4 days in the coasts of southern Srilanka:

Back with yet another blog from our Srilankan trip, after covering the central highlands we covered the southern coast of this beautiful country and to put it simply we were blown away. Having been to beaches in Thailand, Bali and some really scenic parts of India too, I would say the beaches of the southern Srilanka are right at the top for me.

so with a toddler we did not want to keep shuttling between towns and so we decided to stay at Galle. Would make a separate post about all the hotels we stayed in but now its about the destinations. Galle happens to be a major town of Srilanka in the south. A town that was colonised by the portugese and then the dutch and finally the English is a beautiful mix of Goa and fort kochi. The town of Galle is a heady mix of the 3 cultures as well as the local Srilankan culture. Keeping in mind an easy going itinerary these are the things we did in this part of Srilanka

UNAWATUNA: Unawatuna is an idlylic beach town about 6 km south of Galle. With its legends rooted in the Ramayana this has two of the most scenic beaches in Srilanka. The Unawatuna beach and the Rumassala jungle beach. According to our Chaufer there Unawatuna means "The place where it dropped". Legend has it that while lord Hanuman was carrying the Sanjeevani mountains from the Himalayas to the spot where Lakshman was lying grave and unconscious, a few pieces from the hill fell off in this spot. This is believed so because the herbs found on the hills of the jungle beach in Unawatuna are only found in the Sanjeevani hills of the Himalayas. The beaches here also have ample water sport opportunities like surfing, Snorkelling, etc.

MIRISSA: Mirrisa yet another beautiful coastal town about 30 km south of Galle is the next town we visited. This is also a very popular town among tourists and is well known to spot stilt fishers, Whales and dolphins and ofcourse water sports like snorkelling and scuba diving. Tourists majorly flock Mirissa for 2 reasons which are the insta famous coconut tree hill and and the early morning Whale watching cruise.

THE GALLE FORT: The galle fort area is the most important spot to check out within the town of Galle. The town of Galle was originally fortified by the Dutch way back in the 17th century, Prior to this Galle was a Portugese colony. Now a UNESCO world heritage site, the Galle fortress area is dotted with plenty of beautiful looking colonial houses which are centuries old. while every street presents with so many photo friendly spots. Many of these were houses and offices back then and are now hotels, Airbnbs and shops. If you are into some souvenir shopping you can look at Galle fort though it is comparitivley more expensive than the Galle town. Some of the must do acitivities here are walking the ramparts of the Galle fort. Checking out the sunset and the sunrise, Shopping, Cafe hopping, Photoshoots on the quaint and beautiful streets of Galle, learning about the history of the town, etc. If you are a cricket lover you also get a pretty impressive view of the iconic Galle cricket stadium from top of the fort.