We enjoyed a more relaxed couple of days at Mirissa with its beautiful coastline and the bonus of a turtle hatchling release.
Just outside Galle, on the Rumassala Peninsula to the east, is the Peace Pagoda, built in 2002 by Japanese Buddhists. A pristine white building it stands high on the promontory from where there are fine views across the bay to Galle Fort.
Galle Fort dominates the city, standing high on a peninsula at the mouth of the bay where the city's harbour is located.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to build fortifications here but all that remains of these is the Black Bastion, dating from around 1620.
Originally the fort was isolated from the mainland, separated by a moat crossed only by a drawbridge. The moat was filled in by the British in the 19th century and Galle International Cricket Ground now stands on this land.
Nearby is the Old Gate, built by the Dutch in the 17th century and cutting through the warehouses. It was the only entrance into the fort until the mid-18th century.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was a force to be reckoned with in the 17th century. In 1640 the VOC attacked the Portuguese in Galle and took over the fort, ruling until 1796 when it was ceded to the British. Cinnamon was the main spice traded from Sri Lanka.1
The Northern Ramparts stretch across the peninsula, pierced by the Main Gate. Originally built by the Portuguese the three bastions on the ramparts were renamed Sun, Moon and Star from east to west by the Dutch.
Galle Lighthouse was built on Utrecht Bastion on the Southern Ramparts in 1940.
It was extremely hot and we had very welcome beers with a plate of fries and ketchup in the Taphouse which is in the old Dutch hospital at the south end of Law Court Square.
We stayed at the Galle Fort Hotel, a lovely old hotel inside the ramparts of the fort. It dates back to the time of the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century.
There cocktail bar staff mixed very good, unusual cocktails: the "Ropewalk" was 45 day spice-infused Old Cask Arrak (34%), sous vide ginger and lemongrass syrup with fresh lime juice: the "Pickled" had orange peel, maraschino cherry, cinnamon and star anise steeped for 14 days in Ascot Regal dry gin, combined with lime juice and simple syrup.
We ate only one evening at Galle Fort Hotel: Cabinet Chicken with parathas, a very spicy fish sambal, a quite strong onion salad and very nice sauce. A glass of white wine and a lot of sparkling water - it was very warm and humid but not too bad eating outside on the terrace above the pool.
We spent a good deal of time at the fish market not far from Galle Fort where fishermen were hauling huge nets out of the sea and onto the beach. This was very labour-intensive and looked like very hard work.
The market alongside had loads of tuna as well as red mullet, prawns, parrot fish and much more.
We went on for a brief visit to other markets and stores selling fresh produce before heading for lunch at the Galle Cricket Ground.
An idyllic lunchtime spent at the Galle Cricket Ground. We'd asked our guide to arrange this for us and invited him to lunch there with us.
We ordered beers (Ruwan had coke) and settled down to watch.
We were given a table next to the scorers. Two Premier League sides were playing: Negombo (batting in the first innings of a three day game) vs Baduralya S C.
At lunch, around mid-day, Negombo were 81 for 2.
I had excellent battered prawns with a dipping sauce and chips, Andrew had sweet and sour chicken, also very good.
The scorers were really lovely and allowed me to look at the score sheets which very intricately record such details as bowling analysis, runs scored, how batsmen are out and the length of time at the crease.
