Blogs from Hikkaduwa, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Asia
April 30th 2012
As many mornings went spent with David and the Frenchies, we began in usual fashion- coffee and beach. This particular morning, I felt particularly energetic. It was before 7 am when I went on the beach to practice Muay Thai. I was the first one awake. Doing anything on the beach makes almost any experience better. Muay Thai was no exception. I moved as the waves approached and retracted. There was a meditative quality to the thunderous crashing of the water upon the shore. I felt a part of everything, of life, of nature. I remembered that I had my very large camera and heavy tripod. I had to get some more use out of them. I set them up on the beach and began filming myself doing what Master Danny had been teaching me to ... read more
Love, Happiness, and Muay Thai...
Published: May 1st 2012Asia » Sri Lanka » Southern Province » Hikkaduwa
April 30th 2012
Sri Lankans are a beautiful people. They assist each other without expectation. I saw it in Ratnapura, when the different gem traders all crowded themselves into one office. It didn't matter who sold me the jewel, just that someone did. I saw it on the bus rides when strangers would take the child of parents on a very crowded bus and let them squeeze next to them on a seat or on their laps. I saw it when strangers would help the old carry bags and boxes on and off buses or into cars. It was infectious. They also smile from deep within, way down in the soul, radiating out. I saw it in their sparkling eyes and wide lipped grins every time they spied a shirtless, tattooed, sarong wrapped Korean American walking down the busy ... read more
April 28th 2012
A rooster crowing is a powerful alarm. It definitely works. As it crowed, my eyes fluttered open. As usual, laying in bed was not an option. I would be unable to return to a deep slumber. Besides, we all had plans together, an early start on our last full day/night in Tangelle. Audrey, David and I headed for a swim down the beach. Marion stayed behind. The waves in front of our guest house were too powerful to frolic in. Audrey's small frame wouldn't allow it. Even David and I had been tossed around violently by the waves the afternoon prior. I also wanted to visit a temple to pray, something that I had not been able to do in a few days, since the boys three day party fest in Hikkaduwa. it was time to ... read more
They should call me Indy, not Dr. Jones...
Published: April 27th 2012Asia » Sri Lanka » Southern Province » Hikkaduwa
April 26th 2012
4/25 The day was going to be spent traveling to Ratnapura, the gem mining capital of Sri Lanka. One of the main reasons for coming here was to buy a gem for a potential engagement ring. Since there was no woman in my life anymore, one would assume to nix the idea. I didn't want to. I know I would someday get married to the right woman for me, so it only seemed natural to purchase a gem anyway. At the very least, it would make a great story. Plus, I had arranged with Sarath (the owner of the guest house we were staying at in Kandy) to see his gem mine. We were going to be allowed to descend into the mine and see the mining process in action. I had watched the host of ... read more
March 28th 2012
Hikkaduwa beach weekend! Hi everyone! This weekend Amie,Tamsin, Jonathan and I travelled down to Hikkaduwa beach, which is down in the southern province of Sri Lanka about 10km from Galle. We decided that after our extremely active and somewhat torturous hiking weekend that we deserved a chilled out trip this time around! We left at 11am on Friday morning and headed to Colombo on a public AC bus. They have 3 different standards of public buses here; your standard public buses, then slightly posher ones and then your top of the range Sri Lankan AC buses. To be completely honest, they're all pretty horrendous! Anyway, it took about 3 hours to get from Kegalle to Colombo, and from there we switched onto another bus to Galle which stops in Hikkaduwa on the way, which takes another ... read more
Snorkelling in Hikkaduwa and trip to mines
Published: August 7th 2010Asia » Sri Lanka » Southern Province » Hikkaduwa
August 7th 2010
Today we hired some snorkelling gear and went to the beach. We were told where the corals are and where it is best to snorkel. As soon as we got near the beach we were asked if we wanted to go on a glass bottom boat. We preferred to try out some snorkelling first but actually ended up going on a boat as we were the only white people on the beach and I didn’t fancy being looked at in my bikini and snorkelling stuff. The beach was full of locals. They all get in the water fully clothed. So anyway we paid 1000 rupees (about £6) for half an hour on the boat. The water was very choppy and it felt at times like the boat was going to tip over. They drove us near ... read more
Toddy Tapping and off to Hikkaduwa
Published: August 6th 2010Asia » Sri Lanka » Southern Province » Hikkaduwa
August 6th 2010
On our final day in Negombo our travel guide took us to see a “toddy tapper”. We drove to a neighbourhood nearby and went into a local man’s garden. He used coconut husks which were tied to a palm tree to climb up the tree. He climbed the tree in no time at all like a ladder. Once he’d reached the top he cut into the palm tree with the blade he was carrying and collected the juice that came out of it inb a bucket. He walked between the trees on ropes. He collected the “toddy” from about 4 trees.This is a Sri lankan tradition. We had a chance to taste some of it but neither of us actually liked it!! Can’t describe the taste for the life of me. To our surprise our guide ... read more
February 23rd 2010
Monday 15th Feb. Day 2 in Hikkaduwa. I spent the entire day in bed…. No, I did not have dreaded food poisoning, it was instead self inflicted alcohol over indulgence. Jarrod cruised around going on a few walks and kicked back on the beach front. Our hotel has little cabana things on the beach which are pretty comfortable and nice shade from the hot sun - averages about 33 degrees at the moment. It does cool down at night though, and the few degrees makes it easy to sleep, especially with no AC. TIP OF THE DAY: Buy spray on sunscreen and insect repellent - means you are not just rubbing the dust and dirt even further into your skin with a cream. ... read more
Little piece of paradise
Published: February 13th 2010Asia » Sri Lanka » Southern Province » HikkaduwaFebruary 13th 2010
His… Friday 13th. We took the train down to Hikkaduwa, about 100km south from Colombo. The journey took about 2 and half hours and cost us 3.5 Australian dollars. The train ride itself was fine, everyone was seated, so there was no sniffing armpits, no air con but all the windows were open so was plenty of fresh air. Arrived in Hikkaduwa where we were escorted down to the ‘happening’ area, where there are all these great guesthouses by the ocean, costing about 10-20 dollars per night. We chose one, for about 10 bucks, that was a bit dirty but had a nice little beach front bar with cheap beers that cost about 2 bucks for a long neck of local beer. Miranda got some ‘threading’ done, if don’t know what it is then look it ... read more
April 24th 2009
We left Friday early morning for Sri Lanka with a quick hour stop-over in Dubai before the 4 hour flight to Colombo. As soon as we got to Colombo we hired a taxi who drove us the 2 and a half hours to Kandy. With the current civil war going on in the north security at and around the airport is extremely tight with many checkpoints around. The trip to Kandy probably could have been done in about 45 minutes if the roads had been straight but there wasn't a single straight path the whole route. We all commented on the fact that we had never been on such windy roads before in our life. The rainy season was just starting there so the afternoon skies quickly turned black as we made the trip before an ... read more
