Let’s Hit the Beaches

Now to the Southern Coast of Sri Lanka. We spent a couple weeks on the beaches and I decided I would write them up together in one post to save myself some time. We have already arrived in India and been to a few places so I wanted to get Sri Lanka wrapped up. This blog has been a full time hobby with writing, editing photos, the travel map, and creating videos. I enjoy it but it’s time consuming. I’m actually a little impressed with myself that I have stayed consistent and somewhat on top of things. Thank you those of you who have messaged me and shared your thoughts on my blog or told me you’ve enjoyed reading it. It always gives me that extra bit of motivation.

Road to Tangalle

We shared a mini van with some other folks we had met at La Safari Inn who were also heading to Tangalle. Included in the group was the Austrian, not Australian, man. As we piled our bags in the back of the vehicle the driver took one look at the older rotund Austrian and with a huge grin he told him enthusiastically that he could sit in the front because he was fat. I immediately burst into laughter. The Austrian scowled and rubbed his big belly and replied “I am not fat, you are fat”, to which the Sri Lankan man laughed and poked at the Austrian’s belly! It was a fantastic exchange. The Austrian sat in the front.

We were the first to be dropped off. There were a few places we wanted to check out that were quite close to each other. As we exited the van the Austrian looked confused. He was having a really hard time comprehending that we did not have a reservation. He asked what we would do if there were no rooms, to which we replied that we’d just walk to the next place. He did not look comfortable with this at all. As the van pulled away I could see the look of concern on his face through the tinted windows.

We didn’t care for the first spot so we made our way down the road. As we walked through the heavily treed area I pointed in our direction of travel and casually told Andre to watch out for the elephant up ahead. Too soon? His reaction was very rewarding. I was super pleased with myself and knew that nothing bad was going to happen to me because Andre was way too hot and his pack was way too heavy to attempt any kind of punishment for my poor behaviour. As we approached the next two places on our list I sat with our bags by a pond while Andre went to check out the rooms. I thought this may be the moment he would seek his revenge and toss me in the water but he was too focused on the job at hand and also had the good sense to know that I’d likely swallow water and then end up unwell, in which case he’d have to look after me. I was safe. For now. Off he went to evaluate the places. While I waited for him to return this asian-paradise flycatcher came to hang out with me.

Eagle’s Nest would be our home for the next few days. It was unreal. Set along an estuary with hundreds of birds it was a little piece of paradise.

As we waited for them to get our room ready we sat out in the open air dining area and had a bite to eat. Another couple who had just arrived that day walked past on their way to the beach and we had a quick chat with them. They told us that there was a festival happening in town that day. When our host, Ninmy, returned with our key we asked her about the festival and she explained that it was a Buddhist holy day and there was a parade in town that afternoon. That’s all I really needed to hear. We were going. Andre looked a bit skeptical. It was insanely hot out and he looked like he just wanted to melt into a hammock, but upon seeing my excitement he rallied. He’s a very good sport.

The last time we went to a parade was during my first winter back in Canada in 2015. It was the Christmas parade in downtown Edmonton. Our friend Guille was over at our place and I somehow convinced the two of them that we should go since it was literally just up the street. Andre was a hard sell, but Guille was bloody impossible. There was some bribery involved and incentives provided and finally I got them out the door. When we arrived on Jasper Avenue there weren’t many people. Mostly just families with small children. There were perhaps a dozen floats that went by. One looked suspiciously like lady bits (I never did figure that one out), and Mr. and Mrs. Clause were on totally different floats like they were having marital issues. The crowd’s enthusiasm was underwhelming to say the least. At one point in an attempt to rally the troops a guy with a megaphone on one of the floats cried out “Let’s hear it for the weather!” There was some sporadic clapping at best. Andre, Guille and I died laughing. I cried. That moment was the best part of the Christmas parade. I think that says it all. I then apologized to the guys and promised I would never make them attend such an event ever again.

This parade did not disappoint though! It was awesome. Andre even said that he was glad we went and checked it out. High praise. Perahera is a Sinhalese term meaning parade or procession and involves Sri Lankan traditional dances, music, fire, and elephants. It was a never ending stream of costumes and dancing and music. Everyone was having a fantastic time and the energy and mood was joyful and light. It was a great kick off to our Tangalle experience.

 

Our accommodation was just a short walk to the beach but this beach was not for swimming. The wind was crazy and you can’t tell in this photo but the waves were actually quite rough. With the heat, humidity, sand, wind, and salt water it took mere moments to feel like a complete grease ball when sitting on the beach. We spent about half an hour there one day and from that point onward enjoyed the comfort of our private paradise at Eagle’s Nest. We fell in love with this spot and after four days it was hard to leave. The food and company and environment were all so wonderful. We had dinner each night with the other couple staying there, Aditya and Jacqueline, and it was always entertaining.

