Budget-friendly Galle will win you over with its rough charms

21 May 2017 - 02:00 By Anthony Horowitz
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A tuk tuk heads through the Old Gate of Galle Fort in Galle.
A tuk tuk heads through the Old Gate of Galle Fort in Galle.
Image: iSTOCK

Anthony Horowitz heads to a city on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka for a family holiday

My first impression on landing in Sri Lanka was that this was a country I was going to like. You'd have thought a charming airport was something of a contradiction in terms, but there's something delightfully relaxed and old-fashioned about Colombo.

The passport officials actually smile, and the single terminal is a reminder of an age when air travel was still romantic.

I was here in search of winter sun - not an easy ask in these days of shifting weather patterns. I've sat in driving rain in Mexico and the Caribbean. I've arrived for skiing holidays without a flake of snow.

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This time my destination was Galle on the south coast of Sri Lanka, 112km south of Colombo and just a few degrees north of the equator. It was in every sense a last resort.

After the airport, things could only get worse. When our children were young, my wife and I used to joke that our holiday spot would be next to a cement factory because it was all we could afford.

My first impression of Galle, coming off the Southern Expressway, was exactly that - a huge cement factory, next to the beach. Only we couldn't see the beach.

Matara Road runs for several miles along the coast and the place we'd rented was just off it, about 3km from Galle town. In a charitable frame of mind, I would call the road exotic.

But with its snarled-up traffic, its tuk-tuks, its blaring horns, its rubbish, run-down shacks, burnt-out buildings, piles of rusting auto parts, fish markets, telephone wires, potholes and puddles, other words spring to mind. I was having serious doubts as our driver pulled into Footprints, the villa we'd found on Airbnb.

Then everything changed. The villa itself was a bit of a concrete blockhouse - apart from the temples and palaces, the Sri Lankans don't seem to go in for lovely architecture. But it was spacious and well furnished with four bedrooms and delightful staff.

More to the point, I hadn't realised that on the other side of the Matara Road were some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The view from our back garden was Robinson Crusoe-perfect, with scattered, rocky outcrops and gently breaking waves.

This quickly became the Christmas holiday of my dreams: fantastic food, total relaxation, 30°C heat, far too much alcohol. All our meals - fresh fish curries and an abundance of vegetables - were prepared for us at minimal cost. The beach in front of our house was empty.

Much of the sea around here is unswimmable because of rocks and rip tides. Ironically, this protects long stretches of sand from litter and other pollution. But there was a charming bay just two minutes away, where we were able to splash around in shallow, safe water.

The evening sunsets were astounding. Whispery lines of clouds caught the light and turned the sky into a rippling canvas of soft pink and red with palm trees taking off like fireworks in the foreground and Sri Lankan teenagers, no more than silhouettes, surfing the huge waves behind.

We did go out a few times. The old town of Galle, contained within the walls of a 17th-century Dutch fort, is a quiet, attractive place to walk. Here you'll find upmarket hotels, shops and restaurants, the only part of Galle that comes close to being chic.

I had a gin-and-tonic on the verandah of the Galle Fort Hotel with the ceiling fans slowly turning and felt like a true colonial. I also walked around the sea wall with families swimming on one side and children playing football on a scratchy patch of grass on the other.

There were a few vendors, a snake charmer, nobody hassling us. A beautiful, working lighthouse stands at the far end, built in 1938. I've seldom been anywhere that felt so peaceful and happy.

I also went diving a couple of times and managed to tick off several lobsters, an octopus, a turtle and a couple of huge Napoleon fish. I can recommend Pearl Divers, an efficient, friendly Padi centre on Unawatuna Beach close to Galle.

The beach is a touch shabby and overcommercialised but, at night, transformed as it is by flaming torches and fairy lights, you can easily overlook its failings. We had a perfect Christmas Eve dinner at the Kingfisher restaurant with spiced butterfish, rum cocktails and not a brussels sprout in sight.

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All in all, Galle puzzled me. A large part of its charm is that it is rough and unsophisticated; we should celebrate the fact that it hasn't allowed itself to become a playground for the rich. Prices are still low. There are plenty of backpackers taking rooms in the backstreets. I loved the friendly, chilled-out atmosphere.

At the same time, there are patches of land right on the coast, with incredible views, that are eyesores - abandoned buildings strewn with garbage. The coastline cries out for regeneration. I walked 9km along the sea and struggled to find a single attractive café or bar.

A few miles along the coast at Weligama Bay, I came across a brand-new Marriott hotel, a 10-storey tower still under construction - shocking, alien and inappropriate to its context. I was glad to turn my back on it and head back to my temporary home.

On December 27, my family went their separate ways. My older son headed off for a week's kitesurfing in Kalpitiya on the beautiful northwest coast. My younger son went home. My wife and I set off to explore the interior of Sri Lanka.

This was the best Christmas we had ever had. - The Sunday Telegraph

PLAN YOUR TRIP

GETTING THERE: Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways offer the easiest and cheapest flights between South Africa and Sri Lanka with return fares in December ranging from R9,500 to R10,500, depending on the airline.

WHERE TO STAY:ColomboAirbnb has a portfolio of rental properties.

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