Do you recall the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that hit Sri Lanka after a massive earthquake in Indonesia?
When arriving in the south coast area of Sri Lanka it's really apparent life here has seriously been altered from this natural disaster. Graves border the coast road with signs along the streets recalling the number of lives and houses lost.
Today we went to the Dutch Fort in Galle and walked along the shore to the lighthouse and back through the old buildings and churches. Our tuk tuk driver from Galle back to our hotel in Anawatuna spoke like it was just a few months ago how the area we were driving through had been devastated by the tsunami with the entire waterfront going under water. All the buildings we were seeing were brand new. The tragic result was the loss of 4000 lives just in Galle with tens of thousand in Sri Lanka as a whole. Our driver had been lucky and been on higher ground at the time.
Life along the coast here survives on it's fishing and tourist industry so it's amazing to see how it has bounced back even though after chatting with the locals it seems like yesterday to them.
Sadly the beaches aren't what they used to be and now a narrow shoreline remains. None the less it's still a beautiful area with some very lovely locals.
Miss you
E xx
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