They were both from Berlin. Jacqueline grew up on the east side of Berlin and was 15 years old when the wall came down. Aditya had grown up in the west. They were such a perfectly odd couple. He is easily one of the most unique and interesting people I have ever met. He has sort of a gypsy feel about him, like he could float comfortably around the world and fit in anywhere with his cheeky smile and mischievous sparkling eyes. A very charming character. He had done a lot of random jobs throughout his life including selling pastries in the markets of Alexanderplatz. The markets seemed to be his main gig, sometimes selling things and sometimes performing. He was also a magician and regularly performed tricks for us which we loved. Oh, and he was really into paper planes. So many random things about this guy. He was in his early 50’s and she in her late 40’s. Aditya seemed to enjoy everything life had to offer, while he bluntly told us in no uncertain terms that Jacqueline didn’t like to do anything except sleep, eat, clean, and work. Although she was not nearly as fluent an English speaker as he was, she smiled and nodded approvingly at his assessment of her. He was definitely the life of the party and she, he claimed, didn’t like talking to anyone. She worked as a stylist and had to talk to people all day while doing their hair so when she was not at work she didn’t want to talk at all. He also said that she didn’t like anyone in her home. Anyone. Not even her sister. Ever. Aditya seemed very pleased that he was finally allowed to spend more time there and had been kicked out far less frequently as of late. She was a no nonsense kind of woman with a very dry wit but had a very warm energy and smiled easily. She was lovely company even if she didn’t speak a lot and I really enjoyed her presence.

Andre and Aditya were a very good match. Both lively and talkative and Adi had no shortage of stories to tell. Being the life of the party he told us about sneaking out of their room a few nights prior after Jacqueline had fallen asleep. He had heard music and seen lights in the distance. They were calling him and he just had to go dance. He crept out so as not to wake her. In the morning he told her about his adventure to which she responded with disbelief. He had proof though. He had asked someone at the club to take a video of him dancing and he played it for her. He also had to play it for us.

In the afternoons we had some opportunities to get to know a bit about our host and her family. Her mother used to work down the road at another hotel where she cleaned rooms. During the 2004 Tsunami she had been at work and when the first wave hit she was in a room. All the windows shattered and she was sucked out along with two other women and the owner who were also on the property. When the second wave came in she ended up back in the room again and managed to grab hold of one of the roof trusses along the ceiling and held on as the water sucked everything back out again. She hung on somehow and managed to stay there until she was rescued. The other two ladies and the owner did not survive. Ninmy said that they were protected at Eagle’s nest because of the trees and estuary. We got to meet her mom who was often around during the day and helped out with things here and there, including keeping an eye on her four year old grandson. Eagle’s Nest was very quiet while we were there and we found out that indeed tourism has declined sharply due to the bombings last Easter. I promised her that we would spread the word about how wonderful Sri Lanka is and recommend their place to other travelers. I hope that business picks up for them this year. Her place was an ideal spot to stay and we could have easily remained their for longer.

 

Mirissa

Mirissa was a three night stop and that was enough. It’s a busy little spot and although the beach was nice we didn’t want to stay on the water because of the parties that go late into the night. We stayed just off the main road to avoid the constant honking and were a short walk to the beach, but our place was pretty underwhelming. It was bare bones, which most of the places we stay tend to be, but this just didn’t have any character. It had fantastic potential though and if they did a few minor things the place could be amazing.

During our time in Mirissa we ran into Kate from NSW and the Austrian. They both had acquired injuries since we last saw them. The Austrian had caught a bus one day and he had fallen while the bus started moving, leaving a decent sized gash in his leg. Not surprising because the bus barely stops to let you on and then slams on the gas the second your foot makes contact with the first step. The buses are bat shit crazy in Sri Lanka. In fact, the German couple who had organized our van to Tangalle had said they wouldn’t be getting on another bus after their experience.I didn’t capture any video but this person did and it’s a very accurate representation of how the buses operate.

 

They go catapulting down the road, honking and passing tuk tuks and bikes, barreling around corners and swerving to avoid other vehicles to such a degree that they look like they will definitely tip over or at best get up on two wheels. Walking on the sides of the road felt a bit like playing Russian Roulette. Speaking of which, there are a ton of Russians in Sri Lanka. They make up a good percentage of the tourist population. Just a bit of random information for you.

Anyway, Kate hurt her leg walking home at night. The roads and sidewalks are not the best and you have to be mindful of where you are stepping all the time. It had been dark out and she didn’t have a flashlight and didn’t realize that her iPhone had a light built in. She learned that later on from a young Canadian traveler, who also taught her that Canadians have their own currency. She thought we were on the US dollar.

