After an early breakfast we met up Gunnel at the train station where we handed off Juni and ourselves got us on the nine train towards Colombo. This means 09:20 with delays but for 50 Rs each (0,25 EUR) since we pampered ourselves with 2nd class instead of 3rd that’s still a good bargain. That said the class doesn’t matter much since it’s a 20-30 minutes ride and we needed to stand anyway so the difference in cushioning on the seats are more of a theoretical aspect.

As we got to Galle and walked towards the fort we encountered our First attempt of getting tricked, and didn’t even realize it at first. Some friendly Tuk-Tuk drivers called to our attention that we couldn’t walk the way we were heading and needed to go around. This made little sense to us since we think we went in this time the last time, and saw others doing the same? We were told that this only leads to the clock tower, and is the exit, the entrance is the other one which shows the museum etc. Even more confused about the concepts of “entry” and “exit” into an old town with traffic going both ways we understood when they tried to sell us “new maps” for 3 USD each so we wouldn’t do the even more mistakes on how we walked around. We explained that Google Maps worked just fine and headed into Old town as originally intended.

Well there we were strolling around in shops, Mona looked at some designer clothes and found a large cockroach in one dress – not what one would expect 🙂 There were more hip restaurants than we remembered from seven years ago and although the area weren’t crowded in any way the ratio of British healthy bloggers started to gain on the Russians – there were also a significant portion of local tourists. We walked along the fort wall and had a look at the lighthouse again – very picturesque and impossible to get a shot without any strangers in…

We encountered a film crew, which was very interesting to the locals as we strolled around the wall of the fort. After some walking we decided that we would get a massage, and some quick research indicated that Fort Spa seemed like a good choice. A deep tissue massage for an hour later while Mona had a deluxe pedicure treatment we felt invigorated and started to get hungry.

Mona had during her pedicure identified what was likely the most instagram-friendly lunch restaurant (inside a health-shop) called Poonies. I got myself some vegetable Pho, and have to say it was probably on the top 5 of them – and I’ve tried quite a few during the years. Mona’s toasts with avocado and poached eggs also looked like something from a food magazine and tasted even better – so we’re likely to come back here another time. We were happy for now with strolling and head back to the train station in hope of catching a train before all the commuters were on their way back from Colombo. Again, 2nd class – and again no correlation between sold tickets and seats, but it’s nice to stand next to the exit and watch the scenery.

As we got off the train we saw four French tourists that were carrying off surf boards and backpacks – however this was likely their first time since they assumed the train would stand still until they were done. As they heard the whistle that was the signal to get start the train again and they only had half of the stuff we helped them unload. They threw some bags out the window and did a quick calculation on whether they had all bags as the train had started to move in non insignificant speed and the last guy jumped off while the some of the train was still on the platform while they all cheered that they made it.

Juni was entertaining her selves with Kalle and Gunnel so we were to meet them later for bbq. We walked home via the tracks and a quick detour to the supermarket, and again after getting inside it took two minutes before the sky opened and rain were pouring down. I went through the pictures taken during the day and then we took a tuk-tuk to Kalle & Gunnel where we enjoyed grilled chicken and rice. Kalle had to move the grill due to the rain so took shelter in the half-built house next, providing a very authentic local experience.