Rush to the Middle: Sri Lanka Part 4: Mirissa and Weligama and our departure

After our abrupt departure from Katagarama, we headed straight for the beach. We drove to Weligama, a lovely little beach on the south coast, getting warmer with every kilometer. Our "hotel" there was really the most shocking yet: we stayed on the third floor of a place that was under construction. The bare concrete stairs up had no hand rail or wall of any kind and were a complete death trap. On our floor, two rooms were finished and two more were merely concrete shells, open to the outside with no barriers whatsoever. Luckily, I was too tired to fight to find another place so I simply locked the kids in our room with me whenever we were there and held on to them tightly whenever we had to leave. Weligama is still mostly a locals only sort of fishing beach with just a few places teaching surfing to tourists. After we dumped our bags, we headed right across the street to play on the beach. The husband body surfed, the boys played in the waves and made sand castles, and I picked up shells, of which there were many, one of the most diverse collections of shells I have ever seen on a beach, actually. We had an absolutely peaceful afternoon, which was fabulous. When it got dark, we wandered back to the road and looked for a place to eat, settling for an open-air restaurant where we were the only Westerners. At long last, the husband decided to go all in and try the full-on Sri Lankan curry dishes (we had been avoiding them in favor of keeping our stomachs under control) and was very, very pleased with the results. So pleased, in fact, we ate there again the next night and tried some different curries, all of which were also delicious, as well as their bananas in crepes.

Oh, what's this? Just a huge monitor lizard crossing the
road, minding his own business.

The next morning we got up early once again, this time for a whale watching trip. We're going to file this particular journey under the headings "sounded like a good idea at the time" and "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger." I had prepared in advance and taken motion sickness pills, but the seas were very, very rough and the boat's captain was very, very determined. After not very long at all, people started to throw up...often...everywhere. And after about 45 minutes, E joined them. E continued to be ill every half hour or so for the duration of the journey, which went on for a long time as we chased a blue whale another boat had sighted. Along the way, we did see a huge sea turtle swimming and several groups of dolphins who swam and cavorted by the boat for quite awhile, but in the meantime, conditions on the boat deteriorated rapidly. In the end, at least 80% of the passengers were vomiting at one point or another, though, thankfully, J and the husband and I were not among them. At one point, several miserable and vocal tourists begged to go back ashore but the crew said they wanted everyone who wanted to see a whale so they would try to go where they knew one was. These tourists tried to bully everyone else into saying they wanted to go home, too, and while most of us were silent (I was cradling a vomiting E at the time, actually, but wasn't about to get involved) one father with two young boys who weren't sick and were very, very excited about seeing the whale said he would like to stay, at which point a shouting match broke out, which was bad enough until one of the other tourists asked the father where he was from (his wife was wearing a hijab and I later found out they were from Abu Dhabi--she and I were chatting whenever she wasn't sick herself). The father shouted that it was none of his business, which it wasn't, and then the other tourist started shouting more threats and advanced to the front of the boat and both had to be restrained and it was quite dramatic and sad. In the end, those who could did see a blue whale spouting three times and a fin--not much, but enough to assure the crew that no one would ask for a refund. We finally limped back into harbor many hours later. Not the highlight of E's trip!

Family shot while still at the harbor.

E before we left the dock.

J was super excited for the trip.

Near the end of the voyage.

J as we came back into port.

That afternoon, to recover, we went to the Mirissa Beach Paradise Resort for lunch overlooking the ocean. After more curry (again, delicious), we went to Mirissa Beach, which was lovely, definitely a tourist beach, pristine and well-groomed. While the boys went to the water, I went with the driver on an impromptu trip to nearby batik factory. It was up in the mountains, a bustling little factory with a room piled to the ceiling with piles of fabric. They had the most beautiful pieces, so I bought more than I had planned and I really enjoyed my visit, until the driver started stamping his feet before we were ready to leave, and told me this area was famous...for leeches! Oh, of course! Meanwhile, at the beach, the waves were HUGE according to the boys (3-5 foot swells, actually), and we all had so much fun there for the rest of the afternoon. We were so sandy and salty and exhausted and happy we didn't even mind our half of a hotel when we got back.

And the next day was our last. It was a busy day: after we left the beach, enroute to Negombo, where we were going to stay the night before our 4am departure, we visited a sea turtle hatchery, another excellent beachside restaurant (I had chicken kotu roti, my favorite Sri Lankan dish of all time) and the Dutch fort at Galle, as well as a maritime museum and an archeological museum inside the fort. Our hotel in Negombo, arranged by our driver, was the best of all, a resort right on the beach with a pool and a restaurant on a veranda. Our room even had a balcony! We swam and I shopped for a few last minute souvenirs and we packed and got ready to leave in the wee hours.