We didn’t meet up with Aditya and Jacqueline in Mirissa. Adi had invited us to go out dancing and sent us a very tempting video of him on an empty dance floor in a deserted club. We decided to go for a bite to eat instead and ended up at an outdoor place, Turtle Bar and Restaurant, that was having their own little dance party. A small group of local guys and staff were hanging out enjoying some great music. We were both enjoying their tunes and their dancing. The next thing we knew the party seemed to be over and Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven was playing. That was a bit of a turn. As we chatted I noticed the song had started over again. Andre informed me that it was actually the third time in a row. We let it play through and thought we’d see how many times it took before someone noticed. After the initial guitar strums kicked off for the 5th time we decided we had to intervene. One can only listen to Tears in Heaven a limited number of times on repeat before entering into a terrible downward spiral of sadness.

We had some nice meals in Mirissa. Turtle Bar and Restaurant was good as was a place called Papa Mango that served the best fish and chips I’ve ever had. During our stay along the south we tried a few new things including king coconuts which we heard people raving about. We both agreed that they tasted the same as regular coconuts. Another very popular breakfast food, anytime snack, and dessert in Sri Lanka is curd. Made from buffalo milk you will see clay pots of curd being sold all along the roads. It’s often served with honey, or more often treacle (kind of like maple syrup) which is made from toddy palms. I enjoyed the taste but I prefer the thicker consistency of a Greek natural yogurt.

Unawatuna

More than just a fun name to say, Unawatuna was our favorite beach spot. The beach there was long and deep and the water was nice and calm. We planned to stay at the Peacock Beach Hotel for three or four nights before moving up to our last stop, Hikkaduwa, and then flying to India, but we loved this spot so much that we ended up spending our remaining eight days there.

We were situated right on the beach just a short way down from Aditya and Jacqueline, there were tons of good places to eat along the sand, and I even found a place with good wine! We hung out with Adi and Jacqueline a bit and had dinner with them on their final night there. Adi was full of energy, as usual. He was very excited to tell us about an interaction he had at his hotel with a man at reception and a Russian gentleman. He was doing a little shimmy to some music while he was at the front desk and so the guy working there had asked him if he liked to dance. Before he could say anything a heavily accented Russian man standing nearby said “I saw this man dancing yesterday in Mirissa. He danced. I tell you, he danced!” He could not have been more pleased about this comment. With a huge grin on his face we couldn’t help but smile as well. His happiness was infectious.

Occasionally in the evenings there were vendors who walked around selling trinkets. There was a guy who sold a variety of light up toys. One of them was a sling shot light which Adi bought and proceeded to shoot into the air for the next twenty minutes much to the delight of some kids at a nearby table who happily eagerly the parts of lab retrievers. He was actually getting it incredibly high up and it was cool to watch it slowly twirl down. My favorite moment was hearing Jacqueline comment sarcastically, with a face that could not look more unimpressed, in her strong East Berlin accent, “Wow, Supa.” Insert a slow clap. She secretly enjoyed it though, which was apparent a few moments later when the vendor shot his up and it came down really fast landing in the ocean. He didn’t bother to retrieve it even though you could see it in the water, still aglow. Adi headed straight for it and Jacqueline jumped up to help him locate it as another wave crashed in. All of a sudden Adi’s runners were off (he always wore runners at the beach) and he dove in fully clothed, popping right back up like a bird that just caught a fish. Success. “Two for price of one,” he said beaming. You had to love him.

The other vendor we saw often was a man who looked a lot like Mr. Banks. I seem to be spotting a version of him in many places we have been. I must be missing him. This guy had been working the beach for something like 25 years. His family makes the puppets and he sells them. He showed us a very old edition of Lonely Planet with his photo in it. I really wanted to buy something from him for my niece but there was truly no room to carry anything that size in my bag without it getting destroyed.

The rest of our days were spent mostly on our balcony which was on the top floor. The corner unit had great lounging chairs and a perfect view of all the action. One thing I never tired of was watching the boats pull up onto the sand.

 

In the evening all the restaurants set up tables further out on the sand, with the last ones perched right before the slope down to the water. One evening as we were dining by candlelight, the sun long set, a lady from a few tables over got up and headed straight for the water. She seemed to be on a mission. From our table we had a completely unobstructed view of the ocean and watched curiously as she started to pull up her dress when her feet met the waves. For a moment I thought she must be stripping down to skinny dip. But there were so many people right there in full sight. Surely she wouldn’t take all her gear off in front of all the people eating dinner. It wasn’t that dark. But then she stopped as the water hit her waist and her dress stayed just above that, covering her chest, with her big white bloomers showing. Nope. Not skinny dipping. Peeing. Are you kidding me?! She had to have been drunk. There is no other explanation. There were washrooms at each of the restaurants. Yes, we were all dining outdoors and the water was just right there, but come on. I looked at Andre and he looked equally as stunned. All you could do was laugh as she walked back out and pulled her dress down, which she had not managed to keep dry, and sat back down at the table with her friend like it was entirely normal behavior. Fascinating.

