And back to India....

Day 9: 7th Mar, 2015

All good things must come to end and so did the trip to Sri Lanka. The much awaited trip came to an end before we even realized it! Our flight to Chennai, India was at around 2 am on 8th Mar. We had booked the vehicle until 10 pm on 7th Mar and hence had to reach airport by then.

The day started with a quick dip in the blue waters with some fun filled family time for one last time at the Unawatuna beach. Then we were served an amazing breakfast. My family was longing for Indian food and it came as a surprise when we were served delicious dosas! We were told that the staff heard us talking about dosas the previous day at breakfast and the chef prepared the dosas specially for us since we were the only Indian guests! It was a really sweet gesture from the sweet people of Sri Lanka.

Done with all the packing, we had to bid adieu to Unawatuna with a heavy heart. We wanted to visit the very famous Bentota beach on the way to Colombo. Hence, the southern expressway was not taken and we traveled by the old route to Colombo from Galle. This route, for most part of it, is alongside the beautiful sea which is very scenic!

It was around 12:30 pm when we reached Bentota. Bentota is a coastal town located in the Galle district 65 kms south of Colombo. It's famous for the luxury hotels lined across the Bentota beach. It was very sunny by the time we reached and we just relaxed for a while at the beach after which we were back onto the journey.

Bentota beach

Bentota railway station

We reached Colombo by lunch time and had kottu for lunch. We had not seen Colombo and since there was ample time left, we decided to visit Gangaramaya Buddhist temple and Galle Face Green. There is an entrance fee to visit the temple but its a must visit if you have time and are in Colombo. The temple also has a museum which displays ancient idols, elephant teeth, precious gems in their natural forms, huge elephant tusks used in the olden days, statues intricately carved from the tusks, items which were in use by the kings, different currencies and what not!

There is also a place in the temple complex where there are lots of statues of Buddha arranged in a structure which looks beautiful. Also there was an old lift made of wood! There is also the sacred Bodhi tree where devotees take water in a vessel and pour it to the tree while encircling it reciting prayers. And last but not the least, the main temple. The temple was very huge with high ceiling huge statues and paintings on the wall. It looked marvelous!

Elephant teeth

Lots of Buddha statues arranged in a structure

The temple

The temple

Just a few meters down the temple complex, is another place related to the temple. There is a small lake in the middle of which are three temples interconnected to each other. These temples are extremely beautiful and you feel like meditating endlessly in the calmness offered by the temples. The place where you buy ticket for the main Gangaramaya temple should also give you a ticket for this other temple. The ticket cost at Gangaramaya temple includes the entrance charge to this place as well.

Buddha statues at the temple in the lake

Temple in the lake

Time was slipping by and we had to visit Galle Face Green. Galle Face Green reminds one of the beautiful necklace of Mumbai called as Marine Drive. Its an urban park that runs alongside the Indian ocean for half a km approx. One will find a lot of activity here especially on a weekend with lots of different food stalls, vendors and many other things. Out of the many eatables lined up, we found one thing very different and thought of trying it out - Picked Ceylon Olives. These are very popular street food in Sri Lanka. The olives look green in color and taste tangy and spicy. I loved them so much that just the thought of them while writing this post is making my mouth water! Do try them out when at Galle Face Green enjoying the cool breeze.

We also saw the flag lowering ceremony while at Galle Face Green. The flag is brought down before sunset with respect and everything comes to a standstill as this ceremony is done out of respect. It was really a treat to the eyes to watch the Navy officers in charge of the ceremony to lower the flag with great respect.

Sunset at Galle Face Green

Soon it was dinner time and the driver had to drop us back to the airport. On the way we stopped at a restaurant where we had hoppers and kottu for one last time before departing from Sri Lanka.

The trip came to an end with the flight getting us to Chennai on 8th March at 5 am. The trip was indeed a memorable one with lots of fun and hoping us to get back soon to cover some parts which couldn't be included in this trip.

The old town of Galle....

Day 8: 6th Mar, 2015

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.

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!

