In Galle on the morning of the 30th, I walked up to top of the town's southern walls looking over the ocean soon after 6:30. The tide was low, the sun was out, and a good breeze blew off the ocean. I sat for a while and watched the ocean and a guy net fishing out between the rocks, and then made a slow clockwise walk along the walls to the big bastions facing the land side to the north. The morning seemed much cooler than previous ones. I'm not sure if it was cooler or if I was just slowly acclimatizing to the hot, humid weather. From the north bastions I walked through the town's streets to the lighthouse on the bastion at the southeast corner of the walls and sat near there for a while.
I ate another of Mrs. Wijenayaka's big breakfasts about 10 and left Galle by bus about noon. I got off the bus at the little seaside town of Mirissa, a little more than 20 miles to the east, after a journey of about 40 minutes. On the way, we passed Unawatuna Beach on its sheltered cove only about three miles east of Galle. Further along the coast we passed several poles, with foot and hand holds, sticking out of the sea right along the shore. None were manned, but fishermen use them when conditions are right. Finally, we passed another cove, a larger one with the town of Weligama along its shores. Mirissa is just east of the eastern headland.
I got a nice room in a grove of palm trees not far from the beach and then took a walk along the beach inside a pretty little cove. The beach is lined with guest houses and restaurants, most low rise, but with two big ones, one already built and the other under construction. I suspect this pretty little beach will soon be overwhelmed as they say Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna are now. The sky darkened and there was a little rain about 2. I sheltered in a coast guard facility right on the beach that had several sea turtles, including green, hawksbill, and loggerhead, in cement tanks. You could see them well, especially as they would swim right up to you in expectation that you would feed them, which happens three times a day. I spoke with a friendly coast guard officer who told me he had been in the Navy at Jaffna during the civil war and asked me what I thought of human rights in Sri Lanka.
At the eastern end of the beach is a small island with some poles used by the stilt fishermen. The rain had stopped but the sky was cloudy all afternoon. The waves were impressive. Quite a few foreigners were swimming or lying on the beach or in the beach side restaurants. I headed back to my hotel in the palm grove for a while before returning to the beach about 4:30. The sky was cloudy, with little breeze off the ocean. I watched the turtle feeding at 6. They were fed little pieces of cut up fish. On the beach nearby are a few areas when turtle have lain eggs, with the dates and number of eggs written on little boards. After dark I had a good fish dinner in one of the beach restaurants facing the ocean.
I was up the next morning at 5:30 to be picked up at 6 for a whale watching expedition that left promptly at 6:30 from Mirissa's harbor, full of colorful fishing boats, west of the headland. There were about 30 of us on the double deck 50 foot long modern boat. The trip cost me 6000 rupees, about $46, but with a money back guarantee if we didn't spot a blue whale, the biggest creature ever to inhabit the globe. We headed south into the Indian Ocean on a sunny, calm morning and soon turned east, traveling quite a ways out along the coast for about an hour and a half where we encountered several fishing boats and a troop of about ten, maybe more, spinner dolphins. We were somewhere near Dondra Head, Sri Lanka's southernmost point, a little south of 6 degrees north latitude.
After just a short while watching the dolphins, who swam away from us rather than towards us, we headed south out to sea for almost two hours into the shipping lanes that round Sri Lanka. These two shipping lanes are two of the world's busiest shipping lanes, with 200 to 300 ships passing every day. We saw several big cargo ships, including one that passed us very close by. Unfortunately, the shipping lanes coincide with the blue whales' migration route, and an estimated 15 to 20 whales are killed every year by ships. Our captain, a shaggy haired young guy wearing a white captain's hat, had a photo of a piece of a whale still impaled on the bow of a ship. The estimated 200 to 300 blue whales that frequent the area are estimated to produce only about 15 offspring each year, so they are barely holding their own. The whales come this way because the continental shelf near Mirissa is particularly thin, with an underwater canyon nearby that produces an upwelling of food for the whales as they pass. The whale boaters are trying to get the shipping lanes moved further south, but with no success so far.
