Sri Lanka’s Coastal Train to Galle

Our next day in Sri Lanka started with breakfast downstairs at Tea Avenue, which is conveniently attached to Trizen Towers. Suz and Eloise ordered croissants which arrived fairly quickly, while Xander and I were still waiting for our food. While waiting, the girls headed back upstairs to finish packing as we had to check out shortly.

Unfortunately our food took quite a bit longer than expected. Xander had ordered waffles with ice cream and I went with a chicken kottu. When the food finally arrived we ate quickly before heading back upstairs to grab our bags and finish packing. The food itself was tasty, but with the delay and us needing to leave, the whole breakfast felt a bit rushed.

With everything packed up we jumped into a PickMe and made our way to Fort Railway Station. Once there we bought our tickets for the train down to Hikkaduwa and made our way across the platforms to find the correct train. Waiting at the train station, even this early in the morning, the heat of the day started to make itself known to us and there were quite a few small complaints from the little ones….

As the train rolled into the station we could immediately see it was already quite full, which made us wonder if we would even get seats. Luckily we all managed to squeeze on and eventually found seats — although they were scattered throughout two carriages rather than together. Before I got a seat, I stood in the open door and just marvelled at the views of the passing ocean.

The train ride itself was hot, but the open windows and doors helped bring in some breeze as we slowly made our way down Sri Lanka’s southern coastline. It definitely wasn’t a luxury train experience, but it felt like a proper local way to travel.

Towards the end of the journey I managed to grab a spot beside one of the open doors. Sitting there with the door wide open and the wind rushing through while watching the countryside pass by was a pretty unique experience — and definitely something that wouldn’t be allowed on trains back home in Australia.

After arriving in Hikkaduwa, we grabbed another PickMe and headed to the Community Tsunami Education Center & Museum. The small museum focuses on the devastating Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, which hit Sri Lanka particularly hard. We were given a short tour and shown photographs explaining how tsunamis form and the damage caused that day.

What really made the visit powerful though were the personal stories from the two staff members working there. Both had lost family members during the tsunami and shared their memories of that day and how the community slowly rebuilt afterwards.

Outside we were also shown part of one of the train carriages that had been washed away during the tsunami. Seeing that up close really helped put into perspective for the kids just how powerful the waves were.

After the museum we jumped into another PickMe and continued south to Galle Fort, where we would be staying the night. Our driver dropped us a little short of our accommodation and it felt like he was hoping we would pay extra for the rest of the trip. Having learned our lesson from the tuk-tuk adventure in Colombo, I told him the fare had already been paid through the app and walked away. No more bonus payments from us.

We checked into our accommodation at The Dutch Wall, located just a short walk from the Galle Fort Lighthouse. After dropping our bags we headed straight out to explore.

Galle Fort is a UNESCO-listed colonial fortress originally built by the Portuguese in the 16th century before being expanded by the Dutch. Walking through the narrow streets inside the fort feels very different compared to the busy cities outside the walls. We wandered along the fort walls and down towards the lighthouse before continuing along the ramparts overlooking the ocean.

The heat in Galle that afternoon was absolutely brutal. Colombo had already been hot, but with the hot train ride and then walking around inside the stone walls of the fort felt like someone had turned the temperature up another ten degrees. The sun was relentless and the breeze from the ocean only occasionally gave us a few seconds of relief.

Even short walks between streets had us searching for shade wherever we could find it. By the time we reached the clocktower overlooking the cricket ground we were completely drenched in sweat and very happy to sit down for a while and watch the local boys playing cricket just outside the Galle International Cricket Stadium. It certainly felt like it was one of the hottest days we’ve experienced while travelling.

After cooling down for a bit we eventually made our way to dinner at Punto Café inside the fort. The kids went with a safe option of chicken and chips, while Suz tried the chicken kottu. I ordered a chicken rice curry which arrived with five small bowls of different curries alongside a plate of rice. Each bowl had a slightly different flavour and spice level and it ended up being one of the best meals so far in Sri Lanka.

After dinner we slowly walked back through the quiet streets of the fort to our accommodation. Following such a crazy hot day, the showers that night were easily some of the best showers we’ve had while travelling.

The next morning we woke up to a breakfast included with our stay. The table was filled with fresh fruit including papaya, watermelon and pineapple, along with fresh juice, coffee, toast and fried eggs. We were also served hoppers, a traditional Sri Lankan breakfast dish made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk batter. They are cooked in a small bowl-shaped pan which gives them crispy edges and a soft centre, almost like a bowl-shaped pancake. The hoppers were served with a potato curry and a lentil curry. The potato curry in particular had a really nice spicy kick to it and both tasted great.

After breakfast we wandered back down to the Galle Fort Lighthouse for one final walk along the ramparts. The morning light over the ocean looked beautiful and I managed to fly the drone for a few minutes to capture some aerial views of the fort.

Eventually it was time to return to the hotel, pack our bags and check out as it was time to continued towards our next stop which will take us further along Sri Lanka’s south coast.

Time to head off to the beaches of Mirissa!