There are some funny things in the shops here... But reffles still has proper peanuts you have to shell at the bar and an amazingly refreshing 'Singapore Sling'. Do not leave Singapore until you have tried one ;)
Tuesday 30 November 2010
The road to Raffles Long Bar :)
There are some funny things in the shops here... But reffles still has proper peanuts you have to shell at the bar and an amazingly refreshing 'Singapore Sling'. Do not leave Singapore until you have tried one ;)
Marina Bay Sands Hotel
If you can afford to stay here then i highly recommend it - rooftop infinity pool, spectacular views and rooftop gardens complete with infinity Jaccuzi :)
Images of Singapore
Just a few of the malls including one with its own shuttle bus and the oldest skyscraper in Singapore :)
Singapore bound
The flight from Sri Lanka (on the red eye - overnight) lasted a mere 3 hours but as it took off at 12 midnight and Singapore is another 3 hours ahead it meant landing in the early morning - no sleep on the plane due to lack of any recline in the seats!! However, it did mean that I was party to some fantastic views on the way into Singapore. Imagine pristine rainforest covering gently rolling hillsides sweeping down to the coast where they are met by vibrant ports busy with shipping, settlements twinkling in the early morning mist and rows of road lights and industrial storage tanks making parts of the land Dalmatian like. Then you will have Malaysia as we fly past it.
Coming towards Singapore you instantly see a difference, almost every square inch of land is developed and the western side of the island is covered - I mean covered in industrial sites with massive oil/gas storage tanks littering most islands and the coastal areas and there are more ships than I have ever seen in my life - the sea, port and channel were FULL of ships - mostly the very large oil tanker style vessel with helipad on its deck but also liners, cargo vessels and large naval ships. Amazing, many seemed to be stationary waiting for their turn at the docks or through the straights. Literally from 10,000ft you can see ships as far as the eye can see, packed close together. It is breathtaking. Nearing the ground you notice the glittering mass of tower blocks lining every road link to the city centre. But is also very green…
On landing we are welcomed into air conditioned luxury in the terminal building - it is like a mini-city itself with your every whim catered for - in my case a lovely hot double espresso ;) this completed I was ready to face the world.
It is very easy to find your way around in Singapore as it is laid out in a logical manner and has an MRT system to be envied by the rest of the world (London Underground you could learn a thing or two from these guys). It is modern and clean with no eating or drinking allowed on the platforms or trains. Each train runs every 3 mins and there are glass panels to separate the tunnels from the platforms meaning that there is no sucking/whooshing noise accompanying the trains. They are rapid and you have a sense of gliding to your destination. Wonderful.
The YMCA is a great place to stay as you pay £20 a night and get a room at the heart of the city including breakfast buffet style ;) although you will need to share your room with 3 other people. Hot showers and free internet are also available… On arrival and settling in I decided to stay another 2 days (5 in total) it is that good.
Over the course of my stay I have seen many parts of Singapore but in all areas it is perfectly clean, traffic and pedestrians obey the rules (not once did I hear a horn sound!! And coming from Sri Lanka/India this is a miracle). There is NO litter here at all - dropping litter is seen as a crime and punishable by on the sport fines… I watched one teenager walking along the street given a flyer for a shop and he played with this for about 20m before deciding he did not want it… Nonchalantly he played with it and finally flicked it into a bush… Then looked around… Seemed embarrassed and went and collected the flyer from where he had tossed it and put it into his pocket!! Amazing. The lawns are meticulously trimmed and the pavements are cleaned regularly along with all glass surfaces.
As for what to do here - well:
Singapore is a shopaholics dream come true as there are lots of malls each one catering to your every want - most have entertainment areas with cinema complexes, all have food courts the size of an entire shopping mall in the UK with a choice of every type of meal you can think of… I have tried a variety of meals some of which I could not identify from the images given but all tasted good and most meals were under $5 (£2.50). My nearest shopping malls are the Cathay (the oldest sky scraper in Singapore!) and the CitiMall - a 10 storey behemoth of a building with an entire floor dedicated to different products. Even sold complete suites of real plate mail armour!!
