Negombo

Tangalle spoiled me. Almost a week I did doing nothing except eating fresh sea food and rice with different curries, riding the bike along the coast and inland, reading, swimming and chatting with the manager, his family, the cook, the cook's brother and all the other lovely Sri Lankans who probaly because of some great karma in their past lives are living in this place now.

I visited Galle with its old Dutch fort, at night tried to spot turtles which supposedly come to lay eggs on full moon (not this time though) and explored some more beaches, caves and temples in the villages nearby.

Tangalle was so quiet and peaceful, it couldn't get any better than this. The way along the coast was pretty nice though. It was raining, but not heavily. There were those so-called "stilt fishermen" near Kogalla, sitting like sea birds on their sticks coming out of the water, then in Hikkaduwa there was a good Italian restaurant with capuccino and tagliatelle with prawns, and then as I was coming near the capital, I decided to skip the visit there, mainly because its suburbs started 20 kms before the city and looked like an infinite line of shops from two sides of the road congested with heavy traffic. It reminded me of Delhi, sort of, just smaller and cleaner. I didn't like it there. Shopping amidst exhaust fumes isn't for me. So I got back to this nice beach town, Negombo, spending my last few days here. Today I rented here a nice 250 cc bike and went north along the west coast, all the way to Puttalam and back. There weren't many attractions, it started raining heavily several times, but overall, it was a pleasant experience. There wasn't much traffic, the road was in great condition, so I drove from one coconut plantation to another (there is even something called "Coconut Research Institute"), stopped to pay respect to Shiva & Parvati in a beautiful Hindu temple and took a turn to some forgotten little Muslim village where the kids were pretty surprised to see me.

Sunday is work... ?

Tangalle

After leaving Kandy on a rented bike, I got to Dambulla, which is a site of Sri Lanka's historic heritage. It has 5 caves with many Buddha's statues and wall paintings. Although not as much impressive as Ajanta caves in India, it's a nice place. The rituals are alive, people come to put flowers in front of the sculpture of the Enlightened One and pray silently. Then I got to Sigirya, a Mazada-style royal palace on top of 200m rock. There are some beautiful frescoes on the wall, whose character suggest that the place was more for enjoyment rather than a military stronghold.

The bike had problems, and after returning it to Kandy, I got another one in Sigirya. I continued northeast, to Trincomalee, along a virtually empty road running through jungle-covered plains. There supposedly are some wild elephants and Tamil Tigers in the jungle, but I haven't seen neither of them. The soldiers stopped me a couple of times, probably wanted to practice English. Most of the times they just smiled as I went by. Trinco is a Tamil-dominated town, on the north of east coast. There are many South-India style Hindu temples, some Catholic churches. The people have view on the conflict from a different side. The military presence is quite heavy - there are many blockposts, some parts of the beach are off bounds, access to 1676 Dutch Fort is permitted only without camera. There are nice beaches north of town - Nilaveli and Uppaveli. Since the tsunami, the tourism hasn't recovered yet, so there are kilometers of sand in coconut with practically no one around. What a getaway. I liked it there. It struck me that this is the first time I see the sun actually appears from the sea... well, Dead Sea doesn't count.

The monsoon on the northeast coast was about to start, it was easy to notice the weather changed: afternoons became gloomy, with strong wind. I went south to Batticaloa, which involved a 200 km detour, because the coastal area is controlled by the Tigers. Then, south again along the coast, to Arugam Bay, known for its great surfing waves. It's actually another quiet fishing Muslim village that became one of these touristic spots, packed with guest houses and restaurants. The rainy season started all right, it poured and poured, and I'm not much of a surfer, so I got myself on the bike and got to the South Coast, finally, where the sky is still blue. I stayed in a town named Tangalle, right near the beach. Gonna get me another of those rice & curry... they're so good, and never taste the same.

Kandy

After Nuwara Elia I went by bus to Haputale, which is a lovely village south east. It's located on a ridge and has beautiful views from both its sides. The place is a mix of Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists, which is typical to Sri Lanka. They seem to get together just fine, although according to history, sometimes violence erupts. Haputale is in a short distance from some nice places to visit. There are waterfalls, tea factories, a Benedictine monastery, a national park called Horton Plains which is much over-praised in the guidebook, although it's still nice. It's easy to spot some deers, monkeys, lizards and birds. A nice 35 km trip with motorbike, the road goes up the mountain through tea plantations and beautiful forest. The people along the way are extremely friendly, smiling and greeting, not annoying at all. An hour by bus from Haputale is Ella, another little village, and the views there are indeed amazing. Ella Rock, a 1.5 hour climb from the village, feels like the top of the world. A cool breeze compensates for the steep walk up. Yep, back in Kandy now. By bus, although it's supposed to be a great train journey. The trains are striking today. Bummer...