Journey to the coast

27.03.12

Woke up feeling like I had a weight on my chest! Great! Some how went with the group for a morning walk to 'little Adams peak' which once again over looks stunning mountain ranges. Being the amazing if not slightly slow detective, I've figured out my chest etc is actually my nemesis hay fever! It's found me in Sri Lanka! Suppose 27km through the plantations wasn't such a bright idea! 

We then clambered back on the bus for a fairly epic journey down to the coast and to the town of Galle, now for anyone following the cricket, that's where the first test England vs Sri Lanka is being held, so a few of us a hoping for a free daytomorrow ......

As we reach the coast we see some of the area struck by the tsunami, clearly a lot of recovery work has been achieved by the Sri lankan and international community, but comparatively speaking compared to the rest of the country it's bare. There is green, but shrubs close to the ground, minimal vegetation as seen across the rest or this lush island.  But the highways are being reconstructed etc, its on the  mend, slowly. Due to a lack of records of those living on the east coast at the time the tsunami struck the death roll could actually be closer to 100,000 instead of the official number of 50,000! However, thousands of lives were saves by the coconut palms which people  climbed and hung on for dear life!  There is a definite line as soon as you go back within approx 3km of the coast where the vegetation restores! What a difference a few meters can make! 

This blip is from just round the coast from where we are staying.