Serendipity

Sri Lanka has been a really good surprise for us as we did not know fully what to expect. I guess the clue is in the title: the early Arab traders used to call this island Serendib - a word that has generated the English word serendipity: and we are definitely happy we came!

We have spent the last few days on the beach of Mirissa: a small stretch of sand on the south coast of Sri Lanka. You can surf/body board the waves during the day, then chill out at night when all the restaurants set up tables by the beach. You can dine with your feet in the sand, the stars above you, a candle lit on your table and watch someone juggling with firey ropes. Last but not least, you taste all the fresh fish you want as they display their catch for you to pick from: tuna, red snapper, groper and chicken fish. You can have it grilled, devilled (a local kind of sweet and sour sauce, served with rice) or pan-fried. A local Lion beer, cold and very cheap also goes down well.. As well as a few drops of rain at times, the ever-present monsoon season.

Our hotel was a 10mins walk away from the beach, on a river side. On the road we spotted a big spider, many fireflies and a big komodo dragon who was hanging out in the bushes. Needless to mention, it was taller than me. 

Mirissa is also a good spot for whale watching: after my NZ experience I was keen to give it another go. We boarded a crammed boat, many Chinese tourists and their massive cameras too, and sailed in very choppy waters, we could not take any pictures but we caught a glimpse of 4 blue whales and one that did its very famous splash-the-tail-in-the-water trick! 

The island is slightly smaller than Ireland but it's still Asia so travelling is slower and more complicated. Currently moving to the east coast then on through the hill country before flying out. Wish we had a bit more time to explore the north area but the rest of Asia awaits.