Ceylon

About 7 years ago, one of my dear friends who was a tour leader doing trips all around the world, told me that if there was only one place in the world I had to visit, it would have to be Sri Lanka.  Thus, Sri Lanka has been high on my go to list for a long time.  Unfortunately, it's been a long wait as it was only last year that the country was able to wrestle itself out of civil unrest and become a safe place to travel to. 

Paparazzi

From Bangalore take a night flight to head over to Colombo, Sri Lanka and while munching on Pizza Hut in the departure lounge, we start noticing people with cameras looking in our direction and Indian guards with rifles patrolling our area.  We soon find out why.  The entire Aussie cricket team is also on our flight to Colombo as we watch them milling around the lounge area.  Vic just happens to still have his ticket for the Canada vs. Australia cricket match in his pocket and he walks over to the neighbouring table to get autographs of three of the players.  On the plane ride, we find Ricky Ponting (the Aussie captain) sitting right in front of us along with a number of his teammates.   

Instead of staying in the Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, on our first night, we decide to head straight for the beaches and end up in Negombo Beach, just 30 minutes away from the airport. 

Our first impression of Sri Lanka?  Heavenly!  After the hustle and bustle of India, with people who are in your face all the time, Sri Lankans are extremely polite and friendly and a lot less aggressive.  Sri Lanka is also really clean and to my excitement, I soon find that toilet paper is readily available and FREE in most places.

Another bonus is that since Sri Lanka’s currency has been significantly devalued due to its past political problems and civil war, it is also still really cheap to travel through the country.  We stay in a lovely colonial styled hotel right on the beach and start our first day with a wonderful Sri Lankan brunch of rice, 5 different kinds of curries and banana fritters.  Divine!  In the evening, we find a street vendor making Vic’s favourite Scarborough eat, Kottu Roti, and we quickly grab take out and find a seat by the water to watch the sunset in the horizon.

Sri Lanka is filled with beaches along its west, south and east coastline.   And each beach is a little different and offers something different than its neighbour.

After Negombo, we travel approximately 3 hours by bus to Hikkaduwa beach, a backpacker destination with a stretch of beach recognized at a great place to learn how to surf.  We get up bright and early and I go for my beginner lesson (Vic passed on the lesson since he has surfed before) and I quickly learn that surfing isn’t easy.  There are a lot of things going on before you stand up on that board.  How to read the wave, a LOT of paddling and then trying to land on the board without tipping over.  Not to mention that getting out past other waves just to get into position to surf is a job in itself.  But thanks to knowing how to snowboard, I do get up on the board, albeit on very baby waves.  After my lesson, Vic joins me in the water with his board and we soon find ourselves hooked onto our next sport!

Step 1 - Learning to get onto the board

Step 2 -Popping up

Step 3 - Riding the Wave

Wipeout!!

Our last beach is Unawatuna, another couple of hours away from Hikkaduwa.  It’s one of the most popular beaches in Sri Lanka and though small, is the prettiest beach we’ve seen on our trip thus far.  We spend a couple of days lounging on the beach and a day sightseeing in the nearby town.

    

Our first week exploring the beaches of the south flies by and by the end of it, our first impression is that this little country is simply amazing and we can't wait to see the rest of it.