Christmas Sri Lankan Style

Sunrise, Giragala

This morning we rose early to watch the sun rise from Giragala, or Parrot Rock. As the fishermen returned from their morning ritual fish, we sat with the local dogs and watched the sun change Mirissa from blue to pink to orange and back again. This is Christmas morning...Sri Lankan style.

Mirissa's Paradise

Thanks to the joys of technology we spoke to our families and shared how we would each be spending Christmas Day.

Thanks to a walk East along the beach from our guesthouse we discovered Mirissa's paradise after scrambling across some rocks. Aqua water lapped the shore while young kid "fishermen" returned to their parents with the day's catch. We bobbed like corks for some time, taking in the sway of the overhanging coconut trees.

Christmas tree

After a bunch more swimming and lazing, dodging coconuts as they fell from the trees, we peeled ourselves off the beach in search of roti. Banana roti and a watermelon filled our tummies. After being invited into the glass box that is the roti street kitchen a new found respect for our chefs developed. The glass box in which they work was like a green house, pushing the already swealtering heat to new levels. The flies didn't seem to mind the heat though. They congregated in the "kitchen" like our rotti was the last food they might ever eat.

Lauren needs to buy a hat.

After one more dip, well deserved after all that eating, we returned for yet another nap. Today was hot, hotter than days past, and prompted the realisation that a better sunscreen needed to be purchased if our pasty Melbourne skin was to stand a chance in the tropics.

Sweaty and Wet Simultaneously

As it was Christmas we thought we'd go all out and enjoy an afternoon on the beach, which is significantly more expensive than food and drink anywhere else. So, we dressed, packed a bag and headed out...suddenly it was evident that we really had chosen to visit Sri Lanka on the cusp of her monsoon. It pissed down. Enjoyable at first, we wandered in the rain along the beach and found Cafe Mirissa to set up camp at. As the rain increased, it became more and more obvious that Sri Lankans boast ingenuity. The roof leaked and threatened to collapse until the locals hurriedly pushed and pulled the roof material to create a drain point. So, stranded in the downpour, we did the only thing we could do...drink beer until it cleared. And at 200 LKR, the equivalent of $1.50 AUD, for a 750mL bottle, why wouldn't you? Combine that with a dip in the ocean while the skies unleashed their load and sliding back into a cafe where the tables are on the sand and you can sit there in your swimmers, life in the monsoon was good.

Monsoon

For dinner, we returned to the same place as yesterday. This time, a cheese kottu with our dahl and rice. The price of dahl somehow increased by 50 LKR overnight but we figured it must just be a better version today.

We wandered home in the warm rain, wet but content, to the sounds of men using power tools in the pouring rain, barefoot, at night on a construction site as thunder and lightning struck. Tomorrow will be our last morning of being woken by the Tuk Tuk that blares Beethoven's Fur Elise on repeat as it goes around selling baked goods. Tomorrow we continue our Amarasinghe mission in Unawatuna.

 

The rains are comin'