Today was sightseeing day in Tranquebar, which used to be a Danish colony with a fort for some 200+ years before we sold it to the British. Tranquebar was also devastated during the tsunami back in 2004 and apparently the Danish were involved in funding and restoration both before and after.
We got up at 6:00, showered and then went down for breakfast. At 7:15 we were on our way and it took 2.5 hours to get down there by car on quite reasonable roads.
The fort is in OK condition after the restoration but part of the fort walls and some of town have been long lost to the sea. Work has been ongoing to reinforce the coastline and thereby save the rest.
We also saw the New Jerusalem church, which had been built to replace the church of the old town part lost to the sea.
We then saw the Consulate building, the Bungalow on the beach, the Danish cemetery through its locked gates, the coastline and finally walked the streets of the town and thereby came across the Maritime museum set up in the wake of the tsunami and sponsored by Danes - we also made a donation while there. We came across a local heritage building sponsored by the Danish Bestsellers fund, which promote local crafts and the preservation of building construction in the old ways.
Finally we had lunch at Bungalow on the beach before having a last walk around town and then returning to our car and driver at 14:00, after 4.5 hours there. We arrived back at the hotel at around 16:30 and we went to our room to freshen up and then ordered room service - Chicken Biryani and Chinese noodles.
The rest of the evening we spent relaxing and watching movies.
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| Bungalow on the Beach - now a hotel |
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| Governor's residence |
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| New Jerusalem Church, which replaces the original Danish church now lost to the sea |
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| The local Maritime Museum sponsored by Danes and run by a local school teacher who has a really keen interest and lots of knowledge of local history |
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| Yes, we're at the Danish Fort in Tranquebar ;-) |
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| A map of the original Fort and surrounding walls |
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| One of the letters involved in the sale of Tranquebar to the British in the early 18th century after Danish ownership for approximately 230 years |
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| And as usual we're overrun by school kids wanting to chat, shake hands and take pictures - this time is not an exception |
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| The Danish Fort from the sea side |
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