On our final day in Sri Lanka, we visited the lovely city of Galle. Again, we had not visited here previously and was always on our list of 'must does' for our next trip to Sri Lanka, so we were lucky to make it there on our last day. Galle is known for it's historic fort that was built back in the 16th century.
Again, this part of the coastline was devastated by the 2004 tsunami and the cricket ground that is situated at the base of the fort was completely demolished. It has been rebuilt and the boys enjoyed sitting above the ground, dreaming of playing there one day. The walk along the top of the walls of the fort is nothing short of spectacular- with beautiful cliff top views of the ocean and coastline. You can see some of these images below.
It was a super hot and humid day and the storms were building fast, so we managed to grab a nice lunch before heading to the airport. Galle was a really pretty little place to visit and we would recommend it to all who visit the south of the country.
The storm hit as we were arriving at the airport, so the traffic was atrocious. After completing our check-in, immigration clearance, security check and yet another security check, we were ready to have our boarding passes and passports checked for a fifth time at the gate. Max had decided to jump ahead, as we had had our paperwork checked so many times, what could go wrong?! We had also had a bit of a family disagreement and were not talking to each other, so he was keeping his distance from us.
Anyway, Max begrudgingly handed over his passport and boarding pass to be scanned, and the woman promptly asked him to step aside and wait as she called someone on the phone ......... the queue didn’t move. I jumped ahead and asked what was wrong, and I was told to ‘wait madam’, which was my cue to start getting grumpy - don’t take my son and his legal papers aside without talking to me and letting me go with him!! That then resulted in all our documents being taken and ALL of us having to step aside while further phone calls were made. I continued to ask ‘why’ and ‘what is the actual problem’, with no response, just a ‘stand aside madam, please wait madam’!! After quite some time and no progress, I asked ‘again’ if I could help, but also asked if they need our Indian FRRO papers? Oh, you have FRRO madam? Was the response with complete shock!! All you needed to do was ask !!! Of course, we have them ....... how else would we have that visa in our passports - it’s a mandatory requirement for all Foreigners residing in India and we cannot return to India without them. A quick check of the dates to ensure they tied back to the passport, and we were allowed through……. Completely insane and completely avoidable by just asking !
As I have previously written, the morning after we left Sri Lanka, there were a series of horrible bombings that have devastated the country. We were so saddened to hear of the loss of life and injuries and we know how this will effect the country in the long term. On the other hand, we were very happy to hear that many friends who were also visiting Sri Lanka, made it home safely. Not sure if/when we will be back in Sri Lanka, but we have loved our time there.
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| Blue tuk-tuks were so cute rather than the yellow we get in Bangalore |
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| Beautiful views from the Fort walls |
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| Galle Cricket Ground |
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| the ground was completely destroyed in the tsunami |
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| an extra play, I think |
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| Dreaming of playing for Australia one day |
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