Aloha!!!
Its been a while since i have got back, surprisingly im still in the beach mood that i have got due to my recent trip.it was 11.11.11 i didn't plan to leave on that day but hey turns out a day i will always remember, of course the trip was unforgettable too.
11th november,sky is clear it havent rained for a few days now,the word is out it will be good for beginner surfers and since i have never tried,i thought i d give it a try when i get a chance.i left home around 1000h got down from a town named Kosgoda,a very popular place to go watch turtle hatching and turtle egg collection points and all other activities that was related to turtles.well from what i read i had big hopes on it,but it turned out to be not as good as i expected it to be.but hey i had a good time hanging around the trutles.
i m really sorry for not having photos of most of the things in this trip,i lost most of them due to a small misfunction in my computer,and i could complete the trip too since i had an emergency at home had to get back so might do it all over again.
the best thing about the south is the beaches its splendid you can just stare out the bus and so many lovely spots to swim and i actually did get down from one to take a good swim,and i met two other backpackers and that was it the beach was ours.and the other very attractive thing is the artistic coconut trees,i m not sure if they are owned by people but if i wasn't too tired of walking ,i would have climbed up to have a drink:)
Long Legged Coconut tree ;)
my next stop was ambalangoda,its popular for the rich southern culture of masks,and a lot of native rituals associated with it.ariyapala mask museum was my spot to take a good at how it was done.its quite amazing how all of its hand crafted,with such preciseness and every paint used is taken from tree sap or from other natural sources.such patience as well.well they were really nice people they let me in to the work shop i could walk around and see anything i wanted to.it was good fun.
The Carving process of the Masks
there are so many ritual dances in sri lanka,sadly i havent seen more than two ,these dances are belived to cure illnesses and used in many other riualistic practises too.there were another kind of dances or more like stage dramas with masks on which was only done for entertainment.i have seen one or two and well yeap it is good entertainment,much better than most of the commercial bullshit they have now.
WEREWOLVES?????????
my next stop was hikkaduwa,but before that i had an old promise i had to keep.it was to visit the foundtaion of goodness at seenigama.which i promised the founder that i will come and introduce The Scout Movement.and to my own surprise it is the most organised place on earth i have been to,not a pin out of its place and it clean and clean could be.it so well organised and well maitained.Mr Kushil Gunasekara was nice enough to show me around and to offer me to stay the night at seenigama,so i accepted it and stayed in a very fine room ,which was very comfortable and well there was a pool too,and the beach was just walking distance.
The foundation of Goodness was found sometime back before the Tsunami hit the seenigama village,but it got majorly activated after the tsunami,and due to the foundation of goodness the village is a few steps ahead of all the other villages around.The foundation has opened doors to every possible success the youth could ever reach to,be it education sports or what ever the children are interested in.
The Tsunami water mark
If you have a chance this is a place you should visit,something that also surprises me is that this Foundation is not mentioned as a place to volunteer in lonely planet even after the Planet wheeler foundation being the sustainable sponsor for this foundation.
There is a ton i could write about the foundation and the founder but time is not on my side these days ,the link to the official website is below and they have done a better job on detailing than i could ever do on a small blog like this.
http://www.unconditionalcompassion.org
12th November,My next stop was hikkaduwa i woke up early morning to get to hikkaduwa,and rented a beginger surfer board and trust me it is not at all as easy as it looks.i was given lessons from two other nice surfers who surfed with me,well to be exact it was tara and david.
Snorkeling in hikkaduwa is not bad but its a long swim before u reach any good corals,which is locatred between two isolated rocks in the sea.and the sun set is some thing u should never miss in hikkaduwa.
Sunset in Hikkaduwa
Next stop was Galle and well i was being picked up by one of my dad's good friend,Nalin and he was an quite an intersting character himslef,well the most intresting guy out of all my dad's friends.he told me a lot of things he done on his days tought me a few tricks and well gave me a swiss knife for my future endavours too.and his daughter Isuri is the coolest kind of girl u can meet,we had quite a good time and his wife is the best cook ever.Its unusal bakpacking but the best way to unwind a tough day of surfing.
Galle is quite a crowded place,the fort specially is ,filled with locals and also with foreigners,and of course the obvious reason is the majestic view you get while walking on the rock fortress.and i absolutely loved the clock tower and light house.it was quite fun to watch it while the sun was setting around.here is the tricky part in the fort a few mins of walking you can see the west and the southern sky as well,which is a bit rare in this island.
The Light House
Streets inside the Galle Fort
13th november,i walk up early but got caught up in the chatter with the family i was staying with,they were nice to drop me off at the entrance to Roomsassala,the jungle beach.legned says that this part was dropped off when hanuma threw the himalayas back to nepal.well suprisingly the soil sampeles have matched and the trees that grow in that jungle are not at all the kind of treee u find near the sea.
my 1st stop was the peace temple,which was build by a fund from japanese after the tsunami,and this temple is what u see from far when you are walking on the galle fort.its quite peacefull and a has a very good view of the whole harbour.
The Stupa in Roomssala
Make sure when you are going to the jungle beach to take a pair of snorkels,snorkeling in the beach is no fun but if u look carefully you will find so many spots good for snorkeling in between rocks,its not dangerous since there are no waves ,the sea is very still so it good fro snorkeling.To say it was the best snorkeling time i had on this trip,and it was free too.
The Jungle Beach
The beach is a harbour for small fishing boats but not for many,so its not disturbing the peaceful environment.the Fisherman are quite nice,they would throw any live fish who survived the boat trip back in to the sea,i realized they only do fishing for the money and since they have no other potions too.oh when i was in the beach there was a small fishing baot aproched and to my suprise a Land Monitor(Varanus bengalensis) we call them thalagoya was hitching a ride on the boat.turns out he droped from a rock to the sea and has been swimming for quite a long way when these fisherman saved its life.now that's humanity.:)
Not the everyday Sight eh??
I left rommassala and took a jungle path to unawatuna,well its quite a good trekking place but trees is all you might get to see and some squirrels.unawatuna is well the most overrated place ever and it has not beach what so ever ,if you cant swim and you try to go for a sea dip you are almost done its that deep.but well its alright for snorkeling you can see a few fish and some turtles too.it was not at all anything like i heard of .
my next stop was mirrissa ,and its is a lovely beach the perfect place to go body surfing and well surfing too,but it a bit away from the beach i m talking about.all in all mirissa is a good beach.and oh i made friends with a German couple who were really nice.
My plan was to go further more but Due to a small family emergency,well to be honest one of my friends were throwing in a party and the party-stater was missing so i had to go back and party.was not a bad deal:P
All in all west is a very commercial and very touristy place but is lovely no wonder it had such success over tourism and a must place to visit if you are in sri lanka.
Blogged by,
Malinda Senanayake,
Sri Lanka Scout Association,Sri Lanka.
malindamax91@gmail.com
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