About 15 nautical miles, or 17 statute miles, south of the coast, one of the crew spotted the spout of a blue whale and we headed for it. Soon we could see the whale's back, with its distinctive very small dorsal fin. It spouted water several times while never emerging much from the water. Blue whales reach up to 100 feet in length (and almost 200 tons in weight), but we saw only a small portion of its back until it raised its tail above the water and dived. Typically, they dive for 15 minutes or so and then emerge for 2 to 6 minutes. Our whale, however, was apparently curious about our boat and emerged close to our stern after only six minutes or so. It half circled the boat and then swam under it. Our captain said it was a juvenile, longer than his boat. It came up again and again half circled the boat before lifting its tail and disappearing under water. Further off, another, larger blue whale's spout was seen. The captain thought it might be the mother of the first one we had seen. He said the young ones are the most curious, or maybe just mistake the boats for their mothers.
We never got close to the larger whale and after about a half hour in the area headed back towards Mirissa. Of the half hour, I think less than half the time we actually were watching the whales rather than the ocean, and then we saw only a thin slice of their backs and finally their tails as they dived. Still, it was nice to see the world's largest creature at one of the few spots, maybe the only one, where it can be easily spotted.
I enjoyed the two hour trip back to Mirissa, with a view of the coast in front of us, including the Dondra Head lighthouse to the east. We arrived in the harbor about 12:30. It was sunny and hot on land. I had lunch at a beach side restaurant and then came back to my room, where I took a nap despite the afternoon heat.
Sometime after 4 I took a bus about six miles to the east and the larger town of Matara. I got off the bus in front of the minuscule Star Fort, not more than a hundred feet across, built by the Dutch in 1665, and named Redoubt Van Eck, according to the old plaque above the entrance. It has a working drawbridge, which the attendant raised for me, and a large crocodile in its cement moat.
From the Star Fort I walked across a modern bridge over the Nilwala Ganga (the word for "river" in Sri Lanka appears to be "ganga") as it makes a loop along the coast before entering the ocean. Just over the bridge on a long peninsula between the river and the ocean is the area called Fort, with Dutch built stone ramparts across the neck just west of the bridge. I walked through the battered gate, dated 1680, and spotted a bunch of boys in Islamic dress, some in white robes and almost all in skullcaps, playing cricket on a lawn. Behind them on the lawn were four Russian made tanks on display. Friendly soldiers were covering them with a tarp for the night. None of them spoke much English. I looked over the tanks, watched the boys play cricket, and then walked through the streets to the west, with a few colonial era buildings here and there.
Eventually I made my way back and to the waterfront just outside the ramparts. Lots of people were frolicking on the beach to the east and there was a tsunami memorial on the waterfront. Just offshore is an island with a Buddhist temple reached by a short bridge. I spent a while on the waterfront and bridge enjoying the breeze. The sun had gone down just behind some palm trees on the shore to the west, with the trees outlined with a red glow. After dark I took a very crowded bus back to Mirissa.
The next morning I took a walk along Mirissa's pretty beach, with big waves crashing on the sand. About 10:30 I took a bus east to Matara and then another bus further east to Tangalle, about a 30 mile trip. The bus passed by Dondra Head and arrived in Tangalle about 12:30. I got a hotel room right on the beach and was the hotel's only guest. The area seemed deserted until several Sri Lankan wedding parties, with very loud music and women in some beautiful clothes, got going. I searched for an open restaurant and finally found one and had a rice and curry lunch in a family house with another tourist who had found the spot before me.
I spent most of the rest of the afternoon on my breezy second story hotel terrace in front of my room. The day was hot and sunny. About 5, after it had clouded up and cooled down, I took a walk along the long beach stretching to the east. A couple of palm trees grew almost horizontally over the sand toward the ocean. Big waves crashed against the beach. The sun set inland, with massive clouds out over the ocean. Walking back just before dark, I noticed a crescent moon over the land to the west. At night I fell asleep to the pleasant noise of the big waves breaking just across the narrow beach side road from my room.
The next morning was cloudy and a misty rain fell for a short while during breakfast. About 9 I took a bus to the town of Beliatta about five miles inland to the west, and then another bus less than ten miles north to Mulkirigala, a temple monastery less than ten miles from the coast but set in a hilly, palm filled jungle. The green scenery along the little country roads on the way was pleasant.
I had to walk about a half mile from the bus stop to the 300 or so foot high cliff upon which several cave temples are located. Some of the cave temples date from the 3rd century B.C., but all were completely restored in the 18th century. The sky was still cloudy, with some rain, as I walked up stairways through the four rockside terraces to the top of the rock. The first terrace had a couple of rock caves, now looking more like little rooms with walls at the cave openings. Inside were reclining Buddhas and very interesting wall paintings, with elephants and gods and kings and queens and other people, some apparently being devoured by devils. Macaque monkeys played in the trees just off the first terrace.