Coffee shops are common here and the main brands are ‘Coffee Bean’, ‘Starbucks’ and ‘Mr Beans’ all of which have excellent coffee and all of whom have wonderful cheesecake and muffins…
The sky ride (Millennium Wheel but 10m taller) occupies some of the waterfront at the marina and is worth a visit ($29) - it gives you a half hour ride which will enable you to have a great view of the marina area and a panoramic view of the whole of Singapore including the straights full of shipping.
The Marina Plaza hotel ($400 a night) is opposite over the wonderfully designed double Helix bridge and is surmounted by a ship on its 56th - 57th floors!! Yes you heard me a ship - with proper decking. It can be accessed by non guests for $20 and is well worth the investment as you are whisked in a express elevator to the roof where you step out onto a deck at least 5 stories higher than the sky ride!! You can then spend time strolling the deck and looking out over the city from a unique vantage point. AMAZING - would love to come back and book in here for a week!! It has infinity pool and Jacuzzi on the roof as well as a garden and bar ;) Superb. The marina also has white balls floating in it which are filled with dreams - peoples dreams for the future (they fund them and money goes to charity). The Marina also has a football pitch and is currently under development for more shops and entertainment sites. Huge Development with multi-billion $ investment.
The shopping centre at the marina is awe inspiring with works of art in the walkways, named luxury shops that I had not known about till now rubbing shoulders with Channel, Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo, Cartier and Ferrari. One entire floor was dedicated to diamonds!! Clearly this is an area for the wealthy to shop in comfort - but it is wonderful to window shop here… Just outside the tree lined boulevards are gently watered with mist from pipes…
Night safari is one of Singapore’s top attractions ($50) and is worth the investment. It is a wonderful look into the world of the nocturnal animals and they are active at night. The Leopards are beautiful and the bats are HUGE and let loose to fly over your head!! A must see tour if you are here. In 2012 it will be joined by a new ride the river tour.
Finally a visit to Raffles Long Bar to sink a Singapore Sling ($29) which is an amazingly refreshing cocktail (18+ only) and the bar has free peanuts, which you can shell yourself and then drop the husks onto the bar floor. I spent a good hour in the company of another English gentleman ’David’ and must have gone through half a bushel of peanuts leaving a huge pile of husks on the floor behind me ;)
So - to sum up Singapore. A wonderful country with a wealth of opportunities to enjoy yourself both through activities and shopping. A city state with everything you could want with laws that encourage a polite and clean way of life - impeccable and somewhere that I would come back to on holiday if not to live.
I will let the photos tell the rest :)
Coming towards Singapore you instantly see a difference, almost every square inch of land is developed and the western side of the island is covered - I mean covered in industrial sites with massive oil/gas storage tanks littering most islands and the coastal areas and there are more ships than I have ever seen in my life - the sea, port and channel were FULL of ships - mostly the very large oil tanker style vessel with helipad on its deck but also liners, cargo vessels and large naval ships. Amazing, many seemed to be stationary waiting for their turn at the docks or through the straights. Literally from 10,000ft you can see ships as far as the eye can see, packed close together. It is breathtaking. Nearing the ground you notice the glittering mass of tower blocks lining every road link to the city centre. But is also very green…
On landing we are welcomed into air conditioned luxury in the terminal building - it is like a mini-city itself with your every whim catered for - in my case a lovely hot double espresso ;) this completed I was ready to face the world.
It is very easy to find your way around in Singapore as it is laid out in a logical manner and has an MRT system to be envied by the rest of the world (London Underground you could learn a thing or two from these guys). It is modern and clean with no eating or drinking allowed on the platforms or trains. Each train runs every 3 mins and there are glass panels to separate the tunnels from the platforms meaning that there is no sucking/whooshing noise accompanying the trains. They are rapid and you have a sense of gliding to your destination. Wonderful.
The YMCA is a great place to stay as you pay £20 a night and get a room at the heart of the city including breakfast buffet style ;) although you will need to share your room with 3 other people. Hot showers and free internet are also available… On arrival and settling in I decided to stay another 2 days (5 in total) it is that good.
