Galle and Unuwatene

Galle is an unusual Sri Lankan city in that it is very relaxing and laid-back. Galle is Sri Lanka's fourth largest city, and was historically a major trading port. The fort area, built by the Dutch, is a UNESCO world heritage site and extremely beautiful. The fort itself is like a different world - very relaxed in comparison to the rest of Sri Lanka (especially Colombo). The fort area is populated by various craft shops, some tacky museums, but mostly exquisite Colonial architecture. Most of the hotels in Galle seem to be owned by sudhas and many of the shops are as well. One craft shop we went to was owned by a French women who was married to a local. Their child was striking to say the least. The 'Galle Fort Hotel', probably the most upmarket and swanky in Galle, was owned by an Australian. We went to their resteraunt for dinner (expensive, but luxurious), and Kumudu was confused by him as someone called 'Sally' and greeted her as an old friend! He also owned two purebred dogs that entertained dinner guests and yapped vigourously.

Kumudu and I stayed at the 'Sun House' on Upper Dickson Road. The hotel is a renovated spice merchant house, built in the mid 1800's. Consequently, it was quite special and was secluded away from the rest of Galle. It was a highly authentic, relaxing and atmospheric place, that had a lounge so that we could mingle with other guests (there were only 6 rooms in total). We chatted with an older couple who had come from England. He was a retired textile lecturer, cum lay clergyman, cum justice of the peace, who was dyslexic (all this in one short conversation). His wife was quite absent from the conversation. Needless to say, a strange couple.

'Sun House' room and Kumudu:

The 'Sun House' exterior:

The 'Sun House' pool and garden:

The fort area is a large medieval-like fortification jutting out into the water. We took a stroll along the wall which was quite relaxing. Regretably, there were an implausible number of touts, fixers and low-lifes hanging around ready to acost hapless tourists. Even more problematicaly, they were even more persistant than your average tout and simply wouldn't go away unless they given a stern talking to. Some boys were asking tourists to pay them so they could watch them jump into the water far below the ramparts (which they duly did regardless of payment). Nonetheless, the whole place was picturesque.

Lightouse in the Galle fort area:

Image of the Galle fortifications:

A typical street in the fort area:

We also visited a beach only 4 kilometres away called Unawatene. Unawatene is probably the nicest beach I've been to in Sri Lanka, it has that Bahamas-esque quality to it: short beach, deep transparent water, coral reef, etc. The food was also amazing and the town itself was quite off the beaten track so it wasn't overcrowded. The coral, regretably, is dying, and this is evidenced by the copious amounts of broken coral washing up on shore. The reason, as always, is entirely human in origin.

Unawatene beach:

Kumudu and I at seaside resteraunt:

Unawatene beach:

The whole trip was great fun. However, our driver 'Bertie' was an interesting case. We paid him to take us to Galle and back over two days - he was good for 300 km (basically Galle and back plus extra driving around). When we arrived at the Sun House, however, he discovered that there was no room where he could stay. This later turned out to be a problem since he asked us to pay for his room. It wasn't much, but one is always left wondering: is this legitimate or am I being played by this guy? It is certainly out of the ordinary for drivers to bother their employers about living arrangements (usually they just sleep in their van if a guesthouse doesn't provide a room), so the whole thing was suspcious. In the end, we just paid him the money - rather grudgingly - but mainly because it was easier.

Seenigama Temple

On our way back from a small trip to Galle we stopped at the Seenigama temple in Hikkaduwa. Hikkaduwa is a major surfer hangout and a popular spot for tourists. But one more interesting (and sinister) aspect to the town is the offshore temple pictured below:

The temple is located about two hundred metres offshore and can only be got to by boat. It is perched on a small island - the water around it is relatively shallow. We paid Rp 350 (300 = foreigner, 50 = Kumudu) to get a ride out to the island - I think the boat ride was the best part actually.

This is a picture I took while I was on the boat. I was worried that I might drop the camera in the water because the boat was so narrow and the water was quite choppy. However, after some careful handling I managed to take this hurried picture. The boat, I think, is a fishing boat, but might be dedicated just to ferrying people and supplies between the mainland and the island - I'm not really sure.

