Tsunami

Over the course of 3 weeks we had got to know our driver,  Ranjan, quite well. Always polite and courteous, he was clearly pleased to show us around his country.  We gave him the well deserved title of "The safest driver in Sri Lanka", and this justifiably made him beam with delight. He had shown us photos of his wife, children, brothers and sister, and it was clear his was a close-knit, happy family of which he was extremely proud. It was a shock to us therefore when on our way to Galle he stopped at the side of the road adjacent to a narrow strip of palm tree backed beach and pointed out a pile of rubble. This, he said, was my house until the Tsunami came in 2004 and flattened everything.  My wife and I, carrying our 4 month old baby had no warning and had to run for our lives.  We lost everything.   

A little further on he showed us his new house, not large but one of 87 that had been built by the government along with a block of flats to rehouse the homeless following the disaster.  There were other similar tsunami villages along the coastline, all of which had been completely devastated 14 years ago.  We saw a monument to the 1,270 people who lost their lives in one incident when the wave broke over a passenger train on its way to Columbo, and a statue of Buddha donated by Japan to the 58,000 people who perished in the disaster.  Ranjan survived with his family intact, but we found huge respect and admiration for them for rebuilding their lives and being so happy in the face of such adversity.

Memorial to the 1270 train passengers who lost their lives when the tsunami struck.  58,000 perished altogether.

Galle is a pretty town, fortified by a substantial Portuguese, and later, Dutch fort, and crossed by narrow streets and picturesque houses, many built in the colonial style.  It is a good place to buy jewellery or lace, or simply to while away the hours window shopping or walking the city walls.