Heading to Ahangama in the mood for Xmas
We left Mirissa in Sri Lanka’s south singing xmas carols in the sun, as we rode a taxi the 40 minutes up the coast to Ahangama. Headed to a hotel called “The Find”. And indeed, it did look quite the find and I soon discovered why. When booking travel it is always important to check the currency you are booking in. What looked like a fair price to Victoria in $AUD cost quite a lot more when converted into the actual currency of US$. The fact that it is adults only more than made up for the cost.
Uttering our familiar refrain of “sunk cost” we put the spent beer money behind us and checked into what turned out to be a very swish hotel. Looking like something in the desert of Palm Springs, The Find only has 9 rooms, all with ocean facing views. With a pool and an open air bar and restaurant, it whispered “luxury”. The breakfast was the best we had on our trip, even if it veered more towards a Western style of breakfast. It was here that I had my very first bircher muesli and the jury is still out for me.
The Find, found
The town of Ahangama is much like a lot of the towns along this south west coast of Sri Lanka. Built on either side of a roaring and hectic main road. Yes, this is the main road through to Colombo in the North so we again had the kamikaze local buses hurtling through. What this design does make for though is that one side of the road has uninterrupted sea views. So, whichever bar or restaurant you go into you get the same million dollar views.
We had these views for our first lunch in Ahangama. A kottu dish at Popeye’s that Victoria still dreams of. Sat with our toes in the sand, the waves stopping just short of our feet, with a cold Lion beer. This is Sri Lanka. We slept lunch off with a chilled afternoon on the sunloungers at the hotel, waking in time for happy hour cocktails. Cocktails that cost as much as the previous day’s food and drinks combined. On our travel budget we wouldn’t be spending our afternoons like this too often.
Enjoying Sri Lankan curry and rice in Ahangama
Budget order was restored at dinner, eating in a very popular local restaurant called “The Townhouse”. All the sandals at the door told us we had to enter barefoot, and the menu suggested we had to have the very good Sri Lankan curry and rice. It was delicious and was served with a “cutlet”. Not the pork cutlet I was expecting. In Sri Lankan cuisine a cutlet is akin to an Italian arancini. It was very tasty. Washed down by my daily fix of mango smoothie. For our after dinner stroll we mingled with the locals as they shopped at night markets and mobile bakeries.
Our time in Ahangama consisted of early morning beach walks before an excellent breakfast. Did I just have the best banana pancakes in my life? Lazy days around the pool, reading and surreptitiously checking the cricket score. The Ashes were not going well. Cheap and tasty rotis from streetside vendors and prices so low I was scratching my head. For our final dinner we walked to a restaurant called “The Bus Stop” which had excellent Google reviews.
We were the only ones there. Yet, as we always choose to do, we stayed and ordered. And we were glad we did. Very friendly service and very good food. They also served alcohol so we treated ourselves to a large can of Lion beer.
Galle, revisited
Friday saw us having our final breakfast at The Find and ordering an Uber for the ride to Galle. As circumstances dictated we had already visited Galle when we left flood ravaged Kandy. This time we were back in a hotel Victoria booked, say no more, and we had plenty of time to visit the sights in this UNESCO heritage enlisted city.
Galle also had a train station so the first order of the day was getting a refund for our cancelled Kandy to Ella train. For which we had to find a tiny shop that offered a photocopying service and get copies of our passport. Thankfully, this was close to the train station and the whole refund process was quick. Second order of the day was lunch and I had a tasty chicken curry with paratha and Victoria, a trusty kottu. Drinks? Yes, I had a mango smoothie.
Galle is a very popular stop on this side of the Sri Lankan coast. Many tourists and holiday makers come and walk along the walls of the fort, visit the lighthouse, and meander through the charming narrow streets checking out the old architecture. The town has a very good feel to it. And you soon get used to the constant flute of the snake charmer.