Over the course of my stay I have seen many parts of Singapore but in all areas it is perfectly clean, traffic and pedestrians obey the rules (not once did I hear a horn sound!! And coming from Sri Lanka/India this is a miracle). There is NO litter here at all - dropping litter is seen as a crime and punishable by on the sport fines… I watched one teenager walking along the street given a flyer for a shop and he played with this for about 20m before deciding he did not want it… Nonchalantly he played with it and finally flicked it into a bush… Then looked around… Seemed embarrassed and went and collected the flyer from where he had tossed it and put it into his pocket!! Amazing. The lawns are meticulously trimmed and the pavements are cleaned regularly along with all glass surfaces.
As for what to do here - well:
Singapore is a shopaholics dream come true as there are lots of malls each one catering to your every want - most have entertainment areas with cinema complexes, all have food courts the size of an entire shopping mall in the UK with a choice of every type of meal you can think of… I have tried a variety of meals some of which I could not identify from the images given but all tasted good and most meals were under $5 (£2.50). My nearest shopping malls are the Cathay (the oldest sky scraper in Singapore!) and the CitiMall - a 10 storey behemoth of a building with an entire floor dedicated to different products. Even sold complete suites of real plate mail armour!!
Coffee shops are common here and the main brands are ‘Coffee Bean’, ‘Starbucks’ and ‘Mr Beans’ all of which have excellent coffee and all of whom have wonderful cheesecake and muffins…
The sky ride (Millennium Wheel but 10m taller) occupies some of the waterfront at the marina and is worth a visit ($29) - it gives you a half hour ride which will enable you to have a great view of the marina area and a panoramic view of the whole of Singapore including the straights full of shipping.
The Marina Plaza hotel ($400 a night) is opposite over the wonderfully designed double Helix bridge and is surmounted by a ship on its 56th - 57th floors!! Yes you heard me a ship - with proper decking. It can be accessed by non guests for $20 and is well worth the investment as you are whisked in a express elevator to the roof where you step out onto a deck at least 5 stories higher than the sky ride!! You can then spend time strolling the deck and looking out over the city from a unique vantage point. AMAZING - would love to come back and book in here for a week!! It has infinity pool and Jacuzzi on the roof as well as a garden and bar ;) Superb. The marina also has white balls floating in it which are filled with dreams - peoples dreams for the future (they fund them and money goes to charity). The Marina also has a football pitch and is currently under development for more shops and entertainment sites. Huge Development with multi-billion $ investment.
The shopping centre at the marina is awe inspiring with works of art in the walkways, named luxury shops that I had not known about till now rubbing shoulders with Channel, Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo, Cartier and Ferrari. One entire floor was dedicated to diamonds!! Clearly this is an area for the wealthy to shop in comfort - but it is wonderful to window shop here… Just outside the tree lined boulevards are gently watered with mist from pipes…
Night safari is one of Singapore’s top attractions ($50) and is worth the investment. It is a wonderful look into the world of the nocturnal animals and they are active at night. The Leopards are beautiful and the bats are HUGE and let loose to fly over your head!! A must see tour if you are here. In 2012 it will be joined by a new ride the river tour.
Finally a visit to Raffles Long Bar to sink a Singapore Sling ($29) which is an amazingly refreshing cocktail (18+ only) and the bar has free peanuts, which you can shell yourself and then drop the husks onto the bar floor. I spent a good hour in the company of another English gentleman ’David’ and must have gone through half a bushel of peanuts leaving a huge pile of husks on the floor behind me ;)
So - to sum up Singapore. A wonderful country with a wealth of opportunities to enjoy yourself both through activities and shopping. A city state with everything you could want with laws that encourage a polite and clean way of life - impeccable and somewhere that I would come back to on holiday if not to live.
