangelizing the region). Most of them died young, taken by tropical diseases.
The ramparts of the old city.
Here we are in front of the outer enclosure, near the new main entrance, in the background is the clock towerThe British took control of the fort in 1796. This tower was added to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1883.
What is called Galle Fort (concretely, Fort de Galle in good French) actually corresponds to the fortification which surrounded and protected the entire city during the colonial era.
When you see the size of the city today, you can see that it was only a small town at the time. Knowing that it was even smaller when it was built by the Portuguese in 1588, then enlarged by a not insignificant surface area of 36 hectares by the Dutch in 1663 (i.e. an area more than doubled, because today, The Fort covers 52 hectares).
The fort remains in excellent condition after all these years (admittedly being a UNESCO heritage site, it has undergone several facelifts) and it even resisted the 2004 tsunami!
Entrance to the maritime museum next to the Captaincy, created in 1997.
And there you have it, we've pretty much covered it!
Among Other tourist attractions in Galle, we can mention the National Maritime Museum, the National Museum of Culture, the former seat of Dutch colonial power, the Church of All Saints.
Not counting what you can see outside the old town, like St. Mary's Cathedral or even the Kottawa Forest Reserve (15 km from the center of Galle to the north), we were therefore content to see the essentials of what makes this city attractive, but it is easy to stay there for a day or two more if you include the surrounding area.
The Church of All Saints.
Galle Market
We left to go further south to try to find fishermen and possibly visit the Koggala lake, 15 km from the old town, we will first make a small impromptu visit to the Galle market. A guy tries to improvise as a guide to accompany us, as he insisted a little despite our refusal, we did not push the visit in the area too much.
It is also especially that we hung around the streets of the old town longer than expected and that it was time for us to head towards Koggala, in search of the fishermen on stilts, typical of the region.
Meeting the stilt fishermen of Sri Lanka
There’s plenty of famous fishermen of Sri Lanka were one of the reasons for our visit to this country and in any case THE reason to visit Galle and its surroundings.
While we were first going to Koggala Lake to see what it looked like (we actually struggled to find out how to access the shore…), we were already arriving quite late and not being thrilled by the place, we declined the offer of a boat trip before leaving quickly to find a beach with the fishermen.
Knowing that when we inquired, we were told that they only fish in the morning or at nightfall. And we are precisely at nightfall.
This is a unique fishing technique, developed and practiced for decades. It almost disappeared after the tsunami of 2004, but if it still exists, at what price?
On the way to find a beach with the famous fishermen on their perch.
Matara Road, a rather quiet and pleasant coastal road that evening.
Short tour towards Lake Koggala, no more in-depth visit, given the time, we were prioritizing the fishermen.
As we drive along this road leading to Mirissa, another place known for the beautiful beaches of sri lanka, we eventually come across a stretch of beach just near Koggala Lake.
But if we do see stilts in the rough sea, there are no fishermen on the horizon... Seeing us arrive, some guys approach us, they turn out to be local fishermen, but they ask for money to go fishing for a bit! For my part, it was a complete no. I don't like this principle at all.
But to my great surprise, Jitima really wanted to see them and paid the requested amount (1000 rupees). The worst part is that officially, they told us "if we don't catch any fish, we'll refund you", I'll let you guess... We're still waiting for the money...
According to Julien who made some a complete article on the subject, it is possible to find other spots further after where we were, shortly before the small town of Weligama.
Beautiful sunset at least!
After that, we will be a bit jaded and content to eat in a small restaurant not far from our guest house. Tomorrow, departure for She in the mountains.
Looking back, I regret not being stayed at least one more day, because the beaches in the surrounding area look superb, if only Koggala beach, in the area where we were that evening, is worth a look in itself.
Have a good meal, of course !
