Sunday 15th February 2026

I had another great night's sleep at The Secret Garden, and joined Ragu for breakfast just after 09:30. I had paratha and coconut curry for my breakfast, and it was one of the most delicious things that I have eaten on this trip to Sri Lanka - I just wished that I had chosen it for my breakfast yesterday too. Sadly, we have been very unlucky with the weather this weekend, and it was raining quite heavily as we set off around the town, although we still enjoyed ourselves.

We didn't get our walk around the fort in this time, much less our hoped-for swim in the Indian Ocean, but one of the highlights of Galle Fort is the extensive range of artwork that you can discover in the many galleries. I didn't buy anything, as I am short of money until the middle of the week, largely because I lost my credit card just before Christmas, and Lloyds Bank failed to deliver it to me when I was still in the Hill Country, as they promised they would.

We had a lovely cup of coffee at one point, then went to a lovely restaurant called Coconut Sambol around 13:00 for lunch. Ragu left at 14:00 and Yohan picked me up just after 15:00. Thankfully, we had a very uneventful journey back to Kurunegala, getting back around 19:15. I chatted to Yohan a lot more on the return journey, and we covered a variety of topics, including Sri Lankan politics, which is rather complicated but also quite fascinating.

I am so delighted to have had this weekend in Galle, and very grateful to Ragu for joining me on Saturday. I have spent a great deal of time on my own since coming to Kurunegala and having such a social weekend in a very beautiful place has done me a power of good. I feel nicely set up for my final two weeks in Sri Lanka, with a shorter weekend break of just one night away planned for next weekend with Nilanga and Radha at their place near Sigiriya.

Today's photographs feature some of the lovely art work that we saw as we went round Galle today, including a lovely photograph of a man who was polishing gem stones in a very traditional way using a hand-sander, which was fascinating.









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