Clock tower

Galle cricket stadium

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!

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.

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.

Hanuman's statue at Rumassala

Ravana's statue at Rumassala

Sita devi's statue at Rumassala

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.

Blue waters of Unawatuna.....

Day 7: 5th Mar, 2015

It was time to say good bye to Nuwara Eliya and head on to our next destination which would be a beach destination, Unawatuna. It was a long journey and we decided to start early by 7:00 am. The route to Unawatuna is very scenic with lot of greenery and a river giving company for most of the journey. You get to see two waterfalls on the way - St. Clair falls and Devon falls. First comes the St. Clairs falls which is a very beautiful cascading falls with a viewpoint on the highway. The falls is also known as "Niagara of Sri Lanka" and is located along the Kotmale river. The falls look amazing from the viewpoint where you can also take some pictures with the backdrop of the falls. The next falls on route is the Devon falls which drops from approximately 97 meters and is also located along the Kotmale river. There is a viewpoint for this waterfall as well.

St. Clair falls

Devon falls

Some clicks and we were back in the car to continue the journey. Adam's peak also known as Sri Pada, is very famous for trekking in Sri Lanka and we wanted to at least have a glimpse of the peak in this trip. We were discussing the same with our driver and somewhere midway through the journey, we saw through binoculars what was supposedly Adam's peak. If what we saw was indeed Adam's peak, it looked quite inviting for a trek. A depression in the rocky summit represents a huge footprint which has been venerated as a sacred sign which is why it is known as Sri Pada.

We were yet to cover half of the distance and hence, we stopped at a beautiful resort which was on the banks of a river for a short break. We had some tea and were just lazing around the river for a while which was much needed during this long journey. There were also some vintage cars for exhibition at the resort which was very interesting. we also spotted some really beautiful birds on the way.

A short while after the break, we hit the southern express-way which is Sri Lanka's first E class highway. The highway connects Colombo to Galle and Matara, major cities in the south of the island. We traveled almost 90 kms in 1 hour and 15 mins. Wasn't that amazing!

Southern Expressway

It was 1:00 pm when we reached Unawatuna, a suburb of Galle. Unawatuna is a major tourist attraction famous for its beautiful beaches. It was very disheartening to listen about how this place was badly affected due to the tsunami back in 2004. We were told that all the beach lined hotels were flooded by sea water and the tsunami had a devastating effect. But it felt good to see the town back in action!

The small lane from the highway to the resort was lined with jewelry shops, restaurants and hotels. We had booked Thaproban Beach House located on the beach based on the reviews from TripAdvisor and Booking.com. The hotel is right on the beach with its superior rooms and suite facing the beach. Considering all the different hotels, we found this one to be better according to our budget and the views!

View from room

We had a warm welcome from the staff with a welcome drink and we were escorted to our rooms. We had booked a deluxe room and a suite. The suite was good for four adults as it had 2 bedrooms but the only problem with it was -  the only single bathroom. The suite had a sea facing sit-out with large ceiling to floor windows which opened directly to the sea view. The bathroom was spacious and extremely clean with a large shower area. Lunch was the usual veg fried rice and veg noodles (which being a vegetarian I had become very bored of). The blue waters reminded me of the beautiful Andaman islands in India and I was eager to have a stroll on the beach with my husband soaking my feet in the cool waters!

View from balcony at night

Beach restaurant

We relaxed in the sit-out until evening watching the waves with the soothing sound of water calming us. The clouds covered the sun and we knew it was time to hit the beach! We had a lot of fun in the waters, getting completely soaked and wishing it would never end! The beach at Unawatuna is considered to be very safe as the water is shallow. Be sure to hit this beach if you visit Unawatuna. It was a full moon day and the tides increased as the day progressed. We freshened up and had a family time in the balcony chatting up with the neighbors and discussing about our lovely trip so far. It was dinner time and we had dinner on the beautiful tables arranged right on the beach. It was a family dinner to be remembered forever! And thus the day was well spent relaxing in the cool sea breeze.