A long flight of stairs led to the second terrace, with one cave temple with a reclining Buddha. Just above is the third terrace, with four cave temples with, you guessed it, reclining Buddhas, and interesting wall paintings. One of the caves had carved wooden pillars and a big chest in which ancient manuscripts were found in the 19th century.
Steep stairs, including some cut into the rock face, led up the final hundred feet or so to the top, with a small dagoba (stupa) and wonderful views down to the hilly, palm filled countryside. I sat on the exposed rock at the top and enjoyed the views and the strong breeze under cloudy skies. I had about a 180 degree view from north to south, with black clouds to the west. The wind increased markedly and I figured rain was on the way, so I headed back down. It did rain as I revisited the cave temples on the way down.
I had spent about three hours there and then walked back to the bus stop. My umbrella broke as I was putting it away. I bought a new one for all of three dollars from a friendly shopkeeper between buses in Beliatta. From Beliatta, rather than head back to Tangalle, I decided to take a bus south about seven miles to Wewurukannala, with a 1960's very high statue of a seated Buddha, with a seven story building as his backrest, next to a temple.
One of the buildings in the temple compound contains a sort of Buddhist Chamber of Horrors, with full size figures of devils sawing a sinner in half, boiling another in oil, and spearing others. Other figures, including a monk and a woman who had apparently committed the sin of dancing, are being submerged in pits of fire. The walls of an adjacent long corridor are covered with dozens of garish paintings. On the top level are depictions of various sins being committed, though it was usually difficult or in fact impossible for me to figure out what sin was being committed. Below each painting of a sin being committed is a painting showing the gruesome punishment in hell for the particular sin shown in the top painting. I saw a couple of families taking their very young children along the corridor.
The main hall, dating from the late 19th century, was full of much more benign figures, some giant. I sheltered there during a heavy rainstorm before a long wait in a gentler rain for a bus back to Beliatta. While waiting I noticed an elephant in the grove of trees across the road and next to the temple. I got back to Tangalle about 6, with light rain still falling.
I ate dinner in the small restaurant just outside the house of a man who told me he had lost all his family, his mother, father and brother, in the 2004 tsunami. He told me he had left the family house on the shore just five minutes before the tsunami hit at 9:15 in the morning to go into the town center, and that saved him. I had earlier seen a tsunami memorial to a man with a German name near the beach. The tsunami killed about 30,000 people on Sri Lanka's eastern and southern coasts, including about 1000 who were on a train heading from Colombo to Galle which was swept out to sea.
I ate another of Mrs. Wijenayaka's big breakfasts about 10 and left Galle by bus about noon. I got off the bus at the little seaside town of Mirissa, a little more than 20 miles to the east, after a journey of about 40 minutes. On the way, we passed Unawatuna Beach on its sheltered cove only about three miles east of Galle. Further along the coast we passed several poles, with foot and hand holds, sticking out of the sea right along the shore. None were manned, but fishermen use them when conditions are right. Finally, we passed another cove, a larger one with the town of Weligama along its shores. Mirissa is just east of the eastern headland.
I got a nice room in a grove of palm trees not far from the beach and then took a walk along the beach inside a pretty little cove. The beach is lined with guest houses and restaurants, most low rise, but with two big ones, one already built and the other under construction. I suspect this pretty little beach will soon be overwhelmed as they say Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna are now. The sky darkened and there was a little rain about 2. I sheltered in a coast guard facility right on the beach that had several sea turtles, including green, hawksbill, and loggerhead, in cement tanks. You could see them well, especially as they would swim right up to you in expectation that you would feed them, which happens three times a day. I spoke with a friendly coast guard officer who told me he had been in the Navy at Jaffna during the civil war and asked me what I thought of human rights in Sri Lanka.
At the eastern end of the beach is a small island with some poles used by the stilt fishermen. The rain had stopped but the sky was cloudy all afternoon. The waves were impressive. Quite a few foreigners were swimming or lying on the beach or in the beach side restaurants. I headed back to my hotel in the palm grove for a while before returning to the beach about 4:30. The sky was cloudy, with little breeze off the ocean. I watched the turtle feeding at 6. They were fed little pieces of cut up fish. On the beach nearby are a few areas when turtle have lain eggs, with the dates and number of eggs written on little boards. After dark I had a good fish dinner in one of the beach restaurants facing the ocean.