I will let the photos tell the rest :)
Return to Colombo
Returning to Colombo I have spent three days resting within air conditioned confines of guest houses but have snuck out to have a walk around the park - and found huge numbers of bats roosting in the trees 0_0 as well as white cranes hunting for insects in the flooded grass!! The viharamahadevi park is centrally located and has elements of beauty about it which makes it worth a walk around, such as; elegant fronded palms, linear fountains/ponds which light up in the evening, a road safety park so that students can be walked around a miniature set of roadways and signs, ok the last is not beautiful but interesting ;)
All along the southern railings of the park you can find local artists and their work tied to the rails - it is vibrant, colourful and catches the eye - I found myself crossing the street just to be nearer and get a better view of some of the outstanding works on display (Some seem to be copies of famous works but for the most part they are original oil works on canvas) this is a better gallery than the art museum and you get to meet the painters themselves!! Take your time and enjoy and maybe if not on a world tour buy one to take home, I know that I would have…
I decided to spend my last night in Colombo at the ‘Grand Oriental Hotel’, which overlooks the main harbour of Colombo. It has wonderful views of the docks from the 4th floor. I watched in awe over lunch as a HUGE commercial cargo ship was moved into the dock through the combined efforts of its captain and the accompanying tug. It was a graceful manoeuvre carried out with meticulous care as the ship was moved into the side of the dock alongside two other HUGE vessels inch perfectly, while at the same time one vessel departed and a queue could be seen lining up out to sea waiting for their turn - It is a vibrant port full of commerce and energy with each ship taking no longer than 1 hour to settle into its dock top begin loading/unloading cargo. Brilliant. It would appear that Sri Lanka has a booming economy and its port is expanding with new docks under construction here as well as the newly developed port in the South near Galle. Clearly it is a country on the rise.
Over the last 3 days it has begun to rain every evening after a hot fine days - and when I say rain I mean bucket down for hours!! It always starts around 4-5pm and lasts for 3-4 hours with continuous heavy rainfall mixed with flashes of lightning accompanied by booming thunder rolling across the sky - on several occasions the thunder and lightning occurred simultaneously, lighting up the room, tracing shadows of the furniture through the closed curtains and opaque windows!! Nice weather for ducks ;)
Due to fly with Cathay Pacific on the 27th Nov to Singapore so hope the weather is clear :)
All along the southern railings of the park you can find local artists and their work tied to the rails - it is vibrant, colourful and catches the eye - I found myself crossing the street just to be nearer and get a better view of some of the outstanding works on display (Some seem to be copies of famous works but for the most part they are original oil works on canvas) this is a better gallery than the art museum and you get to meet the painters themselves!! Take your time and enjoy and maybe if not on a world tour buy one to take home, I know that I would have…
I decided to spend my last night in Colombo at the ‘Grand Oriental Hotel’, which overlooks the main harbour of Colombo. It has wonderful views of the docks from the 4th floor. I watched in awe over lunch as a HUGE commercial cargo ship was moved into the dock through the combined efforts of its captain and the accompanying tug. It was a graceful manoeuvre carried out with meticulous care as the ship was moved into the side of the dock alongside two other HUGE vessels inch perfectly, while at the same time one vessel departed and a queue could be seen lining up out to sea waiting for their turn - It is a vibrant port full of commerce and energy with each ship taking no longer than 1 hour to settle into its dock top begin loading/unloading cargo. Brilliant. It would appear that Sri Lanka has a booming economy and its port is expanding with new docks under construction here as well as the newly developed port in the South near Galle. Clearly it is a country on the rise.
Over the last 3 days it has begun to rain every evening after a hot fine days - and when I say rain I mean bucket down for hours!! It always starts around 4-5pm and lasts for 3-4 hours with continuous heavy rainfall mixed with flashes of lightning accompanied by booming thunder rolling across the sky - on several occasions the thunder and lightning occurred simultaneously, lighting up the room, tracing shadows of the furniture through the closed curtains and opaque windows!! Nice weather for ducks ;)
Due to fly with Cathay Pacific on the 27th Nov to Singapore so hope the weather is clear :)
I have three days before my flight to Singapore and so I decide to book into a colonial house in the more salubrious part of town (Colombo House 4000r/night) - this turns out to house some very old furniture like a museum and a room with AC and hot showers but little else… Still its location means that all the main sites are within walking distance.
