Our album of Galle photos, all 31 of them, can be seen through the flickr album below:
Rose early and Prageeth took us to Lighthouse Hotel for tennis via an unscheduled stop when is tuk tuk ran out of diesel.
Uneventful ride home, shower, and then enjoy the sundeck most of the day.
Short stroll down to beach late afternoon…
…and photograph the sunset from our sundeck – stunning.
Then some R&R before dinner, which was crab in an oriental sauce with chips and salad. Coconut banana dessert was worth the wait! Looked at photos before sleep.
Our other Sri Lanka photos- 79 excluded from the album – can be found through the link below:
Our album of Galle photos, all 31 of them, can be seen through the flickr album below:
Slightly later rise and we swim rather than play tennis. Then we take a good breakfast and pack.
We say a fond goodbyes to Amal, Sanjay, Wojciech, Justyna and all.
Our driver, Ganesh, arrived early but seem to like the Frangipani atmosphere. We transferred to Aditya via Galle Fort to collect my bank card!
Check-in at Aditya – seems short of staff so we take beer and nuts and then enjoy the afternoon coming to terms with our huge suite and especially it’s sundeck.
We dined around 1930. Tasty beef salad and seer fish supreme, followed by rum infused chocolate flan – then “we” watched the rest of the cricket – well actually Daisy nodded off, Ged watched it.
Our other Sri Lanka photos- 79 excluded from the album – can be found through the link below:
Our album of Galle photos, all 31 of them, can be seen through the flickr album below:
Early rise and it is clammy. Tennis feels like real hard work – Ged wins 6-2.
Shower and take breakfast. Again enjoy the resort; read, take a little sun, share a Sri Lankan curry to fish lunch, finish Finkler, swim and then played cricket with staff and a couple of guests.
The big left-hander top scores again for the oppo at 75 or 80 of the 109. Ged gets less wally than most, takes two wickets and a catch (Michael the English guest). Ged’s team struggled to 22 for three but then Ged and Amal (who clearly has hidden depths and strength) muster 70 odd in six overs to at least make a respectable total.
Shower and then return to photograph the sunset.
Dinner of jumbo prawns with chips and salad (eventually) interrupted by darkness as our side of Olive Ridley needs a shilling in the meter . We move to the other side, then back for banana bread and ice cream and watch a bit of Oz V Zim with “M”.
Our other Sri Lanka photos- 79 excluded from the album – can be found through the link below:
Our album of Galle photos, all 31 of them, can be seen through the flickr album below:
Another tough day in paradise beckons.
Ged rises mega early to see if the swarming swallows arrival of the evening is replicated in reverse in the morning – it isn’t!
Daisy and I played tennis; 5-5 – very tight game.
Then shower, breakfast, reading (When Freddie Became Jesus, then started The Finkler Question). Snack lunch of burger to share and beer to share, then more reading.
A late afternoon stroll to Wijaya for cocktails with the expats. Moscow Mules and Arak Sours.
Then tuk tuk home. No real sunset to speak of. Watch the swallows swarm as usual and then some R&R before supper.
Tiger prawns with salad and chips (switched the rice) and wine again!
Our other Sri Lanka photos- 79 excluded from the album – can be found through the link below:
Here is a link to the King Cricket piece, which relates to one of several games of garden cricket on that holiday – this one at the Frangipani Tree, near Galle, on 19 February:
Frankly, some of the comments are better than my report – it is worth reading for them. King Cricket can be like that.
Lord’s isn’t the only place where cricket and tennis intertwine
Here is my contemporaneous journal record for the whole day:
Very heavy overnight rain – some of Daisy’s things get wet – no point in even considering tennis this morning at seven – Daisy does hair drying instead.
We invent our own exercise regime.
Breakfast, reading (Kalooki Nights), lunch of grilled calamari, chips and bread! With beer.
World Cup [cricket] 2011 starts but we play our own garden version.
Five aside, Wojciech refuses to play but tennis ball cricket enables Daisy to have a go.
