Category: Experiences

Hidden Secrets: Walking the streets of Galle

Historic and bustling, the labyrinthine streets of Galle Fort offer endless opportunities to lose yourself. Wander the winding streets, lined with colourful boutiques, scented with spices from tempting eateries and dappled with shade from the climbing greenery and towering palms — all just a short tuk-tuk ride from your lakeside refuge at Tri.

Image: David Loftus for Conde Nast Traveller
Image: David Loftus for Conde Nast Traveller

There are countless secret spots to discover within Galle Fort, and the best place to start is right on the fortified walls. Walk the perimeter of the town to escape the heat and enjoy a cooling ocean breeze, with panoramic views of the Indian Ocean beyond. Take in the iconic white lighthouse, and pause to watch local kids leaping from Flag Rock into the deep azure waters below. Getting hungry? Head to a street food stall to sample a fresh parippu wade prawn and lentil fritter or pani cadji ice cream with kithul honey and cashew nuts.

Wikipedia

The winding backstreets of Galle Fort are a haven for shopaholics, dotted with boutiques selling colourful clothing, beautiful homewares and eclectic knick-knacks. Stock up on vibrant and sequin-scattered kaftans at resort wear wonderland Mimimango (63 Pedlar Street), or fill your suitcase with beautiful, locally-made pattern- and print-adorned homewares at Tallentire House (51 Pedlar Street), whilst Stick No Bills (35 Church Street) is home to a fascinating collection of vintage travel posters and prints. In a city famed for its jewellers, those in the know head to Laksana (30 Hospital Street) for the deep, cornflower-blue Ceylon sapphires, bought loose, as well as spectacular jewellery with uncut stones.

A bedroom in one of the family villas Tri Lanka
Image: Tallentire House fabrics at Tri
Image: Stick No Bills by David Loftus for Conde Nast Traveller
Image: Stick No Bills by David Loftus for Conde Nast Traveller

Galle Fort offers a smorgasbord of dining experiences for every palate and budget. The Tuna & The Crab (Galle Dutch Hospital, Hospital Street) is a southern offshoot of Colombo institution Ministry of Crab, serving up Japanese-inspired seafood to glamorous diners in the beautiful old Dutch Hospital. For a low-key lunch, Poonie’s Kitchen (63 Pedlar Street), tucked in beside Mimimango, is renowned for its fresh juices and colourful salad thalis, whilst Galle Things Roti (38 Church Street) offers a simple and delicious DIY menu of roti, curry and sambols. As the sun dips below the horizon, end your explorations with a delicious cocktail on the veranda at Amangalla (10 Church Street) — the fresh mango Bellini is our favourite.

Conde Nast Traveller
Image: Poonie’s Kitchen dishes by Conde Nast Traveller

The Sweet Scent of Cinnamon

Ninety per cent of the world’s highest-quality cinnamon comes from Sri Lanka. Juliet Kinsman gets a lesson in how this deliciously fragrant spice is harvested and produced from Tri’s very own neighbours.

A fishing boat tour of Koggala Lake by sarong-wearing Douglas is a charming excursion in itself, but our cinnamon-obsessed outing would prove an even bigger treat for all the senses. Douglas kindly chaperoned us by dhoni across the lake, past fishermen, to another local industry care of a visit to a cinnamon planter at his home.

Sarath, the cinnamon farmer welcoming us off the boat up through some trees, past an impressive monitor lizard, to his small house in what felt like jungle. He gestured us to the family’s table and chairs just beyond where his wife was cradling a very happy-looking newborn baby. Here, with a glass of hot cinnamon tea, we learned how the fragrant sticks we buy in little jars in supermarkets back home are often hand made from the bark of a Sri Lankan tree by an experienced artisan just such as Sarath.

Cinnamon has been on sweet and savoury menus around the world since the Portuguese discovered this aromatic wild tree in Sri Lanka and it’s fascinating to get such a close-up view of how it’s processed by hand. Expertly, Sarath’s experienced hands demonstrated how the bark is carved off branches of the cinnamon tree. The stems are processed straight after harvesting while the inner bark is still wet – after the outer bark is masterfully scraped off, he tapped the wood with a hammer to loosen the inner bark – it would be this which would become the familiar spice. Since the exterior woody bark is a byproduct, this is what was used for the cladding of Tri’s constructions. It’s quite captivating to observe these curved sticks of raw cinnamon being peeled off and proficiently rolled into the more familiar brown quills.

We didn’t feel like tourists in a group expedition as we sat with our new Sinhala friend in his front yard and discovered from him how this time-tested tradition endures. It felt as though Douglas has taken us to meet  his extended family who was only too happy to spill the secrets to a technique he had proudly mastered over a lifetime. And we were only too delighted to be able to spice up our lives by buying some aromatic Ceylon cinnamon oils and sticks from source to take home.

The Tri Cinnamon Experience (1.5 hours): a private dhoni boat on the lake takes you to visit a cinnamon island where a family live and produce cinnamon products. They demonstrate peeling and let guests touch and taste. (Cost US$25 per person.)