More Mirissa, Tangalle and Arugam Bay

We finally got to see the whales, yay! Having said that we didn't get to see all that much of them. The water was choppy so they weren't really playing ball. We saw them a few times but not close enough for snaps unfortunately. However, at one point we were completely surrounded by hundreds (well maybe about 60) of Spinner Dolphins. I liiike (Borat).

At one point I almost fell arse over tit off the side of the boat were I was trying to get good pictures. To prevent my death one of the crew kindly offered to take my camera and take the pictures for me. I'm quite particular with my photographs, I hate shit pictures and I'm under the illusion that no one can take better photos that me, so I trust no one with my camera. I felt rude saying no so I just gave him it, but I knew it!! I'm now left with pictures of the baron water, a cargo ship and two pictures of the back of my head...???

After a munch and a nap we got on the bus to Tangalle. The place we stayed in was lovely. It was all modern and open plan. For £7 a night you can't go wrong. That night when we were heading out for food we noticed on the roof of the house opposite there was about 10 to 12 monkeys just chillin' out. Just as I was getting the camera out it started to rain so they all started to squeak or whatever noises monkeys do and they all went off. Was mad to see so many in an urban area.

Tangalle doesn't really seem like a nice place. It has an uneasy feel to it. When a tuk tuk driver told us it was a dangerous place and it's murder capital of Sri Lanka, I could believe him. Nothing happened or no one said or did anything to make me feel that way, but you know when you just get that feeling?
Despite this we still went walking down pitch black back alleys to find a shop that sold booze. We found one, but we couldn't get near for people. We decided to swerve it in the end because we couldn't be arsed to wait. It was Friday night so everyone must have been getting the drink in for the weekend. Either this or it's just a town of raging alcoholics.

The next day we got a bus to Arugam Bay. Took about 7 hours in total with one change. The first bus was so packed we had to stand for about an hour. You can forget your tricep kickbacks and your bench press and all that, trying to stand up on a Sri Lankan bus will sort your bingo wings out let me tell ya. Whilst on the bus on the way here we noticed sign posts saying elephants crossing. We had to swerve past one in the road and we saw 3 others, a mum and 2 babies just relaxing on the road side. Mental.

When we got to Arugam Bay it was night time so we pretty much went in the first hostel we came across. Made a swift exit when I spotted mouse shit on the bed, and shall we say man fluid on the sheets. I know they're hostels and I know we're paying next to nothing, but you still expect a certain level of cleanliness. We moved on to a place which was really cool. We stayed in a folly which is effectively a hut on the beach. It was about the size of a really big bed and the whole floor was mattress with cushions and pillows and it had saris for curtains. It was super cosy and it was really peaceful going to sleep to the sound of the sea. It wasn't practical for more than one night as it's basically camping, but it was fun.

The place we're staying in now is fine, does the trick. Woke up this morning to find a few mouse droppings on some of our stuff and on the furnishings. I'm starting to think that maybe this area just has a problem with mice. I don't mind the mouse here because the room is clean. I saw him today. He's a ballsy fucker, he just waltzed in (not literally, that would be weird) whilst I was tidying up my stuff. I've named him Dave.

Last night was funny. We we're trying to figure out how to put the mosquito net up. The lady had washed it and went out whilst we we're out, so because she couldn't get in the room she left it on the chair outside for us. It was like the bloody Krypton Factor. Took us ages to figure out. In the midst of things Lee was swinging off the string that holds the 'squito net and he pulled it towards the fan (???) and it snapped the string clean and got the other half all tangled in the propellers and it sounded like the fan was going to explode. A piece of garden furniture and some good balance got it fixed in the end.

Our place is right next to the mosque. Didn't realise until I got woken up at sunrise to what I genuinely thought was the beginning of 'Circle Of Life' from The Lion King. It wasn't until I woke up a bit a few seconds later that I realised it was the geezer calling people to mosque. He's going again now as I type. Annoying much??!!

Mirissa

We left Unawatuna few days ago now, weve been in Mirissa since. It's only a small town but we came here because it's meant to be one of the best places in the world to see Blue Whales. After a couple of set backs we've finally booked the trip for tomorrow.
The first time we tried to book it the whale man said the water was too rough, the second time we planned to book it I got ill. I had a really bad throat and a fever, thank God for over the counter antibiotics!

