The Slow Life of Galle Fort

In Galle, you will feel that time passes very slowly. Galle Fort was built by the Portuguese and later fortified by the Dutch. This old town combines European and South Asian architectural styles and is said to be the most expensive place in Sri Lanka in terms of real estate. The fort is very close to the train station and bus station. If you stay inside or around the fort, you can walk or rent a small electric vehicle to explore Galle. There are many cafes in the fort, and I recommend a bar called Ropewalk, which has many innovative cocktails that you can try! Galle has two Spa Ceylon locations, one near the exit and one in the old town. The one in the old town offers spa services, but you need to make a reservation in advance. Both locations offer a promotion: if you spend more than 30,000 rupees and buy one of their promoted products, you will receive a small gift pack containing six samples. The Colombo branch does not offer this promotion! To see the stilt fishermen, go to the town of Katugoda, about a 20-minute drive away. However, don't wait until sunset to go, as the fishermen will have finished work and gone home. If you want to take photos, go earlier. You need to negotiate the price with the fishermen before they go up on the stilts; otherwise, you will only see empty poles. Taking photos of the fishermen costs one price, and going up on the stilts yourself costs another. Lastly, I highly recommend a restaurant that I personally think is much better than Dutch Trails in Negombo: Black & White! It is located on a beach about a 15-minute drive from the old town. There are many tourists there. The restaurants are all on the beach, so you can enjoy playing in the sand while eating. Sitting there in the evening is very comfortable, with the starlit sky above. The seafood is very fresh, the seasoning is good, and the cocktails are quite strong. The day we went, there seemed to be some local event going on, with many locals around. We joined in the fun but ended up getting stuck in the street and had a hard time getting out... Lesson learned: don't join the crowd when there are too many people; just go back the way you came! You can take a seaside train from Galle to Colombo. It takes about 2-2.5 hours, which is not too long.