This is the temple in question. It is built in the typical Sri Lankan style and is a kovil or Hindu Temple. It is dedicated to - get this - Dewol deviyo (the god - with a small 'g' mind - called Dewol) who is a malicious and malevolent deity that one worships if revenge is required! All the people crowded on the small island (see below) are dedicated to this task:

First, the people will enter the structure above where there is an image of the Dewol deviyo. Clasping small bowls of garlic, chilli and other acrid and pungent spices, a small puja takes place presided over by a priest (compare these gifts with other Hindu temples - usually sweet fruits like mango, pineapple, etc are given, but here 'angry' spices are supplied - clearly the malevolent deity only feeds upon these pungent substances).

Next, they take the offering outside where everyone lines up (it is the only place in Sri lanka I have seen where people actually queue properly!) so they can take their turn with the priest. Kumudu reported that the priest asked what their problem was, the people then proceed to tell the priest how they were wronged. After that, the offering is crushed with a pestle (representing the deity feeding on the gift I take it, and the rock itself being the very maw of the deity).

During all of this the priest chants incantations asking that 'justice' (or revenge - depending on whether a genuine wrong has been carried out) be done and the transgressor punished. The general idea is that either: a) something very bad will happen to the person who did wrong, or b) they will be revealed as the culprit if the wrong doer is not already known. I suspect, however, that many people go to the temple simply to try and precipitate some cosmic punishment on people they dislike! Below is the remains of the offering after it is crushed. There is a very pungent smell that hangs in the air on account of these ground spices.

Finally, I discovered this curious statue located near the temple (it was quite a cramped area mind you, being that it was an island and there were quite a few people already on it). I could not figure out who the image is of, but I suspect that it is actually some detrius discovered on the island after the tsunami that had been made into a makeshift shrine. As it turns out, the temple itself miraculously suffered no damage after the tsunami! This was taken to be highly auspicious, and proof that the deity is both very powerful and very real. On the whole, I found the whole place very powerful and beautiful.

Cow vs Van

They say the traffic in Asia is crazy, and this probably has something to do with the variety of traffic hazards that one has to negotiate. One such hazard is the humble cow. These creatures happilly wander across the road at their leisure, and usually make a home for themselves on traffic islands and road verges. I'm pretty certain that they are purposefully released by the Colombo council as a cheap way of maintaining the public lawns and keeping grass by the roads at bay.

Recently, we had a close encounter with one of these poor creatures. We were driving back from Kegalle (in between Colombo and Kandy) and we had got to a town on the outskirts of Colombo called Malebe (I always make a joke about the town because it seems to go on forever - it seems an especially long time in the awful Colombo traffic. It has to be the longest suburb in Colombo). Suddenly, Kumudu's Dad slammed on the brakes. We looked up, and in this terrible moment we saw a cow obstructing the road. It was horrifying instant because we realized that there was no way we could stop in time - it was a moment where we realized something would happen, but it wasn't clear what the outcome would be.

Luckilly, Kumudu's Dad had put the brakes on at the right moment because - although we collided with the bovine - we didn't really crash into it. So I suppose we can define it as a run-of-the-mill traffic accident rather than a bonafide crash. There was this thud, and the cow was swept up the front of the van for a moment before being thrown forward. The cow looked shocked for a moment, and then promptly wandered off quite happilly. We quickly beat it, as we knew that the farmer would be pissed and Sri Lanka is the kind of country where the term 'vigilante justice' gets its origins (joking).

Meanwhile, the van seemed to come worse off. the front of it had a huge dent in it, the right lamp was fully broken off, and the fender was dented. Moreover, the windscreen had spider-webbed (this was to grow in the coming days, heh - why get it repaired when we were renting it?). I can safetly say that the vehicle owner was furious. And in spite of the fact that it was 'insured', Kumudu's Dad still had to pay LKR 50,000 (about NZD 500-600). This was mainly because the guy was some kind of dodgy character that shouldn't be crossed (we got the van dirt cheap anyway).

Oh, and the accident wasn't our fault since the cow wandered onto the road from the wrong side (its a miracle the traffic on the other side avoided it). The thing that cracked me up most was how the van was damaged, but not the cow! As I say (rather un-idiomaticaly) me: van-ekak kadila, habe harack kadila-nehe (the van is broken, but the cows not).