Lonely Planet describes Sri Lanka as South Asia’s favourite beach escape. And as some of the best sand and surf is reportedly in the south, we felt a slow beach hop back to Colombo after our Ayurvedic experience was in order. The big piece of advice for anyone travelling to Sri Lanka is to take the monsoon warnings with a grain of salt. Broadly speaking, the “Yala” monsoon season brings rain to the South and South West during May to August. The East and North Coast however is generally fine at this time – its turn to get wet is between October and January. Well its mid Yala season now in the south and if this is bad weather, then I am a fish. Sure we have had a few interludes of rain and I wouldn’t want to downplay the torrential downpour the day in late May when we were in Galle, sadly responsible for the deaths of a number Sri Lankans caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. But generally speaking, we have had settled sunny weather with a constant sea breeze which has made things mercifully cooler. Probably the biggest downside has been the sea – quite rough and not for the faint-hearted swimmer, which makes being in a place with a pool an advantage. But what we hadn’t realised before we made our booking was how relatively empty of tourists the southern coast is at this time of the year. At Talalla (more on this beautiful spot next) we virtually had the beach to ourselves. We had the pick of hotels (although many hotels and restaurants do close down during the slow season) and probably saved about a third on accommodation costs. Maybe we were lucky with the weather, but I would recommend anyone to come to Sri Lanka’s south coast at this time of the year. Our first beach was Talalla, just 20 minutes from Dickwella. We were attracted here partly because of the ayurvedic treatment hotel (where incidentally we had originally booked) right on the beach, and also because of a glowing online review by a lady called Natasha aka the “world wandering kiwi” which you can read here. Well I have to say I agree with Natasha’s assessment – its just stunning. A beautiful bay ringed by lush vegetation - its unspoilt and virtually undeveloped. We treated ourselves and stayed at Talalla Retreat on the western end of the beach – it is by far the best beach resort I have experienced anywhere. The grounds were spacious and park like and our second story room had no windows – completely open to nature aside from bamboo blinds. We woke and sat on our front deck watching the sea and wildlife (peacocks, squirrels, monkeys and many types of weird looking birds). The staff were unfailingly laid back and friendly. They quickly cottoned to the fact I loved my cricket, and so was bought regular scores of whatever match (ICC Champions Trophy in the UK) was playing during dinner. Boy, were they happy when Sri Lanka beat India! Yes I know – pretty spoilt and worthwhile reflecting on how fortunate we are. The average monthly salary here is around US$150 while the minimum monthly wage is $US65 (about $2.60 a day). Not that you would know that based on the character and kindness of the people here. Just makes you think . . . From Talalla we moved on to Mirissa (about 25km closer to Colombo) – more developed than Talalla but not overly so. Mirissa is where the younger ones come to party apparently, but again because of the low season we almost had the beach to ourselves. The one hot spot seemed to be a beach bar and restaurant about 5 minutes stroll down the beach from us. The bar boys (about 4 of them) were a delight – happy to see us (well happy to see anyone I think). Once our drinks were served they would retire back to their spot in the corner and relight their joint . . . From here our plans are a bit vague. There may be some twists and turns ahead - stay tuned . . .
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Richard and JolandaJo and I have decided to give up our work, our house and our lives in Wellington NZ to see the world. Our big adventure started on April 6th 2017 . . . Archives
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