Humaid had announced we would start at five a.m. and first picked up Roy who would join us.  Roy lives very close to Anura’s house and after that they would come for us.  After a warm farewell from Anura and his family, we started at six a.m. and made good progress.  By eleven, we already had made it to Kalpitiya and we explored the peninsula.  Other than little herds of wild donkeys, cows, goats, buffalos and a big variety of birds, there was not much to see.

The people in that area make their living with fishing and there was also salt production and extensive coconut plantations.  The peninsula was very dry and as is the case at most places, the elevation is only about two meters above sea level and gets flooded regularly.  The land got silt up and there were a lot of mangroves.  It was terribly hot and thankfully slightly overcast.  Otherwise, it would have been unbearable.   

On our way back from Kalpitiya to Puttalam, we visited the St. Anna Shrine in Thalawila, one of the oldest Catholic Churches in Sri Lanka.  The (not very impressive) Church was beautifully settled on the shore surrounded by a huge compound.  At a festival held in August, several 100`000 people attend each year.

  The men we talked to also told us about the Mhadu Shrine, the oldest Catholic Church in the country with an even older (1670) Madonna statue that we had to visit – which we did the next day.

We spent the night in Puttalam in an old colonial house whose owner (a former Minister) lived in Colombo.  The caretaker was instructed to provide along with the rooms, also dinner and breakfast.  And we can say that the quote: “don’t trust a skinny chef” is complete nonsense! 

  It was simply delicious and after dinner the man showed us two more houses belonging to the family of our host.  The oldest must have been a jewel in its high days but it would cost a fortune to have it restored and none of the owner’s family would ever live there.  Maybe it could be turned into a museum but it would not see many visitors in that area.

 Message of the day : he SAW the chicken, thats why he came here. (insider)