Galle Fort

It is the most easily accessible and one of the most remarkable hotspots in travelling. The ancient city of Galle is so popular because of the Dutch fort surrounding magnificent buildings dated back in the sixteen hundreds. If you are interested in the architecture, photography and the sea breeze all together, there is no place else than the Galle Fort.

Thanks to the Southern Expressway, you can reach Galle in one and half hours. However, we decided to take our same old Galle Road and the plan was to use the highway for the return journey. If you are getting there by bus, the final stopping point of the bus is near the fort. When you entered  through the ancient, but still strong stone walls, you will find yourself in a place like in  Hollywood movies. There are enormous numbers of alleys connected together making a network. The best way is to take one of the alleys leading to the right and get to the clock tower and circle along the fort.

Entrance to the Fort

There is a staircase leading to the outer part of the fort and it is a vantage point to view the entire city of Galle on one side and the breath-taking ocean on the other. You can walk along the outer fort all the way near to the lighthouse standing almost on the opposite side of the outer fort. On the way you will come across great shooting angles of the ocean which is as blue and clear as the sky above. There are even places where you can scale down the fort and dip into the sea. It is advisable to do this only when the sea is calm as there were no lifeguards present around the vicinity.

View of one of the land sides

Scenic view from the Fort

Scenic view from the Fort 2

Lighthouse

Walk along the outer fort will have to be discontinued at the lighthouse and you can take any of the many alleys leading to whatever place you want to be. The buildings and the surroundings are so beautiful you may not want to leave the place in a hurry. Other important hangout you must visit is the Marine museum and Dutch museum. The latter is a privately owned one but the entrance is free. The former requires 500/= to 625/= if you are a foreigner.

The Dutch Museum consists of various types of pottery, cutlery, ancient utensils, stones, weapons and even there are people doing old deeds such as knitting using Beeralu. The other museum is the Marine museum which is  a state owned one and the building itself is over 300 years old where it was a warehouse during the Dutch period. If you are interested in history, there are detailed descriptions on the artefacts.  Another magnificent building we came across was the All Saints Church. It is also more than 300 years old building but standing tall against all the other buildings like it is the god that serves the others.

Traditional crafts (live in action) - Dutch Museum

A Raft (Marine Museum)

Replica of an ancient ship. A cross section of it's hull lies nearby (Marine Museum)

Bodhisathwa statue (Marine Museum)

Apart from that, the place is full of souvenir shops and dining places. The target customers are the foreigners in most of these businesses. Therefore, the price of the products/services offered is a little bit on the higher side J