Blogs from Weligama, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Asia

Well, it’s been a bit of a cyclone so far! Like the title… it’s actually day 3, but really feels like day 1! Last night, I went to bed at about 8am, and slept until 9:30 am! I certainly needed that! When I got up, I have to say, I was feeling quite wobbly! The last couple f days have taken their toll on me! I joined the group at the Basecamp for breakfast. It’s vegan menu here, so that’ll be interesting! I’m not even sure what was for breakfast, but I enjoyed it all the same! During breakfast I had a visit from Ashkar, my driver from yesterday. I had left my jumper in his car. The people eye are just so lovely, he had come to return it to me! And then, about half ... read more

Saturday 15 February, 2020. Alarms set for 5.30 am. Slept reasonably, but of course because we had an alarm set, we were awake before the alarm went off. We got up at 5.25 am, most of our stuff was prepared and left the room at 5.55 am. We went to find our Tuktuk. There was one out there but it wasn't ours. The old boy got another one out and took us to the fishing harbour. Sounds good but it is actually the wrong place. After a short discussion, we paid him what he asked LKR 200, which is a low price and simply walked round to our boat, in the other part of the harbour. We were with Mirissa whale warriors and the guy that we spoke to yesterday was there. We paid our fee, ... read more

Our quads & calves were even more tender today for the start of our last riding day but our muscle memory soon kicked in for a relaxing morning ride. The ride was a flat 47 km ride via the Bundala National Park finishing on the golden sands at Hambantota. Most of the park was scrubby elephant country but nearer Hambantota we passed some dunes, wetlands, lagoons & salt pans but did not see any sign of the pink flamingos the park is known for. Hambantota is also infamous for its vast wasted investment projects including a brand new but idle international airport & a massive port both now leased back to the Chinese. After lunch we followed the coastal road to our two night stop at the Esprit Hotel, Mirissa for some free R & R ... read more

A restful morning in the ensuite tent, pottering by the river (where the locals come to play and wash themselves and clothing) and drinking coffee. Once packed we had a taxi pick us up at 12 for the journey to Mirissa. It was about 2 hours and our man knew all the back roads avoiding traffic, so we arrived to our haven in the coastal forest ( the spice house) by lunchtime. On the way we passed fields of rice, some already harvested and stubble being burnt / insects removed, some just waiting to be harvested and some threshing going on - lot of manual labour! Then we passed a man and his son on a motorbike with his son clutching hold of a big bale of rolled sticks of cinnamon bark - very valuable so ... read more

Day 12: Friday 15 September - Weligama - Koggala Today we departed for Weligama leaving the national parks behind us. The narrow streets are dotted with Dutch colonial villas, museums and antique shops. We then drive to Kudawella to see the Hummanaya Blow Hole, the second largest of its kind in the world. It was a short walk through the back lanes to the foot of an uneven, rocky path up to the cliff face of the coast. It wasn’t long before we heard the whoosh of the water rushing through the blowhole. We got some fantastic shots of the water shooting up about 20 metres. It was spectacular. We then drove further along the coast to see the biggest Buddha statue in Sri Lanka, at the Dikwela Wewurukannala Temple. The temple is dominated by an ... read more