Yes, snake charmers still exist, and tourists still seem to pay them to rouse their soporific cobras from their wicker baskets. Animal welfare is not top of mind in a lot of countries, and in Sri Lanka we saw quite a few monkeys on chains being paraded for tourists to take photos. A part of me dies inside every time I see it.
Walking back to the hotel I picked up a new nightcap. The local whisky had served me well and now I am going to try the local Arrak. Supposedly a mix between whisky and rum. Distilled from coconuts this sounds like my kind of drink. I nursed a couple as we continued our “UNO Sri Lankan Championship”, not that I remembered which of us was winning after the Arrak.
Not our first rodeo, high tea in Galle
Saturday dawned with the realisation that we left Perth a whole two weeks ago. I am not quite sure where the time has gone. Reflecting on this we made our way down to breakfast. The breakfast was a let down after the ones we had at The Find. In truth, most breakfasts are a let down after that. We were back to cold toast, tasteless jams and the ubiquitous fruit plate. We made up for it later in the afternoon with a decadent high tea at the luxury hotel, Amangalla, a stylish colonial inspired building.
I was initially drawn in by their claim of clotted cream. Sadly, this did not prove to be true. That said, the high tea was excellent, as was the service. We whiled away a wonderful couple of hours sipping bubbles, drinking tea, and eating scones on the terrace of the hotel.
Manifesting a scoring run in Galle, sadly
With no need for dinner in the evening we enjoyed a couple of cold beers and watched the Premier League football in the Taphouse pub. Victoria got into some banter with a Leeds Utd fan and shared her opinion that Calvert-Lewin “couldn’t score in a brothel”. I am sad to report that he hasn’t stopped scoring since. Be careful what you wish for.
I wished for a better breakfast. Alas, it didn’t appear. As our next destination was only 30 minutes away we made the most of the morning in Galle. Victoria had a very good massage and I had a good coffee. We were both relaxed. Ordering an Uber we were on the move again. Next stop, Hikkaduwa.
On to Hikkaduwa but who with?
Our Uber driver actually looked like the person in the Uber app. This hasn’t been the case many times on this trip. The first time it happened I was very thrown. What do we do? Get in? State the obvious, “this is not you”? As they have the app open, and have my name and booking on their screen, we always just jumped in. With the passing around of the Uber credentials this could explain why some of our drivers appeared not to be able to drive very well. I wondered, is this a way of avoiding the need to have a driving licence?
I put this to the back of my mind as we approached Hikkaduwa. We received a warm welcome at the Saffron Robes hotel, presented with a cold King Coconut as the welcome drink. The hotel looks and feels modern, in the concrete style that appears to be gaining in popularity. Situated down a quiet laneway off the frantic main road it had an air of tranquility.
Not the locals we want to meet in Hikkaduwa
Our tranquility was shattered as we walked to town along the river. Seeing something large out of the corner of my eye we turned and saw a huge lizard like creature that I first took to be a Komodo Dragon. Researching later we discovered that it was in fact a Water Monitor Lizard. It was huge and thankfully didn’t move very fast.
We moved faster, heading to the nearest cafe for lunch. Cool Spot was another empty restaurant. Small and family run, we sat down and ordered a kottu each. They even served beer so we treated ourselves. The young man working there was “kind” enough to put the cricket on the TV. Hearing our English accents I think he did this on purpose. The Ashes was not making for enjoyable viewing as an Englishman.
What was more enjoyable were the sunsets that were beyond superlatives. We headed to a local bar, one of many along the beach that have uninterrupted views as the sun slowly sets. Truly million dollar views for the price of two Lion beers.
Our thoughts turn to the next phase of the holiday
Sipping my Arrak nightcap, which is tasty and even better with local ginger beer, we reflected on the upcoming part two of our trip. Which will be our first visit to the Maldives. Before then we needed to find a hotel for tomorrow night in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital. I left this to Victoria and as always she knocked it out of the park. We were to stay in what is now one of my favourite hotels in the world.
Keep following to find out more.
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