Sun and surf in Sri Lanka

Looking ahead to my first university summer, it seemed like an eternity. What can anyone do to fill 4 months? Especially when you can’t apply for internships with no UK base… Although I realise I probably could… but it’s much more fun to avoid all responsibility, right?

A fellow gapper and I had bonded over our love of exploring the world and decided we just HAD to go somewhere exciting together. She suggested Sri Lanka: the new “up and coming” travel destination. I’d never considered travelling there before but the more I researched the place, the more I became convinced that this was a great idea. Even better: from Abu Dhabi it was only a 4-hour flight and not too expensive – I was sold! We quickly hit a bump in the road though, it may be cheap from Abu Dhabi but from London – where my friend was travelling from – not so much… She suggested I come out to Europe but by this point flights were ridiculous. Petrified of being stuck in 45 degrees all July, I took the leap and decided to travel solo.

This was not my first solo trip but, even still, as I had zero clue about what to expect for Sri Lanka, I quickly looked up some intro-style tours. I settled on Gecko: the younger version of Intrepid tours. Excited that I would be spending 10 days with like-minded youngsters, I then tried to plan my remaining week. One option kept pinging up: surf camp. Now, I am NOT a surfer. After many scraped knees and bruised elbows during a family holiday in Cornwall, as much as I loved the surfer vibe, I definitely was not one of “them”. However, Google had other ideas for me and I thought “well, why not?” I found a Scandinavian camp (this pleased Mamma) and booked a week in Ahangama with Lapoint.

Packing for Sri Lanka was an interesting challenge… I knew this wasn’t going to be as ‘hardcore’ as my Africa Overland, and I also recognised that younger travellers = much more fashionable ones. Still, I stuck to trusty linen shorts, t-shirts and some flowy trousers. I bought my visa, confirmed my tour booking and set off for the airport.

Overnight flights are not fun and I arrived in Colombo around 5am feeling very dazed. I’d been warned not to take a taxi before the sun rose so waited in the sparsely-decorated airport until 6am, and then asked the taxi desk to organise a taxi for me rather than approaching the hordes of drivers beckoning me. I arrived at the hotel where the tour was meeting at around 7am and was told I couldn’t check-in until midday. Feeling sweaty and tired, I settled by the pool with all my bags and the hotel staff kindly brought me freshly-squeezed watermelon juice. This was my first introduction to the Sri Lankans’ renowned kindness and hospitality.

Gradually the other guests for the tour trickled into the hotel, although it was a fun guessing game trying to figure out if they really were on the tour as well or just guests at the hotel. It turned out that the staff were just waiting for my roommate to wake up before they could show me into the room. She emerged around 11am, very apologetic, and I was relieved to find out she was also another solo traveller. We spent the afternoon sunbathing by the pool and then met the others over dinner in the evening. We had a group briefing and I was quick to learn that out of the 18 of us, 15 were from Australia. I was also one of two to be travelling alone. This was the definition of daunting: I definitely felt out of place. What was more; as a group of 16 girls, everyone was wearing ‘fashionable’ jumpsuits and dresses while I felt grubby in my t-shirt and shorts. Never mind, tomorrow was a new day!

We got up early to visit a fish market in Negombo. Overpowered by the smell before we even left the bus, we could see huge slumps of fish piled high with blood pouring down the street. Men were bustling over the stalls, shouting for the best price while the seller hacked at the meat with a machete. This was definitely a stark reminder that we were “not in Kansas anymore.” With the rain, we hopped back in the bus, ate breakfast, packed up our things and then hit the road towards Kandy. Along the way we stopped at a spice garden in Mawanella and I was intrigued to see all their natural cures for the ailments we run to the pharmacy for. The spices looked odd not in their shop-bought jars, but instead growing from the ground, and we gorged ourselves on exotic fruits and spiced teas. We arrived at our hotel on the outskirts of Kandy, dumped our bags and then prepared to see the Temple of the Tooth in the evening. A few of us opted out of the Kandyan dance show and so took the public bus to meet up with the others later. Public bus = party bus! If you find yourself in Sri Lanka, take the bus. The music was blaring and there were bright colours and lights decking the inside. The price was also ridiculously cheap – so cheap that we ended up even arguing with the conductor to pay more! We found the others, covered ourselves up and then headed inside the temple, wondering if it really did house Buddha’s tooth.

There were queues of tourists, all obediently wearing white, and we listened to drums and watched processions. I read up about Buddha and saw the devotion and dedication of his believers all around me. We saw the tooth and it felt unreal to see something that was a physical representation of millions of people’s faith. Feeling strangely spiritual and calm, we headed back to the hotel for our beds.

Breakfast was a feast but very much needed for the day ahead! We hopped in the bus to see the famous Dambulla Caves and Sigiriya: the very reason a lot of people had joined the tour. The caves enhanced the feelings from the night before with beautiful statues and paintings of Buddha carved in these underground temples. And then Sigiriya – well, that was something else. The ‘lion rock’ rose out of the ground like some great architectural feature, as if deliberately placed there to look both grand and formidable. Yet, it’s all completely natural. We climbed the many stairs to see the view and there was just greenery below us, stretching out for miles and miles. Unfortunately, behind us, there also seemed to be tourists stretching out for miles and miles. But somewhere as beautiful as this, what else would you expect? There were also signs everywhere warning us of great Sri Lankan bees but we didn’t take much notice, unsure of just how dangerous bees could be. Back in the bus and then back to our hotel for some more sleep!

