Jan 29, 2007 09:44 AM
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Day 9 –Trip to Srilanka wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Galle. We left Colombo early morning at 7 am, on the way we could see Tsunami devasted village. We spotted a monster lizard on a small island on a lake in Kosgoda. There was a huge statue of Barmian Buddha build in memory of Tsunami Victims called as Tsunami Honganji Vihara at Peraliya village which was badly hit by Tsunami.
Victor Hasselblad Turtle Hatchery: This hatchery is owned and maintained by a local person at Kosgoda. One day old baby turtles are put in a huge water tanks and are released after two days into sea. There were couple of old huge turtles that were blind and hence they were retained in hatchery. Everyday the eggs are collected and incubated inside the hatchery in order to protect them from being eaten by wild dogs. Hatchery now has 5 different species of turtles(loggerheads, leatherbacks, olive ridleys, green turtles, hawksbills). Visitors are allowed to hold baby/adult turtles and take snaps. The entry ticket is 200 Srilankan rupees.
Coral Gardens at Hikkaduwa:* Hikkaduwa is famous for its golden sand beaches, coral reefs and water sports. We hired a glass bottom boat for coral viewing. We were able to spot blue corals, cabbage corals, and mountain corals along with colorful tropical fish. Bargaining skills are needed as locals initially quote high for a boat ride. We paid 1500 bucks for a 45 minute ride.
Galle: The Galle Fort was initially build by Portuguese and later modified by Dutch in 17th century. Many Muslims, Dutch, Portuguese, Germans reside inside the fort area. There is also a very famous Dutch church which is worth a visit. We encountered great number of ‘Umbrella Couples’ at Fort.
It was around 7 pm in the evening when we reached Colombo.
Day 10 – This was the last day at Colombo. Our flight back to Chennai was in at 6.30 pm. We were advised by hotel staff to leave early for the airport. Colombo too suffers from Traffic problem!
Our trip to Srilanka was totally great inspite of tense situation. We leave Colombo with a promise to re-visit the splendid nation to cover Pollanaruwa, Trincomalee, Sripada(Adam’s Peak), Horton’s and whole lot of national parks.
I had to upload Part I, Part II and Part III will all different profile names. Apologies for that! That was quick workaround I could think off.
Part I - https://mouthshut.com/review/Sri_Lanka_-_General-118223-1.html
Part II - https://mouthshut.com/review/Sri_Lanka_-_General-118228-1.html