Today we got the bus into habaraduwa to go to the turtle hatchery. En route there was a crazy lady who after dancing in the middle of the road made a beeline for me (of course). She was telling me how good her and I would look together and she kept trying to hold my hand. I was actually genuinely scared and Lee offered zero assistance. He hid in the pharmacy. Cheers pal. Why do I attract all the freaks?!
There wasn't much to the hatchery itself, it was only the size of a large room. There was a few different sections which held different breeds of turtles and all that. There was also a bit where they'd planted the turtle eggs into the sand waiting for them to hatch. The best bit was at the end were for a small donation you can release baby turtles into the sea. It was amazing. It made me think of you Soph, you'd have loved it. Haven't seen any donkeys yet though! They were so cute waddling towards the sea. The man said in 30 years they'll come back to the exact same beach to lay their eggs.

After there we got the bus into Matara for a wonder. This place is a bigger, it's where all the locals from Mirissa go to get their shit. It was kinda rotten here, so when we spotted some lads playing footy we decided to stop and watch to get away from the hustle and bustle. Turns out it was Matara city football ground and it was the 1st division team that were training. The coach was an ex Sri Lankan national player. Their ground was built by the German Football Federation and Jens Nowotny came over when it was built and he visits on a regular. Nowotny gave the coach some badges and then he gave them to us bless him. He was in awe of us and it should have been the other way around. He was such a nice man. So, in an indirect way, we got a pressie from Nowotny :)

A bird took a shit on me today, whilst I was eating too. I felt a plop on my bag, I thought I was being para, but I goes to Lee, 'have I been shit on?', expecting a negative. Guess there's a first time for everything. My bag was open a tiny bit, and needless to say, it went straight inside me bag, and on the handle too. Bit of water and a plastic bag for a cloth did the trick. It wasn't too sloppy thank God.

We went to a restaurant the other day because we were gagging a burger (so much for eating on a budget, eh). The place was funny, they proper ripped the pizza hut sign and KFC all in one, except their Colonel looked like Don King. Other than that we've been pretty good with the food, mainly eating street food which is cheaper than a motherlover. There's this tuktuk that plays music who goes round selling pastries and rotties, kinda like a savoury ice-cream man. It's like 9p for a pastry. Happy days.

I've burnt my forehead and it's all swollen up, don't know why but this has happened to me a few times. People are looking at me strange, I look like a Somali with me big alien head.

Oh yeah, Paul, your take on hands free is old news over here mate. The Lankans have been lodging their mobiles in their motorbike helmets for years. Not quite as good as a Sherpa hat in the summer I'll give you that.

More Negombo and Unawatuna

Sorry about the serious lack of pictures, because I'm only using a tablet uploading the pictures onto the blog is an absolute mare, takes forever. I'll sort something soon.


ok so we spent one more day in Negombo. There isn't really much to see or do here, it's only a small town, so we thought we'd look for a beach. We walked in the general direction of the beach and came across the Negombo prison and courthouse, a couple schools and a field were all the kids play cricket. We went a bit further and went to the local fish market, it was crazy. they were selling goats, chicks and bunnies too. So cute!


Just beyond the market was one of the shanti towns. Lee was hesitant to go in incase the locals got funny but they were lovin' it, especially the kids. It looked like a really poor area, the majority were just living in tin huts, there was the odd brick house. Loveto show some photos but y'know!


That night at the hostel we met a lad from Italy called Matteo. He was also heading south so we said we'd leave together the next day. To get to Unawatuna we took a bus back to Colombo and from there a bus to Matala were we got off here at Unawatuna. We didn't see Colombo when we flew in, we said we'd stop here on our flight out but we got a little glimpse of it going to the bus station, it is mental. So many people and vehicles and noise and smells. The bus station had that many buses in it I've no idea how it operates, it was like bumper cars. Saying that it did take half an hour to just get out the station and we were leaving from bus stop number 2 so you can imagine.


Did my first wee in a public toilet here at the trainstation. It's one of them hole in the ground situations. Needless to say i pissed on my foot. Good job I was wearing flip flops. I thought I had the squat and pee scenario mastered from boozy nights out, obviously not.


The bus ride was an experience in itself. It took around 5 hours, but we enjoyed it. The bus was well dodgy and incredibly sweaty. National Express it was not. 730 rupees for two of us, which is around £3.70. Bargain. Towards the end of the trip the bus pulled off road and everyone started go get off. At first I thought there was a problem with the bus or something, then we realised this was their services. Where we were stopped was on the coast, and inbetween the shrubery you could see a beautiful stretch of beach, and there was a little shop. We got samosa type things and their version of custard creams and ate them whilst we chatted to our bus friends and watched the wild cows wondering amongst us, then the bus started to pull off so we had to leg it and jump on in motion, Sri Lankan stylie!

They get that and we get bloody nutsford services on the M6.

So our hostel here in Unawatuna is nice. It has a private bathroom which is always a plus, mosquito nets and a veranda. The people that own it are a little ald couple, they're so sweet. When we got here they didn't even know we had a reservation because they don't know how to use the internet, despite advertising their guest house on hostelbookers haha.

