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Tales of the Travelling Princess
Not off to a flying start when Nat and I arrived at Edinburgh airport to find we had missed our check-in to Gatwick. Natalie had the time wrong and this left me a little worried... Was relying on her to be organised and good with times. Not one of my strengths.
Arriving in Colombo after a ten hour flight it was a good move to have a driver waiting to take us to our accommodation. This part of the journey was not researched very thoroughly. I'll change that. The Sri Lankan holiday was researched about 10 hours before leaving Scotland. Only then did I realise that post-tsunami, off-season and monsoons were perhaps things we should have been planning around. Not to worry, we like adventures. As long as there are no beasties.
Our last minute accommodation was booked in Hikkaduwa (Ocean View Guest House - will be good once finished swimming pool and in season when more people around) . Did you know this was one of the worst hit areas of the tsunami? Neither did we. Most of the roofs have been taken by the wave and on some stretches of beach whole houses have been swept away. The Sri Lankans have told us that what has been rebuilt has been with money from tourists or any savings the locals had. The government has been slow to filter any aid money down to them.
We had 4 nights in Hikkaduwa and decided to go in search of something a little more lively. Nat needed a break from the crabs on the beach as they were starting to scare her in her dreams. I actually asked her if she would rather have a talking turtle wash up at her feet or a large normal crab and she opted for the turtle. Even when I suggested the turtle might have a gun and be ready to use it, she still preferred the turtle. Weird.
We intended to go to Galle and have some culture but locals recommended Unawatuna for more activity. They were certainly right - there are 20 tourists here compared to 5 in Hikkaduwa! Make sure you don't get taken to Dellawella by the tuk tuk - nothing to do along there, not even a proper beach. We're staying in Banana Garden guest house - good accommodation for only 7.50GBP a night and it is only three steps from our door to our sun loungers. Cold water from the shower but this wakes us up in the mornings.
We intend to stay here for a while - watching the football and sunning ourselves - before we head to Kandy and the elephant orphanage. Natalie has also taken it upon herself to feed a family of dogs staying on our beach. We've been giving them the cereal bars we don't like. Tip: break them up and soak in water first so they don't stick to the dogs' teeth.
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