16th-25th January 2006

Galle, Sri Lanka

After some very close encounters with curious locals on outrigger power boats, we entered the heavily guarded port of Galle, on the southwest corner of Sri Lanka.

Clearing in/out of Sri Lanka was very expensive through Barwil's shipping agency I'd chosen, at US$280. We got very little service for that, wasting a day on formalities and getting a berth on a flimsy plastic jetty instead of the large concrete pier others could tie up to. The customs and security staff were also after gifts of alcohol, though I didn't have anything to give from our measly stores. I gave a few packets of cigarettes which all turned out to be moldy.

Outside the main gates, also heavily guarded, were numerous Tuk-Tuks and touts vying for business. One even handed me a SIM card to use, and his phone number, as I passed by with another driver.

The town was lively, with small shop stalls, tuk-tuks, cafes and many colourful sari-clad women parading the busy streets. Had a look inside the old fort and visited the owner of a nice guest house my dad stayed at in his travels. I found a few spares for the yacht, and the girls located a tour guide to take us on a 5 day minibus trip around southern Sri Lanka with young crew off another yacht.

We visited Yalla, a national park and hired a 4-wheel drive safari driver to show us the animals in the park at the break of dawn. Luckily, a herd of elephants with several baby elephants crossed right in front of the jeep. Also saw numerous birds, crocodiles, a mongoose?, and deer.

We endured surprisingly long day journeys in the minibus and it was exhausting with our busy schedule. Our poor guide looked positively worn out - I think this was his first such tour, as he brought 2 other hangers on to help. The southern coastal towns are still devastated by the tsunami over a year ago - a very poor country. Many people were still living in tents, and large broken boats are still left high up on land.

After a long winding drive up some mountainous terrain, we stopped at a powerful waterfall, and the crew took a swim under a light side-fall. There was a nice village at the head of the valley, but we only stopped for a lunch break.

We had an uncomfortable few hours nap in the minibus at the base of Adams Peak while we waited for the alotted time to make a tortuous 4 hour climb to the summit of Sri Lanka's highest mountain. It is a Buddhist pilgrim trek, and many young kids, grandparents and couples were making the venture all throughout the night and day. We timed it to arrive on sunrise when a special ritual takes place. The tour guide performed some traditional acts for blessing our tour, by bathing in the freezing cold water and wrapping coins in a cloth in a buddhist shrine half way up the hill.

When day finally broke in the freezing mountain air, it was a glorious moment, the landscape gradually revealed to us all around and the sun warming the smiling faces around. Then there was much gonging, chants and words spoken by a monk, and everyone sat with hands together as if praying.

We found a hotel in Kandy, had a nice meal, and saw a traditional dance show with rhythmic drumming and fire walking.

Next day we had another climb up a mountain rock called Sigirilya, which had a history as a fortress and some interesting stories. There were opulent gardens, baths and fountains in it's heyday.

A hectic drive to Colombo ensued with the driver taking hair-raising risks overtaking along the congested highway. I urged him to take a coffee break and we found a nice curds and coconut honey shop for some afternoon tea.

I was dropped off in Colombo so I could find a replacement fridge impellor which had burnt out when sailing from Phuket (luckily I was able to modify another impellor to continue operating the fridge).

A spiv took me to a rare shop which stocked (only one) of my impellors, but it was probably worth the fees to save the agro walking around. Colombo is a bustling, lively place. I was impressed by how well groomed people were in the business district near the YMCA I stayed at. The markets near the train station were huge and had whole streets designated to one type of item, such as shoes, or CDs etc.

Finally back in Galle we quickly rushed shopping aboard and left soon after for the downwind sail to the Maldives.