Unawatuna and Galle
05.04.2009 - 08.04.2009
33 °C
We got a train to Colombo, which was possibly the most rickety thing we have traveled in so far. We did actually think at some point that the train was going to fall off the tracks! It was a tiny old train, and coupled with the tracks not being well maintained and going far too fast it meant the train was rocking side to side for the whole journey there! The only bonus was that we paid a little bit more and upgraded to first class, which basically means you get a bit more padding on your seat and air con. We were going to get another train from Colombo to Galle, but we decided against it after our first experience! We ended up getting an air con bus to Galle, which took another 3 or 4 hours. From there we got a short bus journey to Unawatuna, which is 10 minutes down the coast, and has the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen. 
Unawatuna also got badly destroyed by the tsunami in 2004, you cant really tell now, but there are lots of graveyards by the sea and some buildings were not rebuilt leaving only the foundations. Its an eerie thought that it was destroyed only 5 years ago. Unawatuna had a lot of aid during the crisis and was consequently rebuilt faster than other resorts! The shop keepers did not learn however, as they rebuilt their wooden huts back on the beach. We had dinner the other night with sand between our toes!
We spent the first day catching up on sleep, as we have had some very early starts in Sri Lanka. In the afternoon we went to the beach and decided that the sea and beach looked so clean that we should have a swim! We spent the rest of the day swimming in the sea, which was great fun, and something which neither of us have done in a long time! Unfortunately, we both managed to get rather sun burnt, something which we are both regretting now I can tell you! 
The following day we got a rickshaw back to Galle to have a proper look around the town. Its a old fort city which was built by the Dutch, and as such is a strange mix of colonial Dutch and Sri Lanka architecture. There is not much in the way of specific sights in Galle, more just walking around the place to get a feel for it. 
We walked all around the fort and then got back in a rickshaw (called tuk tuks here) to Unawatuna and watched the sunset on the beach!
Today we got a bus from Galle to Colombo, which is where we are now! There's not much to do in Colombo, so I think we are just going to chill and get everything in order for when we fly back to Chennai, India, which is at 3.30am on 10th April. We shall write next when we are back in India. It may not be for a few days, because we are going straight through Chennai to get a 30 hour train up to Calcutta. So that will probably be where we next write from!
Hope you are all well,
Miss you all lots,
Chris and Alex xxx
Posted by chrisalex 08.04.2009 06:02 Archived in Sri Lanka Tagged backpacking
you're beautiful...you're beautiful. You're beautiful it's true...xxx
08.04.2009 by becki_daws