A quick trip to the private hospital is first on the agenda (!! Always do this if you are ill in the tropics to be sure !!) - a modern and sparkly clean establishment where I was greeted on entry and given a consultation with 10mins (cost 300r/£1.80) and diagnosed with a throat infection and fever (temp 99 degrees) prescribed two sets of tablets for the fever/throat infection (560r/£3.30) and told to rest. I was out of the door again within 30mins, so I am now up to taking 5 pills in the morning, 2 pills at lunch and 4 pills at night for the next 5 days!! I must rattle when I walk now!! Still should clear the infection within 5 days…
After this I consoled myself with a 5 hour fix of coffee, cheesecake and hot chocolate at ‘Coffee Beans’ before a storm erupted and I was forced to take shelter in a tuk-tuk on my journey back to guest house - the rain torrents down after 5.30pm to such an extent that the roads become like rivers of water too deep for the tuk-tuk to negotiate but the buses have no problem in dousing us as they pass!! Got back to the guest house soaking wet and was met by a guard at the gate with an umbrella :)
Since this i have taken the opportunity for gentle strolls in the local area and made every use of Colombos cafe scene with its comfy chairs and mugs of coffee/chocolate and cake ;)
A quick trip to the private hospital is first on the agenda (!! Always do this if you are ill in the tropics to be sure !!) - a modern and sparkly clean establishment where I was greeted on entry and given a consultation with 10mins (cost 300r/£1.80) and diagnosed with a throat infection and fever (temp 99 degrees) prescribed two sets of tablets for the fever/throat infection (560r/£3.30) and told to rest. I was out of the door again within 30mins, so I am now up to taking 5 pills in the morning, 2 pills at lunch and 4 pills at night for the next 5 days!! I must rattle when I walk now!! Still should clear the infection within 5 days…
After this I consoled myself with a 5 hour fix of coffee, cheesecake and hot chocolate at ‘Coffee Beans’ before a storm erupted and I was forced to take shelter in a tuk-tuk on my journey back to guest house - the rain torrents down after 5.30pm to such an extent that the roads become like rivers of water too deep for the tuk-tuk to negotiate but the buses have no problem in dousing us as they pass!! Got back to the guest house soaking wet and was met by a guard at the gate with an umbrella :)
Since this i have taken the opportunity for gentle strolls in the local area and made every use of Colombos cafe scene with its comfy chairs and mugs of coffee/chocolate and cake ;)
Tuesday 23 November 2010
A return to Colombo
I have three days before my flight to Singapore and so I decide to book into a colonial house in the more salubrious part of town (Colombo House 4000r/night) - this turns out to house some very old furniture like a museum and a room with AC and hot showers but little else… Still its location means that all the main sites are within walking distance.
A quick trip to the private hospital is first on the agenda (!! Always do this if you are ill in the tropics to be sure !!) - a modern and sparkly clean establishment where I was greeted on entry and given a consultation with 10mins (cost 300r/£1.80) and diagnosed with a throat infection and fever (temp 99 degrees) prescribed two sets of tablets for the fever/throat infection (560r/£3.30) and told to rest. I was out of the door again within 30mins, so I am now up to taking 5 pills in the morning, 2 pills at lunch and 4 pills at night for the next 5 days!! I must rattle when I walk now!! Still should clear the infection within 5 days…
After this I consoled myself with a 5 hour fix of coffee, cheesecake and hot chocolate at ‘Coffee Beans’ before a storm erupted and I was forced to take shelter in a tuk-tuk on my journey back to guest house - the rain torrents down after 5.30pm to such an extent that the roads become like rivers of water too deep for the tuk-tuk to negotiate but the buses have no problem in dousing us as they pass!! Got back to the guest house soaking wet and was met by a guard at the gate with an umbrella :)
Since this i have taken the opportunity for gentle strolls in the local area and made every use of Colombos cafe scene with its comfy chairs and mugs of coffee/chocolate and cake ;)
