We arrived at the Closenburgh Hotel in Galle at lunch time, Cindy booked this hotel from Colombo the night before so we weren't sure what to expect. It turned out to be a quaint 350 year old Dutch residence that sat high on a hill overlooking the town with beautiful gardens. There were very few guest even though this is the high season for tourism, the Tsunami is still to fresh in peoples memory. Our room had a small balcony looking out over the bay and we could watch the waves rolling in and more than once I wondered what the scene would have been a year ago. Tomorrow is Boxing Day, exactly one year since the waves tore this part of the coast apart, we are going to the anniversary ceremony which is to be held at a site where a train was washed off the tracks and 1500 people died. After lunch we set off for the Fort area which is the oldest part of the city built by the Dutch in about 1669. Today is Sunday and Christmas Day so the streets are quiet allowing as to wander around unobserved apart from the odd person who (finding out we were from Australia) insisted on talking about cricket. Little did they know that I know more about Quantum Physics than cricket and don't have any desire to learn that Shane Warn played at the Galle cricket ground.

Today we are off to Hikkaduwa one of the most popular tourist beaches in Sri Lanka, I came here 30 years ago when it had just started to attract tourists, it has changed a lot. When I came we stayed with a local family as there were very few hotels, now the place is full of guest houses that front the beach and have dining and drinking areas so close to the beach that a large wave will come right into the bar. Ironic when you consider what happened here, they have just put it all back the way it was and trust it won't happen again. We are staying at Ranmals Guest House which does turn out to be one of Cindy's real internet finds. We are staying in one of two Cabanas that were destroyed and have now been rebuilt. Just south of the main part of town it is quiet and we can watch local fishermen preparing to put out their nets. Any chance she gets Cindy is out there with her camera, no one is safe.

We only had a day at Hikkaduwa before we head off to Kandy in the hill country. We are going by train, first to Colombo then change for Kandy. We arrive at the railway station at 8.00am to catch the 08.10 to Colombo, there is no first class so we opt for second class which cost 120 rupees each about $1.20. The platform is about 1/2 full when the train finally arrives at 08.25 and even before it stops, people are going in through every door and window. We are almost last to get on and it is a squeeze to get aboard. Did we get a seat? fat chance, we travelled in the door way for 3 1/2 hours, Cindy had to put up with sleezy men pushing up against her, while I had trouble not being sick from the constant motion. It was a very long trip and we were both glad to arrive at Fort Station Colombo, thank goodness we didn't get the direct train that takes 7 hours! At least this way we get a 2 hour break. I bought our tickets to Kandy and we sat amongst all the other passengers and had some lunch while we recovered from our ordeal. A man approached us who was offering to get us a seat on the Kandy train, he and his friend would dive into the train and grab a seat, then give them to us for a fee. He asked for 200 rupees about $2.50 which sounded like a bargin to me so we agreed. About 10 minutes before the train was due to pull in they got us to stand in a particular spot on the platform, as the train came in they leapt in the moving doorway. As soon as the train stopped we were rushed into the carriage and sat in our seats. The train had been empty when it rolled into the station, but by the time we got on almost all the seats were taken and within a minute there was not a seat to be found. The whistle blew and the train set off on the 112 kms journey into the hill country famous for the tea plantations that produce Ceylon Tea.