Ayubūvan from Mirissa

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HELLO!

We are now in Mirissa, Sri Lanka. We spent two nights in Galle, it was a very beautiful town right on the Indian Ocean. I love love loved the guesthouse we stayed in. The owner was a jeweller who taught me how to make casts for silver jewellery out of dried fish. So cool. Galle has a large expatriat community due to it's Dutch and English heritage. Because of all of the Europeans there we ate great food at every meal, including crepes topped with fresh Sri Lankan fruit. Really, does it get any better than that? Galle also has a very large Muslim community. There is a tomb of a Muslim saint in Galle and a huge Mosque near the ocean as well. We could hear the call to prayer from our guesthouse, it was really beautiful.

My only qualm about Galle is that it's 39 degrees there everyday and all of the Muslim women were walking around in burkas. Props to them, but I just couldn't do it. My cold Canadian blood needed to wear something with a little ventilation. I put on the longest skirt I had (just above the knee) and a t-shirt, and holy crap, as soon as I stepped out of our room, little did I know, I had become the biggest harlot in town. I swear to God, EVERYONE was staring at my legs. It was so uncomfortable, I can't even imagine what it would have been like if I had decided to wear a bathing suit (oh the humanity!!)

It was total culture shock and a huge learning experience at the same time. I can only imagine how offensive it must been. But in my defense, 39 degrees! And I'm sure if they really knew me, they would know that my legs are probably the last things that are going to prevent me from getting into Heaven. (If anything it would be my exposed elbows.) Anyways, Galle was very beautiful, with great food and great service. The culture there is a mix of Buddhism, Catholicism and Muslim, we just happened to be really close to the Muslim section.

We are now in Mirissa which is a very well known beach area. It's supposed to be gorgeous. As of right now it's raining so I can't really comment on that. Hopefully we can tomorrow! I need some sun!

We are heading back to Colombo (near the airport) in a couple of day. We are getting there by hired driver since taking the train does NOT seem to be our forte. Oh well, it's a good story and there's always a lesson in those kinds of experiences. Hopefully we figure out what that lesson was soon.... 😊



Alexis

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Comments

[George and Mom]

Hide those sexy ankles!
George suggests putting Justin in a Burka to hide him too! I love this travel blog. We are experiencing the wind gusts from Hurricane Sandy, George and I put everything away, covered the air conditioner, and put our barbeque against the house. New York City has been shut down, the transit system including subways are closed and 60,000 people evacuated. 12 foot waves are washing over the piers. The storm is 1000 miles wide. Good time to be away from Canada. :) Mom

[Laura]

should have lent you my long skirt...
Sounds like it's a beautiful place though, and you guys deserve it after the train ride experience! Anyway, we're battening down the hatches here with Frankenstorm coming ...lots of rain and winds! Talk to you guys soon xoxo