 

Galle is a only a short tuk tuk ride from Unawatuna so we went in one afternoon to check it out. Honestly, it was so hot every day that doing anything other than chilling out in the shade of our deck felt like a job. We walked around Galle Fort, had a bite to eat and got the first tuk tuk back to Peacock. After walking around in 39 degree heat for a few hours I felt certain I would need to wring out my clothes once I was eventually able to peel them off my skin. Yummy. 

The only other place we ventured to while in Unawatuna was Jungle Beach. It was a 45 minute walk so we took a tuk tuk there and walked back later in the day when it was slightly cooler. Jungle Beach was nice but it was tiny and quite crowded. Many people had items of clothing and bags laying around unsupervised and the monkeys were more than happy to rummage through them.

It’s a Fun Time to Travel – Coronavirus

We have bought SIM cards in most places we have visited and we usually read the news every morning so we have been aware of this new virus and were happy to be making our way into India. I like to keep up with what’s happening but I find the online news just as irritating as watching something like CNN all day. Despite all the interesting things happening in the world, there are usually only a small handful of things that get media attention and out of these topics there isn’t normally much new to report, yet “new” articles come out each day with flashy titles that imply they have something novel to share. They don’t. They are only regurgitating what has been written too many times already. There are only so many times you need to read about what a half wit sorry excuse for a human Trump is or about that other virus. Frankly I’m more concerned about the man. 

But let’s talk about the coronavirus for a moment. I like to stay informed, and I like that information to be based in science and logic. I don’t care for reports that sprinkle in very little factual information with a boat load of emotion because they need to meet a word count requirement. So in this respect there isn’t much to read. We have been cautious as we always are when traveling in foreign lands. We got shots for all the things our doctors suggested based on the regions we were planning to visit. I’m not blind to natural or alternative medicines but I do believe in vaccines. We wash our hands more often and I always have hand sanitizer in my bag. When we travel through airports, bus and train stations, and on shared transport we try to avoid touching too many things and never touch our faces before cleaning our hands, but we aren’t crazy about it. You can’t live in a bubble. We even bought face masks but I feel they provide more psychological comfort than anything else. So far from the stats I have read coronavirus should not concern me more than any  flu out there. The thing that concerns me more is how quickly an issue like this, full of emotion and fear, results in people turning on each other. Some of the things I have read on social media between people are disturbingly nasty. I’ll leave it at that.

So with only a few days until our flight Andre got sick. It started with a sore throat, probably from staying in rooms with air conditioners that are not well maintained. He immediately started popping pills (we have meds for everything) and his throat felt better straight away. From that point it was more of a nasty head cold. Stuffy nose, sinus issues. No fever, but a cough. But the cough was a result of a serious amount of nasal drip. Now we fell into the trap of reading too much news. In truth, I didn’t feel that he was in any way at risk but I was concerned that upon hearing him coughing the airline may not let us fly. He was concerned that perhaps, even though he didn’t have the flagged symptoms, maybe he could be a carrier and maybe he should go to the hospital to get checked out. This was approximately 35 hours before our flight. I told him that I wasn’t worried and understood where he was coming from but he didn’t have fever and his symptoms didn’t align. Plus we had no idea how the hospital would react. Would they have the tools there to run the tests and if so how long would that take. Speaking a different language, would things get lost in translation? We agreed to go to the chemist and buy a thermometer. If he wasn’t running a fever we were continuing on. He took his temperature orally and it was 36.3 degrees. He then put the thermometer under his arm for a second reading. Same thing. I offered to administer a rectal reading but he declined. He felt two consistent results were enough. I told him that you could never be too careful and we should really have a third result but he wasn’t budging. By the time we had to fly out he was feeling much better but he was still coughing. Who knew what would happen when we got to the airport. Fingers crossed.

Final Thoughts on Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has been one of our favorite places out of the 14 countries we have been in the last seven months. I would love to return at some point and explore the north. There is such diversity in this country and every place we saw had something wonderful to offer. The food is outstanding, the people are the kindest and warmest we have encountered. We have met amazing people in many countries, but there is just something about their very relaxed approach to life and the warmth in their eyes, the way they engage with you, and their beautiful smiles. If you have not been to Sri Lanka you should put it at the top of your list.

Ha!, and I thought this post was going to be short and sweet. Just write them all up together she thought. This one won’t take long at all she said to herself. I may need to start vlogging instead.

 

214 days in…

Let’s hope we can get into India!