We make a respectable 89 for three of eight (I scored 15 in an open stand of 40 odd). We meet “Major General” Richard and his sporty son Chris (my opening partner) and daughter Millie and who knows we might meet the wife (Rosie?).
Our side loses as big fella Sanjay takes advantage of asymmetric field which helps left-hander with big hitting ability.
Even Daisy scores a run off my bowling.
More reading afterwards, followed by dinner of lamb tajine followed by chocolate ice cream washed down with a Spanish Crianza
Tough day.
Our album of Galle photos, all 31 of them, can be seen through the flickr album below:
Our other Sri Lanka photos- 79 excluded from the album – can be found through the link below:
Our album of Galle photos, all 31 of them, can be seen through the flickr album below:
Overnight: THE MYSTERY OF THE STRANGE DISAPPEARING SOAP!
(Squirrels crawl through the bathroom slats and take the small bars, Amal tells us!)
Amal brings us an early morning coffee and we play tennis.
We shower and take breakfast in the cool shady breezy spot where we had dinner last night.
We read, having bagged a quiet breezy spot on the lawn. We take a snack lunch of tuna sandwich with some chips and salad washed down with a beer. We read some more.
We get ready for dinner, observing the swallows that nest for the night in the coconut trees outside our room.
Huge dinner of prawn samosas, crab with rice and veg, but the centre piece was the crab. Valdavieso Sauvignon Blanc washes it down and a flourless chocolate cake is the final straw.
Our other Sri Lanka photos- 79 excluded from the album – can be found through the link below:
Our album of Galle photos, all 31 of them, can be seen through the flickr album below:
The only downside to our amazing arrangements for the restful part of our holiday in/near Galle was the requirement to move on a couple of times. Yet the transfers were all smooth and the journeys only a few minutes, so we felt in retrospect it had been worth it. This was the first of those transfer days.
Again rise a little later. Get most of the packing done and take massage again at eight. Daisy has head and foot massage with Milton, while I had the full works with Roshan.
Then again we take breakfast while the oils settle.
A final look at our amazing villa
Ged swims and then sunbathes for a while. Daisy showers and packs some more. We are collected at 13:00 – fond farewells with Praseeth, Roshan and Wanitha.
Then a 15 to 20 minute drive east to Thale, where [at The Frangipani Tree] we are greeted by our Polish hosts from Krakow, Wojciech Raus and Justyna.
Some confusion over our room, so we sit in a shady breezy spot & nibble some bread and hummus over a beer. We also order lobster for our dinner tonight.
We then go to our room and unpack. Ged takes a short late afternoon stroll but mostly we read before dinner. Daisy also ordered prawn samosas to share as a nibble, but veggie ones came by mistake. Comps!
Will try the prawn one is another day.
The lobster was delicious. Always wash down with a bottle of Valdivieso Chardonnay.
Daisy also tries a desert described optimistically as a pavlova, but all in all it was a lovely dinner.
Our other Sri Lanka photos- 79 excluded from the album – can be found through the link below:
Our album of Galle photos, all 31 of them, can be seen through the flickr album below:
No tennis today, so rose a little later and took massage at 9 am. Back to Milton for Ged and Roshan for Daisy.
I think it was this occasion when I had a bizarre conversation with Milton, who was telling me all about his ancestors, whose names were Arthur, Alfred and such names. I said to him, “it’s interesting to me that everyone you have mentioned in your family has an English-style first name, until Roshan”. Milton went very quiet for a moment and then said, “but Roshan IS an English name!” That was me told.
We take breakfast after massage and rest a while to let oils settle. Ged tries hoppers with sambal.
Meanwhile Prageeth has gone off in search of a duck for us, which nearly turned out to be a wild goose chase but in the end was a successful wild duck chase.
He gets the duck from Labudawa Farm, near Labudawa Junction, circa 12 km from Galle and returns around 12 noon.
Shopping with Prageeth in his tuk tuk
We then go shopping with Prageeth. I buy sandals (two pairs) and three shirts – Daisy merely buys a pac-a-mac. We also buy a memory stick for the photos (8 GB) and discover that many boutique shops are closed for a local (Muslim) holiday.
