SRI LANKA: GALLE AND THE JOURNEY HOME

We had time for one last meal and a visit to one more city before heading to the airport. Lunch was at an open-air restaurant on the beach where the view almost made up for the mediocre food:

We opted for the seafood platter. It had very good calimari, yucky overcooked tuna, dry shrimp, and okay spiny lobster split down the middle:

We drove from the restaurant to Galle, a large city on the southernmost tip of Sri Lanka. As an important port city, it was basically taken over by Portuguese colonizers in the 16th century and is supposedly the best example of a Portuguese fortified city in all of Asia. When the Dutch came in during the 17th century, they added their own touch, making the city an interesting hodge podge of architectural styles.

Our first stop was the fortress. The clock tower was built in 1882 on the spot where the Dutch belfry once stood:

We took the steps to the top, passing these petrified soldiers who are still discussing whether the Dutch or the Portuguese own this island:

The final ascent was a dirt path:

And at the very top was a spacious flat area with the Sri Lankan flag planted squarely in the middle, as if to answer the question about who owns this island. But what are all those people looking at? It calls to mind a famous song with the words "O'er the ramparts we watched . . . "  Oops. Wrong country.

Aha! Free seats for the big cricket match in the stadium below! We noticed shirts representing both schools among the spectators, but no one was fighting . . . yet.

On our way back to the car, Sanjay pointed out some purple langur monkeys hanging out in a tree--a version of langur monkeys that we had not seen yet, so we we stopped for some photos:

The monkeys were watching a food cart on the street below, and periodically someone had to shoo them away.

With those reddish-brown eyes, they look a bit Satanic, like monkeys in a horror movie:

This one almost looks like he is carrying a club. Maybe it's time to go, Bob . . .

This is what was below them on the sidewalk. No wonder they looked so intense:

Our last stop in Galle was this seaside walkway, which used to be part of the fortress walls:

The Indian Ocean had that range of blues and greens that look like an artist's palette and that I generally associate with the Caribbean:

Just one day before we were here, on March 15, a terrorist entered two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and opened fire on the Muslims who were there for Friday prayer, killing 50 people and wounding many more. When I saw this mosque, I thought it was important to go inside:

There was a fountain for ablutions in the courtyard:

The interior was clean and simple:

Little did we know that in just over five weeks, terrorists would strike in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, focusing on Christian churches and tourist hotels and killing over 250 people. It was heartbreaking to hear of it and to imagine the effect it was having on so many people.

The next and final stop was the airport. We said farewell to this truly AMAZING guide, Sanjay of LankaTrackers, the best guide in Sri Lanka:

We checked in at about 7:20 PM. As we were boarding our 10:20 flight, Bob realized he didn't have the bag with his elephant inside. We had taken a shuttle from the waiting room to the airplane steps, so there was not a way to go back and look for it. He told a flight attendant, but we figured that elephant was never going to make it home to California with us. However, fifteen minutes later, the elephant, which had been rescued from the waiting area, was delivered to him.

Sri Lankan people are good people, and not just because they rescue elephants.

We watched Disney's Monkey Island on the first leg of the flight. It is set in Sri Lanka in many of the places we had been. It's definitely a must-see if you are planning a trip to Sri Lanka.

We spent seven L-O-N-G hours sitting around in the Dubai airport, which had lost its novelty since our first layover just eleven days prior:

We arrived at LAX at 12:45 AM Colombo time. From the time Sanjay dropped us off at 7:20 to touchdown in LA was 29.5 hours, and we still had to get home from there. Unfortunately, baggage dispersal for passengers was stopped so that all the Emirates flight attendants could get their bags first. Not a good customer service move.

Then we waited, and waited, and waited. We asked about our bags multiple times and were told there was still another load coming. I think it was almost an hour before they showed up, and then we still had to get a shuttle to our parking spot, pick up the car, and drive home.  All told, travel time was over 32 hours.

But it was all worth it. Sri Lanka, you won our hearts!

READING

In his memoir A Year in Green Tea and Tuk-Tuks, BBC journalist Rory Spowers describes his crazy plan to move his wife and two toddler sons from London to Sri Lanka to build an organic farm. They end up not far from Galle on an old 60-acre tea plantation. Unfortunately, they arrive just before the tsunami hits the island, and while he and his family are never in any serious danger, his perspective on the devastation to the island is very compelling.

Gradually he is able to overcome both environmental and social issues, and after only a year he is able to make a living from the produce he grows on his farm. Along the way, he shares his insights into the Sri Lankan culture, political system, and environment. Because we had just been there, there were many things that sounded very familiar!