I was up the next morning at 5:30 to be picked up at 6 for a whale watching expedition that left promptly at 6:30 from Mirissa's harbor, full of colorful fishing boats, west of the headland. There were about 30 of us on the double deck 50 foot long modern boat. The trip cost me 6000 rupees, about $46, but with a money back guarantee if we didn't spot a blue whale, the biggest creature ever to inhabit the globe. We headed south into the Indian Ocean on a sunny, calm morning and soon turned east, traveling quite a ways out along the coast for about an hour and a half where we encountered several fishing boats and a troop of about ten, maybe more, spinner dolphins. We were somewhere near Dondra Head, Sri Lanka's southernmost point, a little south of 6 degrees north latitude.
After just a short while watching the dolphins, who swam away from us rather than towards us, we headed south out to sea for almost two hours into the shipping lanes that round Sri Lanka. These two shipping lanes are two of the world's busiest shipping lanes, with 200 to 300 ships passing every day. We saw several big cargo ships, including one that passed us very close by. Unfortunately, the shipping lanes coincide with the blue whales' migration route, and an estimated 15 to 20 whales are killed every year by ships. Our captain, a shaggy haired young guy wearing a white captain's hat, had a photo of a piece of a whale still impaled on the bow of a ship. The estimated 200 to 300 blue whales that frequent the area are estimated to produce only about 15 offspring each year, so they are barely holding their own. The whales come this way because the continental shelf near Mirissa is particularly thin, with an underwater canyon nearby that produces an upwelling of food for the whales as they pass. The whale boaters are trying to get the shipping lanes moved further south, but with no success so far.
About 15 nautical miles, or 17 statute miles, south of the coast, one of the crew spotted the spout of a blue whale and we headed for it. Soon we could see the whale's back, with its distinctive very small dorsal fin. It spouted water several times while never emerging much from the water. Blue whales reach up to 100 feet in length (and almost 200 tons in weight), but we saw only a small portion of its back until it raised its tail above the water and dived. Typically, they dive for 15 minutes or so and then emerge for 2 to 6 minutes. Our whale, however, was apparently curious about our boat and emerged close to our stern after only six minutes or so. It half circled the boat and then swam under it. Our captain said it was a juvenile, longer than his boat. It came up again and again half circled the boat before lifting its tail and disappearing under water. Further off, another, larger blue whale's spout was seen. The captain thought it might be the mother of the first one we had seen. He said the young ones are the most curious, or maybe just mistake the boats for their mothers.
We never got close to the larger whale and after about a half hour in the area headed back towards Mirissa. Of the half hour, I think less than half the time we actually were watching the whales rather than the ocean, and then we saw only a thin slice of their backs and finally their tails as they dived. Still, it was nice to see the world's largest creature at one of the few spots, maybe the only one, where it can be easily spotted.
I enjoyed the two hour trip back to Mirissa, with a view of the coast in front of us, including the Dondra Head lighthouse to the east. We arrived in the harbor about 12:30. It was sunny and hot on land. I had lunch at a beach side restaurant and then came back to my room, where I took a nap despite the afternoon heat.
Sometime after 4 I took a bus about six miles to the east and the larger town of Matara. I got off the bus in front of the minuscule Star Fort, not more than a hundred feet across, built by the Dutch in 1665, and named Redoubt Van Eck, according to the old plaque above the entrance. It has a working drawbridge, which the attendant raised for me, and a large crocodile in its cement moat.
From the Star Fort I walked across a modern bridge over the Nilwala Ganga (the word for "river" in Sri Lanka appears to be "ganga") as it makes a loop along the coast before entering the ocean. Just over the bridge on a long peninsula between the river and the ocean is the area called Fort, with Dutch built stone ramparts across the neck just west of the bridge. I walked through the battered gate, dated 1680, and spotted a bunch of boys in Islamic dress, some in white robes and almost all in skullcaps, playing cricket on a lawn. Behind them on the lawn were four Russian made tanks on display. Friendly soldiers were covering them with a tarp for the night. None of them spoke much English. I looked over the tanks, watched the boys play cricket, and then walked through the streets to the west, with a few colonial era buildings here and there.
Eventually I made my way back and to the waterfront just outside the ramparts. Lots of people were frolicking on the beach to the east and there was a tsunami memorial on the waterfront. Just offshore is an island with a Buddhist temple reached by a short bridge. I spent a while on the waterfront and bridge enjoying the breeze. The sun had gone down just behind some palm trees on the shore to the west, with the trees outlined with a red glow. After dark I took a very crowded bus back to Mirissa.
