GoSolo

"Traveling solo is the best thing a woman can try...At least once in her lifetime"
I took a 4 day solo trip to Galle, Sri Lanka. So here I am, sharing my experience with you all.
#GoSolo

Being fed-up with the monotonous frustrating city life, traveling always arises as the best option to disrupt life and revise it through new experiences. Traveling with friends or family comes in too mainstream when I was looking for a bit of adventure and in a thirst for a conceptual break for my soul. So I decided to go on a 4 day solo trip without planning any particular doings and letting me be myself; confused of what to do next, as always.

Without being an experienced female solo traveler, getting permission from my mother was the hardest part. So I had to ensure safety, for her, loved ones and myself before heading for the trip, since I didn’t wanted any interruptions and exasperation in the middle of my voyage. I looked for many options for a fine destination which will provide me diverse experiences as well as efficient safety. Ella, Jaffna and Anuradhapura came up as my first options; yet I ended up selecting Galle due to many reasons.

1. Tourism based destination- Which means it is mostly crowded, and would be safe for a girl to walk around without any hassle.
2. Galle fort is a compact landscape with splendid colonial architecture and anyone can spend days walking around this trivial area observing random things.
3. Less travel time from Colombo

Reserving accommodation before heading for the travel destination was a smart idea. I didn’t want to waste time on looking for places to stay while I’m on the trip and to end up in a place paying a higher price. I googled and searched for place to stay on agoda.com and hostelworld.com. Hostels came in as the cheapest option, yet I didn’t want to take a risk with my valuables and didn’t want any trouble to be caused as a beginner female solo traveler. So I stayed in a cost effective guest house (Sunset inn) in the first two days which was situated within the fort. It helped me to travel at night without any concern and hesitation of returning to the place I stayed.
On my third day I stayed in a 5* hotel (Jetwing Lighthouse), since I wanted to wrap-up my trip with a relaxed ending.

Galle fort streets have developed radically into a culinary heaven with different varieties of restaurants and cafes. All these shops are uniquely designed with splendid colors and identical themes to draw attention of people passing by.

Out of all the munchies that I’ve consumed throughout my expedition, these are the three most favorite things I enjoyed a lot. I always believed that a meal is a whole experience of getting together with friends and enjoying it. But this journey taught me that a perfect meal is all about enjoying the right food at the right ambience.

1. A lime juice at Cannon bar & grill; the sea view from the balcony was contenting for the southern heat.

— at Cannon Bar & Grill.

2. A cocktail at Jetwing Lighthouse. “Sundown Passion” cocktail to blend with the setting sun. — at Jetwing Lighthouse.

3. Butter Naan with spicy mutton curry and dhal curry at Indian hut, with the sunset view from the balcony. — at Indian Hut.

Numerous shops showcase different materialistic thing as souvenirs of Sri Lankan. Art and crafts, fabrics, jewelry, antiques, post cards and posters are commonly sighted along the streets. — at Stick No Bills Poster Gallery.

Talk with strangers and share life stories.

This stranger, humbly showed his old house along with the floor plan and explained the colonial influences and characteristics of it.

Meet the famous Crazy Jumpers of Galle Fort.

Since they charge 3000 LKR to showcase their talent, I managed to take a regular pic for free of charge.

Must visit museums to get a better idea of the colonial influences of Sri Lankan history.

1. Maritime Archeology Museum
2. Historical Mansion Museum

Beautiful sunsets and night streets create a whole new mood to the fort life.

Life becomes more simple and graceful when we start paying more attention to tiny little things. I spent hours on a bench doing nothing but gazing at the rhythm of the colliding waves.

And in the evening I spent some time on doing something I really love, which I missed during my busy day schedules. Sketching and doodling came in as the best option at this precise atmosphere.