Yesterday we went to Unawatuna beach which is meant to be famous for it's beauty, but sadly the tsunami wiped away half of the beach. Even when it's low tide there's pretty much no sand. It was still nice to see though cos it was just all locals having a swim and drinking rum and playing cards.

This morning I woke up early and I swore I could hear monkey noises. I went out and theres 4 of 5 monkeys eating in the trees. There's a jungle close to here so apparently they wonder over here alot. We had bananas with breakfast so we put some out and they came quite close. It was so cool. I feel like we've seen so much already and we've only been away for ..is it 3 nights?? I lose track.

Today we went down to a different beach here, not as nice as the ones we saw on the way in here, again this one had been taken by the tsunami. The water is so close to the buildings, it's a matter of time before the place disappears.

http://s1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg530/Rebeccabenjamin/

Negombo, Sri Lanka

We're here, finally! Eventhough the flight was only 13 hours it seemed so much longer were we had to change over at Mubai. The airline was so good. They gave out free drinks, fed us twice on the first leg (curry for breakfast? Why the devil not) and again on the second leg which was only two hours so that was good. 


You shoud see some of the stuff Lee has brought. We were sitting in Heathrow and he goes 'You know what I've brought that could be really useful?', I'm thinking he's come up trumps with something, I don't know, maybe a makeshift washing line or something a bit good at least. He goes into his bag and pulls out none other than a first aid emergeny guide and his first aid badge hahaha. I was laughin my head off and he got offended saying he brought it for my sake, asthough if I were dying you'd have the time to rumage through your pack and read a booklet, ha bless.


When we arrived in Colombo and we left the airport, we got a free shuttle to a bus station were we then got on another bus to Negombo bus terminal. The buses are mad, people just jump on and off whilst it's still moving. The hostel was meant to be walking distance from the bus terminal so we turned down the gazillion offers for a tuk tuk ride. After walking round in a loop for 20 minutes looking for the place, we decided to go back with our tail between our legs and get in a tuk tuk. So we clambered in, taking off our packs and struggling to fit inside, then he took us literally 100 yards down the road. Oh. We had walked past it twice. What made is worse was that the gate to the hostel was locked anyway. A young lad on a motor bike was going past and he stopped and asked if he could help. He tried calling the hostel on his mobile bless him but it rang out. We weren't sure when it would open & we didn't want to go for a walk as it would render the tuk tuk ride pointless yet we didn't want to stand outside the hostel indefinately. After much deliberation we just sat on a rock and waited...and waited. 9am he opened, but give him his due he cleaned the room straight away for us and didn't charge us extra, despite us only having booked to check in 6 hours later. I'll take the blame for this one, because I'm a spaz I booked the hostel for a day after we arrived. Anyway..


The hostel is nice, very basic but very clean. Beds really comfy. There's no hot water but we don't mind. It's really hot so would have been having cold showers anyway. 
We got in the room and slept til 8pm our time (6 hours ahead) and we then went out to have a look around. We got talking to a man in the street called Nimal. He showed us round a bit, took us to a supermarket and got us some herbal stuff they use for mosquito's. According to him they do have Malaria and Dengue Fever. So seeing as we weren't given Malaria tablets (thanks Dr Duffy you prick!), we took his herbal medicine.


In this town it's like spot the honkie. We're like celebrities, people stop and stare, bib as they go past in the car.. On the bus one woman squished on the same seat as me despite the whole bus being empty. Another woman stroked my arm and stood smiling infront of me. Slightly creepy, but the people are lovely.


It's not letting me upload pictures at the mo, the websites being a bit weird, so I'll do it soon! xxx

One day to go!

So we've got less than twenty four hours until we board the plane. I've just finished packing, Lee hasn't started. He's in the pub. Say no more.

I think I over estimated what I would need to take with me because my bag weighs an absolute tonne. The 6 inch heels, hair extensions and a full bag of make-up probably don't work in my favour, nor the big pile of clothes, but I just can't bear to leave any of it behind. Yes I know, I'm a div.

Instead of doing the practical thing and buying a Kindle (like Lee), I've decided I want to carry three big, fat, heavy books. My argument being that I like the smell of a book, turning the pages and having the satisfaction of seeing how much I've read. I don't know if having the option to smell a book will keep me going when I'm sweating my bollocks off praying I had a lighter pack. Ah well, we shall soon see.

The above is pretty much every thing that's coming with me. I've just noticed I've got five things that are leopard print, looks like I'm channelling my inner Pat Butcher there.

Argh! The nerves are starting to set in now. I occasionally catch myself thinking 'what the fuck am I doing?'...Squeaky bum!! xx