Galle, attracting digital nomads
My time in Sri Lanka was short. There’s plenty to see in the country, but I had to make choices. I figured I could visit Colombo and one other destination, and decided on the town of Galle, pronounced ‘gaul’. Built on top of an older settlement, the Portuguese extensively fortified the city, which was then expanded by the Dutch. As a result, the mix of architectural styles meant the town is now a World Heritage Site.
Taking the train to this former colonial stronghold, I encountered more tourists on just the train platform in Colombo than I had seen in the days prior in town.
They, and presumably me too, stood out like sore thumbs.
On the train, it was again striking to realise that Indo-Europeans settled not just in Europe, but also in large parts of Asia, down into the subcontinent, Sri Lanka included. So, across from me in the train from Colombo to Galle, I was sat in front of Sri Lankan Bruce Willis.
Halfway through the journey to Galle, a somewhat disheveled, but friendly, man came and sat next to me, asked if I spoke German. I do, so we conversed in German, though his English was more than fine. He asked where I was going, and then told me that Galle had been ‘destroyed by the Russians’, continuing to suggest an alternate destination along the way, with turtles, aloe Vera massages, and a lake with 80 islands.
Wondering if I’d now acquired a new side kick, he bid his farewell after I explained I couldn’t make that particular side quest today.
When the not-quite German left, a nearby passenger leaned over; “he knows his German well”.
Earlier, I had wondered about the Russian presence. I knew several places in south and south East Asia had seen major Russian influxes after the war in the Ukraine, but I couldn’t quite remember if Galle had been one of the places that had been affected by this influx.
In Galle, I encountered plenty of Russians, but perhaps more Dutch. The old town, though, overflows with tourists, and has prices to match. The town is pleasant, reminding me a bit of Chiang Mai in Thailand, but, really, too touristy. And it’s popular, on a Sri Lankan level, with digital nomads.
Later, on my way back to Colombo, I did have an extensive chat with a Russian who’d gone all but native. He had first come to Sri Lanka over 25 years ago, and though cooped up in Russia during much of the pandemic, had spent more time in Sri Lanka than in his home country. He had married, learned Sinhalese, and mostly was working as a specialist in fixing handmade furniture.
He got off about halfway through, in a seemingly lovely town called Aluthgama; “Now I get off the train, and drink toddy”, the local spirit selling for 60 cents the litre.
You can take the Russian out of Russia, but…
The attraction of Galle is the old town, built by the Dutch and Portuguese. But the city is much older.
Ibn Batuta visited in the 14th century, calling it Qali, seemingly a bastardisation from Gaala, in Sinhala, meaning the place where cattle are herded together. But, another theory is that the word Galle is derived from the Latin word gallus or the Portuguese word galo, which mean ‘rooster’, which is reinforced by The Dutch using the rooster as a symbol of Galle.
Yet, this would make Batuta’s naming an odd coincidence, though it seems to me the Portuguese (and Dutch) just conveniently bastardised the local origin of the name to fit more familiar, to them, linguistic patterns.
But, Sri Lanka’s role on the international stage goes back much further; Romans got spices and pearls from Sri Lanka.
One attraction in Galle is the city’s cricket ground. It’s on the edge of the old town, which has made this particular pitch somewhat famous, for the stunning views the aerial shots provide.
At the cricket grounds, I was welcomed by a large number of huge flags dominating the pitch. On one side, black-yellow-black striped flags. On the other, the Dutch flag, though with a somewhat darker blue at the bottom.
I asked around and was told that, on the day of my departure, the city would see a prominent cricket match between two nearby schools, and that the flags were the flags of those schools.
It’s hard to not imagine that this flag hails back to Dutch times, not in the least because Dutch burghers played a prominent political role here until at least well into the 19th century
However, I couldn’t determine the school in question, and investigate further.