The mornings at Unawatuna started with a dip in the sea! The clean blue waters always looked inviting to have some family time by the beach. After some time at the beach, we had a wholesome breakfast which was included in the tariff. After breakfast, it was time to explore the old town of Galle at Galle fort.
The Galle Dutch fort is around 5kms from Unawatuna. The Galle fort, in the bay of Galle on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, was built by the Portuguese and then fortified by the Dutch. Many Dutch people still own properties in the fort. It has also been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. It also withstood the Boxing Day tsunami which had destroyed the coastal areas of Sri Lanka. The fort has some churches, museums, restaurants and a lighthouse.
On entering the fort, you can see the Dutch Reformed church. It was built in 1640 and was then remodelled in 1752 and 1755. The church is paved from gravestones from the Dutch cemetery. There is also an old vintage Organ in the church. Then you get to see a museum and next to it is the New Orient hotel which was originally built for the Dutch governor and his staff and then converted into a hotel and now taken over by Aman Resorts and named as Amangalla.
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| Dutch Reformed Church |
From there we proceeded towards the famous lighthouse. The driver dropped us near the clock tower. You need to walk a while on the fort ramparts to reach the lighthouse from the clock tower. The clock tower was very old, built in 1883. The views from this place are just amazing. From there we proceeded towards the lighthouse. On the way, you can also see the Galle cricket stadium. We just kept wondering that it would be a treat to watch an international match here, with the cricket going on one side and the beautiful sea on the other! My brother, who is truly, madly and deeply in love with cricket, wanted to spend the entire day watching a local match which was going on in the stadium!
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| Clock tower |
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| Galle cricket stadium |
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| Galle fort ramparts |
We saw lot of kingfisher birds on the way, some common Kingfishers and some white-throated Kingfishers. And it was a pleasure to introduce them to our parents as well! The walk becomes a bit tiring if you go there during the late mornings. Be prepared to carry an umbrella or a hat and water as you feel a bit tired walking in the sun. We spotted a small refreshment shop to have some soft drinks. The owner of the place was an interesting person who told us that the fort was designed in such a way that you could find all the basic necessities within 5 kms of the fort walls!
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| white-throated Kingfisher |
A short break and we were on the way to the lighthouse. It was around 11 am by the time we reached the lighthouse. We took some pics and were back in the car. It was almost the last day of the trip since the next day would be spent in packing things and travelling back to Colombo to catch the flight back to India. And hence we decided to stop for one last time at Laksala, the government owned souvenir shop. I had read about getting very good gems at Sri Lanka. And what better place than Laksala! We brought some key chains, stickers and some things for our relatives back in India. I got a set consisting of a pendent and earrings with a gem fitted in sterling silver for LKR 3500 approx.
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| The lighthouse |
Done with the shopping, we headed towards Rumassala hill which was one of the reason for choosing to stay at Unawatuna. Rumassala is a hill oddly out of the place in the landscape outside the Galle harbor. Legend states that during the Ramayana, Rama's brother Lakshmana was injured and Hanuman was sent to fetch medicinal herbs from Himalayas. Hanuman forgot the name of the herbs and hence he carried a large chunk of the peak containing many herbs. However, a part of the mountain slipped and broke into five pieces of which one fell at Rumassala.
A large statue of Hanuman, Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Ravana can be seen at Rumassala. There is also a large pagoda on the hill.
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| Hanuman's statue at Rumassala |
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| Ravana's statue at Rumassala |
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| Sita devi's statue at Rumassala |
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| The pagoda at Rumassala |
It was noon and time for lunch. We headed back to the resort for lunch and some rest. This being the last day at Unawatuna, we headed to the beach. The weather turned from sunny to cloudy in just few moments and before we knew, it started raining! It was fun to be in the waters while it was raining. Few hours later, we were back at the room to freshen up and the last day at Unawatuna was over.
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