The Quietest Day

I had guest who come to stay over the Buddhist New Year, so I took a few extra days off work and we made plans to do a ten day tour of the island. After meeting her at the airport and giving her a chance to recover from the flight we took the well travelled path to Hikkaduwa. Even though Galle is only about 10km south of Hik I'd never been before so on Buddhist New Year's day we hired a 3 wheeler to go and have a look around the historic fort of Galle. I think Galle was one of the first places foreigners arrived in Sri Lanka as it's on the tip of the south coast and it has one of, if not the oldest Dutch church on the island. The Tamil Tigers attacked Galle harbour a couple of months ago, which is one of the main bases for the Sri Lankan Navy, but failed to cause any noticeable damage. The Fort also escaped unscathed during the Tsunami as the waves we unable to breach the walls, although they swept past the fort and decimated areas of the main town. The lighthouse sits on the southern wall of the fort.
The whole place was like a ghost town when we visited as virtually all businesses close for New Year and everyone stays at home to have a family meal and generally chill out. It was slightly creepy as I'm so used to constant chaos and what is usually a bustling market where you can expect to be constantly harassed was deathly quiet; I savoured the moment and enjoyed the unusual peace and tranquillity.
There was a graffiti wall where the local kids had expressed positivity rather than frustration or anger at the civil war and lack of prospects that a lot of them are faced with.