Back to the fort, first to the ATM, where Ged [accidentally] drops his stuff in the bin before retrieving his card, only to have the card time-out and be swallowed [by the machine] while Ged picks up the bits. This proves to be a difficult problem with two days of public holiday in train.
But Prageeth at least find one bank employee who he knows, who assures us that if the card is in there – which of course it is – it will be held for me until Tuesday or Wednesday next week.
We then go to Exotic briefly, then KK Collection and buy gifties for Charlie plus some utensils for Ged and Daisy plus some nice rattan mats for Ged.
Then home for some beer, nibbles, sun, swimming, R&R, etc., before 18:00 yoga class (mostly for Daisy) and pool and then change for dinner.
We feast on the duck with pineapple in a coconut gravy with rice and salad washed down with the last of our wine. Daisy flakes, so Ged beats himself at pool a couple of times.
Our other Sri Lanka photos- 79 excluded from the album – can be found through the link below:
Our album of Galle photos, all 31 of them, can be seen through the flickr album below:
Of course the headline “crabby existence” is a pun. This was the day we went in search of crabs in Galle. Our few days of villa life in Galle Fort itself was far from crabby. We had been very lucky to be afforded the opportunity to hire an entire villa, 41 Lighthouse Street, (normally shared between half-a-dozen people at least), as it had just come back onto the holidays market after a couple of years in the hands of a long stay family. The owners wanted to test run the team with holiday letting again so were happy to give me and Janie exclusive use of the place for a few days. Utter luxury.
Rise again before six, coffee and biscuits and then tennis. Five all – both of us had chances to dominate and win.
Sadly, Mendis doesn’t have a court at 7 o’clock for the next couple of days, but we book 23rd and 24th February.
Then off to fish market in search of crab – no joy there. We then try Keells Supermarket, where Daisy/we bought nuts and nibbles and chocolate etc and rice.
We try one more supermarket – no joy – and then a fishing village just outside town near the Dewata Junction – our last chance and bingo!
We land the last two crabs in Galle. A thousand rupees ($10-ish).
Dewata Junction – the last crabs
Into town again and buy some coconuts on the way, plus red bear key ring to replace my broken camera strap; the crabs are meanwhile trying to break for freedom.
Back for breakfast then 12:00 massage today (we switch masseurs).
Then we release the team and enjoy swimming, R&R etc.
We take some king coconut and go for a stroll looking at shops (Barefoot and especially KK Collection highlights), then check out the Amangalla, home for write ups and dinner.
Our other Sri Lanka photos- 79 excluded from the album – can be found through the link below:
Our album of Galle photos, all 31 of them, can be seen through the flickr album below:
Rise before six and take coffee before setting off in Praseeth’s tuk tuk to Lighthouse hotel for tennis.
Ged wins 7-4 (6-2). Mendis looked after us there.
Went back to Villa for wash and ready for 9 am Massage with wonderful Milton and Roshan (Milton’s son) who looks about 15 but apparently is 28.
We take a herb-infused tea and a late breakfast, then relax in our villa most of the day while Praseeth, Roshan (the Villa) and Wanita fuss over us.
We swim a little and sunbathe a little. Then we cover ourselves in skeeta protection and go off to the ramparts with Roshan for cricket.
No one is playing and a few mangy layabouts don’t seem too keen, but the peace offering of an Indian red heavy tennis ball seems to do the trick. One lad runs off to get stumps and a bat – it’s game on.
Deceptively straight bowlingA hoick to mid-wicket, where a you can just make out the stray Queenslanders
A stray Aussie from Brisbane watches for a long time and eventually decides to join in, after some baiting of an Ashes variety by Daisy, “to try and dislodge the pom” when I’m batting.
This pom was not for dislodging
The Aussie softened a little when I suggested that he might be “Matthew Hayden’s evil twin (if that is possible)” after he played a half decent stroke.
Roshan and Praseeth played well, especially Praseeth’s batting, despite him “feeling un-special today” apparently.
Daisy stuck around & took the photos. When stumps were drawn, the locals asked if I would be coming again tomorrow. I said “maybe”, by which I meant, “probably not”.
