For our second week in Sri Lanka, we had the awesome good fortune to have friends and friends of friends coming to meet us!! We didn’t know everyone in the beginning, but we became fast friends and we couldn’t imagine a better group to share the time with! In total, we were 11 people, we had 3 Brits, 3 Canadians, 2 French, 2 Czech and an Aussie to round out the group. We decided to chip in on a gorgeous villa and live a little outside our means for the week. There were 6 beautiful private rooms with their own bathrooms, a huge wrap-around patio upstairs, tons of comfy lounge space and a massive kitchen for cooking our epic communal meals. The highlight was the pool in the side yard where we passed many an afternoon and a few late nights playing drinking games in the pool.
Hikkaduwa is a bustling little town on the south coast of Sri Lanka a few hours away from hectic Colombo. We decided to stay in this area because it’s known for surf, sun and fun. Through the rain showers and dramatic thunder and lightning shows, we managed a few great days on the beach playing in the waves. The point break is decent and the waves are crashing one after in other onto the long, beautiful shore of golden sand. Because it’s still on the cusp of the rainy season, the stormy weather made the waves vary a little from a couple feet to a couple meters but there were great spots with a beach break for beginners and a few reef breaks for more experienced surfers. Some areas have a pretty strong rip tide though, so it’s important to keep your wits about you there.
We rented a few boards for just a couple bux an hour and made our way to the point break 😊 paddle, paddle, paddle hard and hop on the board riding the wave… there are no words to describe the rush you feel when you’re standing on the board going super fast… after such a long time away from the ocean back in Canada, it feels so good to be back in the water!!! After catching few waves though, your arms feel like jelly so it’s time for a much-deserved break back on the beach to drink a few beers and snack on some curry.
Cute little restaurants and bars line the length of the beach, all with similar menus and tasty eats from rice and curry to fried rice and noodles and lots of indulgent seafood. The food in Sri Lanka is definitely a flavorful and delicious journey of its own!
While we were in Hikkaduwa we had a couple of birthdays to celebrate so in between our surf adventures we discovered the very delicious Sri Lankan Red Rum.. it’s a tasty amber-colored rum with strong notes of vanilla and spice. Add a little ginger beer and a splash of juice and you definitely feel like you’re in paradise!
On one of our last days in town we decided to hop on the bus and spend an afternoon in the pretty little fort town of Galle.
It’s only about a half hour down the coast, but it’s like stepping back in time to the Dutch colonial days. You can walk the walls of the fort enjoying the view of the ocean in every direction.
When you pry yourself away from the view at the top, you can wander through the small city within the walls.. there are shops and restaurants galore.
We had the good fortune of stumbling across The Pasta Factory and settled in for one of the best pasta meals of our lives! They use fresh, authentic Italian ingredients and the service there is just wonderful. The young guys working there take such pride in a job well done and it really shows.
After a few hours wandering the city and enjoying the sunset, we hopped on the bus and headed back to the villa for our last couple days living the high life.
We want to say a special THANK YOU to our new friend Markéta Turičíková for allowing us to use her beautiful photos from our time traveling together!!!!
Stay tuned for the rest of our journey through the South Coast and beyond!!
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