Unawatuna 1

Breakfast was omlette and toast instead of hoppers. Flies again, getting annoying. As I was leaving, the son, who had been the "customer service rep", asked me if I could give him an Australian money bill; he had a collection of various currencies from guests. It seemed that I was the first Australian to patronise their guesthouse. Unfortunately the smallest note I had was $20 and this was too valuable. I didn't have any coins either, having dumped them into the charity box at the airport.

I took a tuk-tuk to the station to stay dry. Hopped onto the Matara bus. A monk wanted my window seat, just behind the driver. I didn't understand what he was saying but the conductor helped me find another place. Later elsewhere I saw signs indicating that the forward seat on the right in buses and train carriages is reserved for clergy.

At Matara bus station I was tempted to buy a short eat or two but seeing the flies inside the display case, gave up that idea. I settled for a bottle of water and an ice cream cone from a small supermarket. Another bus took me to Unawatuna, about 5 km outside Galle. I missed the closest stop and had to walk back about 200m. What look like lanes on maps are usually more like alleyways.

I got upgraded to a balcony room for free at Bedspace. Very glad to have a shower. I came down to lunch and ate a yummy Pad Thai. A welcome cocktail was also provided. David, co-owner of Bedspace, with keen assistants and trainees, cooks up delicious dishes. A quibble, I thought the shallots should have been sliced finer.

After a cool nap I went for a late afternoon walk on the beach, which is about 10 minutes by foot. The surf was strong at the eastern end, which is a delight for surfers but most bathers went to the calmer western end.

Facing the beach are many guesthouses, eateries and shops.

Beach dog heaven.

Strong waves.

These beach dogs looked healthy, if small.

Not adverse to getting a bit wet.

These however are the good looking ones. There are charities that treat, vaccinate and sterilise street dogs to stem the overpopulation, and spread of rabies, similar to efforts in other countries like Thailand.

These tables get busy in the evenings.

You can see that the sand dips sharply away from the shore.

A beach game.

View from the western end, and approaching beach belles.

Excursion boat.

Always in search of warm weather.

This was a practice I saw but didn't want to contribute to, wild animals for pictures.

With the help of GPS, I located Marco Ristorante Italiano in a back lane, which served up a good thin crust pizza. A welcome change from rice with curry.

Went to bed early again. I never really adjusted to the Sri Lankan timezone because I wasn't interested in nightlife and it suited me to wake early before the day got hot. That allowed me to realign with Sydney time easily after the trip.

Galle to Tangalle

The bus station was a busy place with people going places and merchants and hawkers doing business. I had been told that to get to Tangalle. I needed to change buses in Matara, a large regional centre.

The bus quickly filled up. I took the seat near the door because it allowed to put my backpack in front of me. No luggage storage underneath. The bus roared onto the road, overtaking even when motorcycles and tuk-tuks were coming the other way, like a homicidal maniac, tooting the horn furiously. Lesser vehicles just had to swerve out of the way. But the bus deferred to trucks. Size mattered.

But for some reason the bus slowed after leaving the outskirts of Galle. It often stopped, or rather slowed down, for passengers, who were evidently used to alighting from or boarding a moving bus.

At Matara I took a few pictures of the coast before boarding an onward bus.

Progress was painfully slow and I got a good view of rural life in Sri Lanka. I finally reached Tangalle about 3 hours later for a road distance of about 80 km. The GPS on my phone was very useful for locating the guesthouse. It was a one-storey affair, and fortunately my room was air-conditioned. Comments on the Internet said the fan only room was unbearable. I was the only guest that night. I was glad to take a shower before drinking the fresh coconut they had presented me.