When we rose this morning after a night of possibly the loudest thunder I had ever heard, we were delighted to see shards of blue sky piercing the clouds. A perfect day for riding so off we went to Trincomalee.
Once out of Habarana we had the road to ourselves. For once, the roadside was not cluttered with houses or people but was vast scrub dotted with the occasional mud-brick home with its tin roof being held down by large stones. For the first half hour, the only people we saw were those jumping off a bus in the middle of nowhere with nothing about but cows, dogs and plenty of peacocks about. The road was sealed, there were few cars and the sun was out. The rivers that had formed on the roads yesterday had all but subsided. Except for one the flood gates of the Kantale Tank which gushed with a powerful surge of water. We couldn't really ask for much more. Of course, the peace and fine weather didn't last all the way to Trincomalee.
Traffic increased, the rain started and we decided to take a "short cut" to bypass Trincomalee and head to Nilaveli, just to the north. We zigzagged along the short cut, dodging potholes that had become small muddy lakes as the rain continued and Chris' bag, strapped to the bike, took a battering.
We had a look around Nilaveli briefly before deciding to head south, along the coast, to Uppuveli where more accommodation options existed. After driving through Uppuveli without realising it, we turned around and with sought out a place to stay. The first place we asked for prices at was Aqua Inn. 3500 LKR a night with hot water, wifi and located right on the beach. We stupidly thought we could do better so we kept looking. After asking for prices at two resorts that quoted $140 and $225 USD per night, we briefly considering going all out on a luxury pad for my birthday before coming to our senses and returning to Aqua Inn which suddenly seemed like a bargain. And it was.
After checking in we found out we were the only residents at this beachfront resort which is currently under construction. So what if the pool is only half full? So what if you get the occsaional wiff of oil thanks to the construction work going on? The beers are cold. The seats are comfortable. We have the service of the full staff to ourselves. And the view is bloody nice. Additionally, there are no Europeans staying here. Mor specifically, there are no Russians. Everywhere else we have gone has seemed to be full of loud, overpowering groups of Russians. From the barbie dolls we saw at Unawatuna to the inconsiderate family at The Pub in Kandy, we are happy to not hear that instantly recognisable accent for a few days.
We watched local kids play with kites on the sand as the tide rolled in and we chatted with Joan, the South African wife of the owner of Aqua Inn. Not only was she super friendly and informative but she cut the price of our room to 3000 LKR per night. This could be our favourite place in Sri Lanka so far and I can see us settling in until at least my birthday. Why would we move when the food and beers are delivered upon request while we sit and gaze across a beach uncluttered by tourists and the sound of the waves sooth our stresses. The coconut palms sway over the sand and as dusk falls, the lights of man powered fishing boats flicker on the horizon. Our seafood dinner cooks slowly as we sit and sit and sit and watch lightning flash across the ocean. We are literally the only guests at this perfectly located place and I am so thankful we chose it rather than the expensive, cold, busy establishments we looked at earlier in the day. We must learn to go with our gut as today is not the first that we have returned to the first guesthouse we looked at in any particular town.
After having lunch in the tree house restaurant we decided that leaving our seats was just too big an ask so we stayed put until dinner moving from pots of tea to beers.
As the evening wore on, the worst happened...more guests. More guests staying at our private guesthouse and more people from other guesthouses taking over our restaurant for dinner. How dare they! And after talking about how we had finally escaped the Eastern Europeans, we had to have a chuckle when the first outsiders to arrive we're indeed Russian.
We ordered dinner at 6:30pm and in true Sri Lankan style they asked if we would like it served at 8:30pm and looked at us in great surprise when we requested it come as soon as possible. We shared a mixed grill of prawns, cuttlefish and seer fish with a side of handcut potato wedges and a salad. While the seafood was dry, it was tasty enough. And watching Chris taste a spoonful of the crushed garlic and ginger that was on the side before knowing what it was was quite entertaining.
After dinner we escaped the crowds of our restaurant and took to the beach so Chris could capture some beautiful shots of the shipwreck, which sits just out the front of our place, and the stars.
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