New Year's in Unawanatuna

We are still hanging out on the beach in the strange town of Unawanatuna. It is a beautiful spot that seems to be filled with super wealthy, super well travel Brits and Sri Lankans. It seems as though I haven't met anyone who has traveled to less than 30 countries and gone to either boarding or international schools. I was even given a ride home by someone's driver last night! I also met a Turkish guy who was flying home today to his house in Qatar to throw a massive New Years party by his pool on the Ocean. Despite all this everyone is surprisingly laid back. We have met a nice group of Londoner's to spend New Years with and are just sitting back, eating curries, and laying on the beach. Aleks bought an arsenal of fireworks, a bottle of black label whiskey, and a few cigars, so I am sure our New Years will start off with a bang:) I am trying to upload pictures, but it is very very slow. Anyway, Happy New Year!

Chillin' in Unawanatuna

Sri Lanka is a place where cold showers feel like a luxury. Basically, it is very hot and humid. Lucky for us, we are not doing much more than chilling in a beach town in the South of Sri Lanka. Yesterday we went to visit the old Dutch city of Galle. The old city there has a fort built around it and consequently suffered no damage from the Tsunami. The building are old and the town still feels very colonial. Today we spent the day in a cooking course learning to make a number of Sri Lankan curries as well as coconut roti and pancakes. It was fun and now we have some great new dishes to try out at home. We met a nice group of people and have decided to stay here until New Years. It's laid back, has great restaurants, and a pretty beach. Not much to complain about!

Day of the Tsunami - 5 Years Later

We woke up this morning to watch the local surfers paddle out and form a circle in memory of those who died in the Tsunami five years ago. It was bone chilling to think about all those who died in this very spot. After the memorial they each caught a wave into shore and Aleks and I went to meet Rosie and her friend (resident turtles over the age of 80). They were beautiful animals and we were able to feed them a seaweed snack. Afterward we snorkeled out to a rock garden where we saw lots of fish, squid, and another turtle. In the afternoon we went to the lagoon and paddled around looking for giant lizards. We ended the day with an Ayurveda massage and are now feeling a bit slow. Probably obvious in this posting. Tonight we will have a few drinks and head off to our next destination. All in all a very nice day.

Things I have noticed about Sri Lanka so far:
1. It is nothing like India - including the food.
2. The people are some of the nicest and most accommodating I have found anywhere in the world.
3. Despite their having been a war here just a few short months ago, it feels very safe and peaceful.

Christmas - Really???

I lay in bed last night thinking about all the children all over the world snuggled up in their beds waiting for Santa. Meanwhile, I was laying in bed pouring in sweat and being eaten by an army of mosquitoes to the likes of which I have never seen. It was hot and to be honest a bit miserable. Christmas morning came none too soon and the rise of the sun meant relief from the mosquitoes. Walking out onto the beach the restless night was soon forgotten. I can't say we had a normal Christmas, in fact it felt nothing like it. The only reminders were the odd surfer sporting a Santa hat and Christmas carols were playing while we ate roti and curry for lunch. Overall, a very chilled day on the beach with a bit of surfing, reading, and chatting with other travelers. It would have been nice to spend the day with family, but to be honest it didn't even feel like Christmas. Guess we skipped it once again.

Hikkadua or Something Like That

On Christmas Eve we left Negambo and headed for the beach. After four hours of chaotic traffic, including cows and elephants on the side of the road, I began to wonder about the beauty of Sri Lanka. All I saw was shop after shop, truck after truck, garbage heap after garbage heap. However, upon arriving in Hikkadua I began to see what all the fuss was about. We had arrived on a beautiful beach, that can only be described as idyllic. Crashing waves full of surfers, blue water, lazy cafes, beach beds, and an overall relaxed vibe. We quickly put on our bathing suits and spent the day swimming and enjoying the sun. Nightfall soon arrived and we enjoyed a curry on the beach as it poured with rain cooling us off a bit from the hot humid day. Still tired from travel we managed to watch a few celebratory fireworks and headed off to bed.

Laziness Sets In

We arrived in Negombo, Sri Lanka and managed to get up for breakfast before napping again till noon. The small guest house where we stayed was simple with a small tropical garden and friendly staff. The beach was nothing special, but it was nice to have a place to chill for the day. We took a tuk tuk into town and were greeted by the chaos I expected to find in Sri Lanka. The streets were packed with hoards of people shopping, street hawkers trying to sell you their worldly possessions, buses, motor bikes, cars, tuk tuks, and the odd stray animal. It took all I had not to get myself run over while taking in the sights and smells of the street. We quickly found a local restaurant where we ate a buffet of dahl and other very spicy vegetarian delights. We quickly learned that you are shit out of luck if you don't like a bit of spice in your food (breakfast included). Afterwards we headed back to the beach and paid to use one of the nicer hotels pools and sipped lazily on a few local cocktails made with Arrack the local liquor. This was followed by another nap and dinner. All in all a pretty lazy day.

The Most Efficent Day Ever

Well, I have decided to start a travel blog after years of not writing. I guess it has been since our world trip that I have shared our travel stories. So here we go again. We started on Dec. 22 in Melbourne, flying with Thai Airways to Bangkok. Upon boarding, I was quickly reminded of the Thai love of colour as the inside looked like an Easter basket with seats fashioned in pink, purple, and yellow. I was wearing a purple shirt and fit in nicely with the background. The flight was uneventful and we soon arrived in Bangkok. We decided to head to Kao San Road and were able to get a room for the day for 1100 Baht or around 30 dollars. I was happy, as the rooftop boasted a beautiful pool which I planned to lay by in the afternoon. We napped, had breakfast and headed out for the usual Thai beauty treatments. $10 and two hours later I had had a massage, manicure, and pedicure. Feeling relaxed and slightly sore (Thai massages can be a bit brutal) we headed out for lunch, time by the pool, and then a two hour nap. By 5pm we were headed back to the airport in Bangkok's manic traffic arriving almost two hours later. Back on the plane - this time Sri Lankan airways we headed towards Columbo. I must admit I was wishing for the nauseating colours of Thai Airways as this plane was yellow and green and the pillows looked as if the were soaked through with sweat. The smells on the plane were another interesting part of the journey as were the suffocating aresol spay they douse you with once on board. In any case we arrive in Sri Lanka at 11:30 on December 22 having had one hell of a day.