Today was the day. The train ride day. The famous, most scenic train journey in the world. 7 hours of just picture-perfect landscapes, rolling hills, emerald tea plantations, swaying palm trees – you name it, we saw it. When the train pulled into the station, it was like something from a 50s movie: a blue steam train with heavy metal doors and winding carriages. We gave up with the allocated seats, realising quickly that no one took any notice, and then settled in for the ride. This journey was 7 hours of taking photos and looking out the window gasping. I couldn’t decide between trying to immortalise the scene outside the window through a lens, or just embrace the moment and try and keep it alive in my head as no technology could do it justice. It felt like we had entered Eden. We arrived in Ella with our wide-eyes exhausted but ready for a tea factory visit to see what all the green hills were for.

Dressed up in funny hats and funny shoes, we were shown each of the steps to make green tea with a tasting of each at the end. With free time in the evening to explore, we wandered down the buzzing strip, amazed at how such a small town in the hills could be filled with so many tourists, so much music, so much light. The next day brought our hike up Little Adam’s Peak; a sweaty and steep uphill walk all worth it for more of the paradisal views. Our guide took us to the classic tourist viewpoint, but then showed us another, more secret one. However, here was when the buzzing got louder. Not really understanding what was happening, I just heard screams and then our guide shouting to get down. I lay on the trail, the sound of my own breathing and heartbeat reflecting the fear throughout the group. I looked up and all I could see was a cloud of black. These were the infamous Sri Lankan bees. I felt them sting my back, each sting more powerful than the last, and panicked at how long we would have to lie there with no way of escaping the swarms attacking us. Eventually, our guide screamed at us to run and we tore through the forest, the buzzing turning into roars, echoed by shouts as more people got stung. We found a clearing in the forest where we started to take out the stings from one another, but the bees had followed us and so we set off running again. Finally, back at the original view point, we could catch our breaths while a local woman rubbed oranges on our stings to soothe them. We hiked back into town slowly, stopping for some tea and sugar to try and calm down. Then, all those with stings had to go to the local hospital for an injection before we made it back to the hotel. Feeling drained, we motivated ourselves to hike to the nine arches bridge and all of us felt a lot closer as a group. Well, whatever it takes for group bonding!

We travelled to Yala National Park the next day but had a dismal time spotting any wildlife. I didn’t mind so much as I’ve always been lucky on safari before but felt bad for the others on the trip. We chilled out at the hotel before another drive day to the beach! The hotel in Unawatuna was a true relaxation destination with a pool and bar. We lounged around all afternoon and then walked into town to have dinner at a restaurant on the beach. The next day it rained and rained – more like the English beach holidays I was used to! It was my final evening so we headed out for some drinks and stumbled back to the hotel feeling very happy. The next day I packed up my bags, said a few (surprisingly emotional) goodbyes and then jumped into a tuk tuk for the next stage of my adventure!

The Lapoint villa was like something out of a travel magazine. Wide open spaces, white walls, a pristine pool and surf mottos and pictures posted everywhere. I was welcomed by a very tanned, very toned semi-naked man who introduced himself as Pedro and showed me around the villa. There were a few people who waved hi from the pool and two Norwegians, who I was sharing a room with, smiled at me from the sofa. The vibe was one of pure chill. I threw my bags into the room, quickly changed into a bikini and joined the others who were reading by the pool.

For the whole 2 weeks spent at this surf camp, I didn’t put on a pair of shoes once. I spent my days in a bikini or a summer dress, even going barefoot when walking into town or heading out for dinner. There was such freedom in getting up, putting on just swim stuff, grabbing a board and then hopping into a tuk tuk for our surf session. You needed absolutely nothing else. After a morning lesson, I’d go back to the villa for a tropical breakfast, piled high with exotic fruits and local pancakes. Then more surfing or sunbathing before smoothie bowl lunches. Every day was exactly what you’d imagine these Instagram influencers in Bali to be doing. Evenings were spent listening to each other’s music, drinking incredibly cheap Lion beer and sitting by bonfires or playing beer pong. We had a couple of yoga sessions to recover from the amount of surfing we were doing – lulled to sleep underneath swaying palm trees, listening to the waves crashing gently on the beach. The whole experience was pure bliss.

This trip was simultaneously everything I had imagined while being nothing at all what I could believe. It was an adventure that compiled every kind of holiday: a beach holiday, city break, safari, surf camp and party week all in one. For anyone considering Sri Lanka, I cannot say it enough: please, please go. It was somewhere I’d never thought of before my friend suggested it, and it’s somewhere I’ve returned to since and know that I will return again soon. When you step foot in this land and smell the spices, see the fields of tea, meet the people or hear the sea, you’ll become, like me, totally and utterly enchanted.

July 2019