A quick trip to the private hospital is first on the agenda (!! Always do this if you are ill in the tropics to be sure !!) - a modern and sparkly clean establishment where I was greeted on entry and given a consultation with 10mins (cost 300r/£1.80) and diagnosed with a throat infection and fever (temp 99 degrees) prescribed two sets of tablets for the fever/throat infection (560r/£3.30) and told to rest. I was out of the door again within 30mins, so I am now up to taking 5 pills in the morning, 2 pills at lunch and 4 pills at night for the next 5 days!! I must rattle when I walk now!! Still should clear the infection within 5 days…
After this I consoled myself with a 5 hour fix of coffee, cheesecake and hot chocolate at ‘Coffee Beans’ before a storm erupted and I was forced to take shelter in a tuk-tuk on my journey back to guest house - the rain torrents down after 5.30pm to such an extent that the roads become like rivers of water too deep for the tuk-tuk to negotiate but the buses have no problem in dousing us as they pass!! Got back to the guest house soaking wet and was met by a guard at the gate with an umbrella :)
Since this i have taken the opportunity for gentle strolls in the local area and made every use of Colombos cafe scene with its comfy chairs and mugs of coffee/chocolate and cake ;)
Turtle Bound
It was time to complete the last leg of my journey in Sri Lanka - this involved a train journey from Galle via Aluthgama to Colombo. So early morning start to catch a tuk-tuk to the station and a brief interlude with the ticket both sees me walking to the platform with a 100r (60p) ticket to Aluthgama. The ticket itself is a card style stub about an inch in length which is snipped as you enter the platform (just like the old tickets from the UK)… Once settled comfortably into 2nd Class with its soft seats and fans we are off spot on time. The track as always is rough, bumping us up and down and from side to side! However, the views from the left windows is sublime with the train track at times running along the beach front :)
Arriving in Aluthgama you are greeted by the mob of 1 tuk-tuk touts ;) and before you know it I am whisked away to my hotel for the night ‘Longbeach’ in Induruwa. The hotel is located right on the steep sandy beach with crashing waves tearing the sand out from beneath your wriggling toes :) a wonderful location and the husband and wife team make you feel at home while their dutchund comes for some attention…
Towards the evening I booked to go and visit the turtle hatchery at Kosgoda - It was a short tuk-tuk ride to get to and turned out to be a small shack tucked away behind some homes near to the beach with several concrete water tanks and a well. The area had been devastated by the Tsunami and had been rebuilt using donations and volunteer workers - they have achieved much but it seems a little commercialised now with the entry charge rising from 200r to 500r per person (I was however impressed enough with the work they were doing to donate a little extra). They pay fishermen 10r per egg to take them to the hatchery where they are protected from predation and when they hatch the turtles are kept for 3 days before release… The females are kept for 7 years to allow better chance of survival and more breeding opportunities… The centre also runs a hospital pool for injured turtles or turtles with disabilities (blind, humpbacked etc) and another two pools for the very rare albino turtles. I was permitted to hold some eggs which were ‘dead’ and found out that they are soft skinned and then went onto the highlight which was to hold some green turtle hatchlings before their release - This is the stand out moment of the visit for me. The enchanting wriggling wet slimy hatchling gave me a paternal desire for its well being - I wish it well in its future marathon journeys… Along with all the others of course!!
Debatable point: Should fishermen be paid to provide the centre with turtle eggs or should local villages be paid to protect the beaches known to be nesting sites? Discuss. Or is their another solution?
Felt ill for the first time today - sore throat, headache, temperature… After sleeping poorly decided to seek medical advise when I got to Colombo… (Advise: Always check if your ill in tropical areas if not it could get worse!!)