The next morning I took a walk along Mirissa's pretty beach, with big waves crashing on the sand. About 10:30 I took a bus east to Matara and then another bus further east to Tangalle, about a 30 mile trip. The bus passed by Dondra Head and arrived in Tangalle about 12:30. I got a hotel room right on the beach and was the hotel's only guest. The area seemed deserted until several Sri Lankan wedding parties, with very loud music and women in some beautiful clothes, got going. I searched for an open restaurant and finally found one and had a rice and curry lunch in a family house with another tourist who had found the spot before me.
I spent most of the rest of the afternoon on my breezy second story hotel terrace in front of my room. The day was hot and sunny. About 5, after it had clouded up and cooled down, I took a walk along the long beach stretching to the east. A couple of palm trees grew almost horizontally over the sand toward the ocean. Big waves crashed against the beach. The sun set inland, with massive clouds out over the ocean. Walking back just before dark, I noticed a crescent moon over the land to the west. At night I fell asleep to the pleasant noise of the big waves breaking just across the narrow beach side road from my room.
The next morning was cloudy and a misty rain fell for a short while during breakfast. About 9 I took a bus to the town of Beliatta about five miles inland to the west, and then another bus less than ten miles north to Mulkirigala, a temple monastery less than ten miles from the coast but set in a hilly, palm filled jungle. The green scenery along the little country roads on the way was pleasant.
I had to walk about a half mile from the bus stop to the 300 or so foot high cliff upon which several cave temples are located. Some of the cave temples date from the 3rd century B.C., but all were completely restored in the 18th century. The sky was still cloudy, with some rain, as I walked up stairways through the four rockside terraces to the top of the rock. The first terrace had a couple of rock caves, now looking more like little rooms with walls at the cave openings. Inside were reclining Buddhas and very interesting wall paintings, with elephants and gods and kings and queens and other people, some apparently being devoured by devils. Macaque monkeys played in the trees just off the first terrace.
A long flight of stairs led to the second terrace, with one cave temple with a reclining Buddha. Just above is the third terrace, with four cave temples with, you guessed it, reclining Buddhas, and interesting wall paintings. One of the caves had carved wooden pillars and a big chest in which ancient manuscripts were found in the 19th century.
Steep stairs, including some cut into the rock face, led up the final hundred feet or so to the top, with a small dagoba (stupa) and wonderful views down to the hilly, palm filled countryside. I sat on the exposed rock at the top and enjoyed the views and the strong breeze under cloudy skies. I had about a 180 degree view from north to south, with black clouds to the west. The wind increased markedly and I figured rain was on the way, so I headed back down. It did rain as I revisited the cave temples on the way down.
I had spent about three hours there and then walked back to the bus stop. My umbrella broke as I was putting it away. I bought a new one for all of three dollars from a friendly shopkeeper between buses in Beliatta. From Beliatta, rather than head back to Tangalle, I decided to take a bus south about seven miles to Wewurukannala, with a 1960's very high statue of a seated Buddha, with a seven story building as his backrest, next to a temple.
One of the buildings in the temple compound contains a sort of Buddhist Chamber of Horrors, with full size figures of devils sawing a sinner in half, boiling another in oil, and spearing others. Other figures, including a monk and a woman who had apparently committed the sin of dancing, are being submerged in pits of fire. The walls of an adjacent long corridor are covered with dozens of garish paintings. On the top level are depictions of various sins being committed, though it was usually difficult or in fact impossible for me to figure out what sin was being committed. Below each painting of a sin being committed is a painting showing the gruesome punishment in hell for the particular sin shown in the top painting. I saw a couple of families taking their very young children along the corridor.
The main hall, dating from the late 19th century, was full of much more benign figures, some giant. I sheltered there during a heavy rainstorm before a long wait in a gentler rain for a bus back to Beliatta. While waiting I noticed an elephant in the grove of trees across the road and next to the temple. I got back to Tangalle about 6, with light rain still falling.
I ate dinner in the small restaurant just outside the house of a man who told me he had lost all his family, his mother, father and brother, in the 2004 tsunami. He told me he had left the family house on the shore just five minutes before the tsunami hit at 9:15 in the morning to go into the town center, and that saved him. I had earlier seen a tsunami memorial to a man with a German name near the beach. The tsunami killed about 30,000 people on Sri Lanka's eastern and southern coasts, including about 1000 who were on a train heading from Colombo to Galle which was swept out to sea.
No comments:
Post a Comment