Seeing as though it was one of my few weekdays off, some of the other team members and I decided to explore a bit of the south coast a bit so we got a train to a local fort town, Galle. Galle is steeped in history, primarily with Dutch influences and it was very interesting to see the vast range of architectural styles and influences from Holland, England and Sri Lanka. The city’s claim to fame is the impressive Dutch fort that encloses the Old Galle town.The city itself is scattered with numerous shops and restaurants and needless to say, we took advantage of these local conveniences. It was nice for us to indulge in cuisine other than the standard Sri Lankan ‘curry and rice’; I ordered a pizza!

Upon our travels around the fort, we stumbled across the ever beautiful Sri Lankan coastline. We were able to see palm tree peppered lands in the distance and crystal clear sky and waters elsewhere, so it was very odd to be distracted from our viewing experience by a local lad. He was asking for some money and at first, it was unclear exactly for what reason. That was until we heard the unnerving phrase of ‘you give money, I jump’! We proceeded to peer dubiously over the edge of the fort into an ocean full of coastal rock. Of course, we refused him!

Galle is a lovely little town, full of colonial histories. We all reflected on our relaxing day during the wild bus ride home and realised that we can’t wait for more Sri Lankan adventures!