Life is a beach....

---

4/26
The next two days weren't very eventful in the cultural sense. The girls never showed up to lunch, but we did run into Dominique while traversing the main road. It turned out that Kerry was sick all morning. Apparently, something she ate or drank didn't agree with her. So we invited Dominique to come and hang with us as Kerry recovered. We walked up and down the main road then back to our hotel for a walk up and down the beach. We settled at an outdoor beach Nara few hundred yards form our own hotel and had lunch. Kerry eventually joined us. We ate and had a few beers before starting the party at our hotel bar. We saw some of the same people. I got into a long conversation with a Swiss chap named Marco. He was an auto mechanic back at home and was oN holiday to receive his diving certification. He was amiable and we had some good conversations about traveling. I told him that he was welcome in the US any day. I also told him I was welcome in the Swiss alps anytime. I jokingly made plans to snowboard with him next February, when conditions were great but tourist season low. I am considering it. I have never been to the Alps before. To snowboard there would be another dam come true. We all had way too many drinks and retired by about 3 am. The next day, David and image plans to see Galle and find out if it was worth a stay. We woke up relatively early and met up with the English for an afternoon in Galle. A thirty minute bus ride later, we were there. The city center itself didn't look impressive at all. But once we entered the Dutch colonial village portion, we were transported to Europe. It was old school and beautiful. We walked around most of the complex and finally settled on a rooftop cafe. I had decided that we were going to stay at that exact location. After lunch, I asked prices and talked him down about ten dollars. I grabbed a card and told him that David and I would be seeing him in a day or two. By this part of the day, I was exhausted. The late nights and lack of sleep were catching up to me yet again. We all went out to dinner for Dominique's birthday., but I retired by 11. I stayed up to finish some blog notes and decided to goto bed. For the next 6 hours, I scratched up and down my Andy, unable to sleep because of the itchiness. I wasn't sure what it was- the full body sunburn, coating of sand everywhere, mosquitoes or bedbugs. It was torture. All I wanted to do was sleep, but to no avail. I finally fell asleep around 6am, only to awake at 10am. I had had enough of Hikkaduwa and wanted to leave. We received an email from the French, Mariom and Audrey the evening before. We had planned to meet in Galle on Friday or Saturday, but they invited us down to the east, where they were. We threw our hands up in the air and said fuck it, why not. Hikkaduwa had taken its toll on me spiritually. I wasn't in Sri Lanka to drink and party. I came here for something much more. I felt like I let myself down by falling into the party scene. I wanted to leave right away. Seeing Mariom and Audrey was the perfect opportunity to get back on the right path.

---