Arriving in Aluthgama you are greeted by the mob of 1 tuk-tuk touts ;) and before you know it I am whisked away to my hotel for the night ‘Longbeach’ in Induruwa. The hotel is located right on the steep sandy beach with crashing waves tearing the sand out from beneath your wriggling toes :) a wonderful location and the husband and wife team make you feel at home while their dutchund comes for some attention…
Towards the evening I booked to go and visit the turtle hatchery at Kosgoda - It was a short tuk-tuk ride to get to and turned out to be a small shack tucked away behind some homes near to the beach with several concrete water tanks and a well. The area had been devastated by the Tsunami and had been rebuilt using donations and volunteer workers - they have achieved much but it seems a little commercialised now with the entry charge rising from 200r to 500r per person (I was however impressed enough with the work they were doing to donate a little extra). They pay fishermen 10r per egg to take them to the hatchery where they are protected from predation and when they hatch the turtles are kept for 3 days before release… The females are kept for 7 years to allow better chance of survival and more breeding opportunities… The centre also runs a hospital pool for injured turtles or turtles with disabilities (blind, humpbacked etc) and another two pools for the very rare albino turtles. I was permitted to hold some eggs which were ‘dead’ and found out that they are soft skinned and then went onto the highlight which was to hold some green turtle hatchlings before their release - This is the stand out moment of the visit for me. The enchanting wriggling wet slimy hatchling gave me a paternal desire for its well being - I wish it well in its future marathon journeys… Along with all the others of course!!
Debatable point: Should fishermen be paid to provide the centre with turtle eggs or should local villages be paid to protect the beaches known to be nesting sites? Discuss. Or is their another solution?
Felt ill for the first time today - sore throat, headache, temperature… After sleeping poorly decided to seek medical advise when I got to Colombo… (Advise: Always check if your ill in tropical areas if not it could get worse!!)
Farewell to Galle
On my last full day in Galle I felt that it was fare that I went for a long walk around both the Old and New town (Which the tuk-tuk drivers found confusing!). The Old town surrounded by its Dutch fort walls seems unchanged in hundreds of years with colonial style buildings and narrow charming streets. However the new town is completely different with a more dynamic stance - traffic is busy with many well used busses in evidence and there is the bustle of city life even though it is a Sunday. The train station turns out to be quite small and uncrowned!! And it is possible just to turn up and buy tickets for a train rather than booking in advance, fantastic as this is my next mode of transport…
I noticed a sign stating that the European film festival had arrived in town and had FREE showings of award winning European films at 1pm and 3pm - so I had to go and see both ;) However, the locals did not seem to have the same enthusiasm, there were only 5 people (3 tourists) at the first film “Upperdog” from Norway, while the second film “The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus” only pulled in 23 people, once again mostly tourists and probably due to the ‘Johnny Depp factor’. Still, both were enjoyable to see on the big screen.
On my last full day in Galle I felt that it was fare that I went for a long walk around both the Old and New town (Which the tuk-tuk drivers found confusing!). The Old town surrounded by its Dutch fort walls seems unchanged in hundreds of years with colonial style buildings and narrow charming streets. However the new town is completely different with a more dynamic stance - traffic is busy with many well used busses in evidence and there is the bustle of city life even though it is a Sunday. The train station turns out to be quite small and uncrowned!! And it is possible just to turn up and buy tickets for a train rather than booking in advance, fantastic as this is my next mode of transport…
I noticed a sign stating that the European film festival had arrived in town and had FREE showings of award winning European films at 1pm and 3pm - so I had to go and see both ;) However, the locals did not seem to have the same enthusiasm, there were only 5 people (3 tourists) at the first film “Upperdog” from Norway, while the second film “The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus” only pulled in 23 people, once again mostly tourists and probably due to the ‘Johnny Depp factor’. Still, both were enjoyable to see on the big screen.
Saturday 20 November 2010
Two days in Galle
Galle (pronounced Gaul like the old name for France) is an old Dutch styled colonial area. The city itself has grown beyond the fort walls and although damaged by the Tsunami it has recovered and there is a thriving workaday mode about the centre. However, I am staying inside the fort itself at the guest house “Fort Inn” - I would highly recommend them as the family are warm and welcoming while the rooms are wonderfully presented with AC and hot showers that you will want to stay under for longer than you first thought ;)
Walking around the fort, it is possible to see the Dutch style buildings in common evidence and it will take no more than a day to see all the sites within the walls. It is worth staying here for the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere and the chance to unwind with fabulous food, invigorating fort wall walks and the chance to take in some of the charming character of the old world heritage buildings all around.
The best place for Internet Wi-fi and expresso is the “pedlars Inn Café” on Pedlar street - Highly recommended :)as they also have comfortable sofas to lounge on and a range of games/books to while away an hour or to with fellow travellers.
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