An offer we couldn’t refuse

Posted on 2013/12/28 by admin

We woke up for the last time at Villa Naomi and after breakfast, we packed up and prepared checking out. We were a bit confused about the EUR-SLR conversion rate Google presented and realized that the rate we had mentally used up until now for SEK-SLR were off by 33%, so everything have been significantly cheaper that we thought. Nice surprise!

We took the bus to Matara, which were larger than the other cities we’d visited before but managed to have fewer points of interest. After some brief sightseeing and enjoying a steady lunch at Galle Oriental Bakery we felt we’ve had enough of Matar and took a tuk-tuk to Talalla Retreat.

This was definitely an improvement from Villa Naomi. Organically grown food, Yoga-classes and surf lessons and a really nice room with a porch. We “only” got ground floor meaning we missed the slightly voyeuristic option of no walls to the bedroom. The bathroom was partly outside roof though, really nice setup. As we were getting settled a friend, Avi, texted me that we apparently were on the same beach as him and his family and he offered beers in exchange for our company. Who was I to refuse such an offer?

One beer quickly became several ones and we ended up having dinner at their place, aptly named hotel Panorama with amazingly nice view. After many laughs, beers and solving a few of the world’s major problems we went with one of the hotel staff in his private tuk-tuk back home since it had turned pitch black outside. I just had to try the shower before falling asleep though – very nice to shower under a starry sky.

Strolling along the beach

Posted on 2013/12/27 by admin

After breakfast we took a stroll along the beach and I took a few photos of our immediate surroundings as well as some action shots of the, from what I could tell, rather talented surfers. It looked like great fun but also quite tricky with the sharp rocks so I bided my time for surfing. After a while we reached Midigama and the notorious Ram’s Guest house where there were plenty of surfers or surfers in training – Midigama offered however little outside surfing so we turned back.

We took the bus to Mirissa for another lunch at Dewmini Roti Shop, and it was as nice this time as the previous one, but it was not as crowded so we got our food really fast. We stayed there reading for an hour before taking the bus to Weligama. I really can’t explain how convenient the bus system is without sounding like an ad. Walk to the road, wait 1-3 minutes, get on the bus, pay less than half a euro for two people, get off at your destination. Why paying more to go in a tuk-tuk (which seem to be worse off in a collision than a bus) I fail to understand.

We withdraw cash in Weligama so we could settle our bills when checking out and stocked up on some chips from a supermarket before heading back to Villa Naomi, with bus of course. We took a swim in the sunset and then spent the rest of the day reading on the balcony or in bed. I finished “The Thousand Emperors” by Gary Gibson, quite good that one as well but perhaps time to move from a Scottish SF-writer to a British one?

Whale Safari and Dewmini Roti Shop

Posted on 2013/12/26 by admin

After a so-so night sleep we were in time for our ride at 0545, however no driver were to be found. We literally stumbled over a guy in the staff though (sleeping cleverly hidden in the middle on the floor in the lobby) who called for a (new?) driver and we managed to get to Mirissa Water Sport in time. It was drizzling though, which turned into rain as the boat left the harbor.

After 4-5 hours it became apparent that no whales where to be found, we did encounter a shoal or two of spinner dolphins so it was not an entire waste of time and money but it was the whales that we really wanted to see 🙁 Apparently they are seen about 95% of the time so maybe we will give it another try the same day we leave this area. We decided to have lunch in Mirissa while we were here and checked out Dewmini Roti shop which was the number one place to eat according to trip advisor as well as Lonely Planet.

After quite a while of waiting we got our Roti. We went for hacked and mixed with egg and vegetables as well as sweet with banana/chocolate/pineapple. This was without a doubt the best food we had so far in Sri Lanka and it costed less than 1 EUR per dish. Even the milk ginger tea was excellent. We discussed spending the rest of the day at the same table just in order to have another meal at this place – it really was that good. The sweet Roti reminded me of the banana/coconut pancakes one could order on the streets at Kao San rd in Bangkok and the bitter taste from lack of whales had almost disappeared.

We took the bus back to Villa Naomi where we slacked for a few hours and as night close on we debated whether to head back all the way to Mirissa or try find something closer for dinner. In the end we ended up taking a Tuk-tuk to Weligama for some Roti, it was OK but not on par with the one we had for lunch. After some more reading we fall asleep in the now somewhat more cooler room.