A trip to Sri Lanka

After an eight and a half layover in Dubai from London, I made it to Colombo, Sri Lanka. After unwinding in Hikkaduwa, we headed to Galle for a historic day walking around the fort walls that overlook the ocean. Built by the dutch in 1663, Galle’s beautiful fort gives you a strong sense of the cities history. After my gentle introduction to Sri Lankan life I wasn’t quite yet ready to change my ways, so I took the local bus down the coastal road south to Midigama. Midigama is the sleepiest surf town, with only one restaurant and a few guest houses. With the unfortunate weather I spent four days here ploughing through my stack of books: Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney, Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham, and Tracks by Robyn Davidson. After a failed attempt at surfing, again… I decided the pro surfers should be left to it, and instead ate my body weight in rotis.

I got back on the precarious local bus and moved further south. The bus made its way through the ruined Unawatuna straight through to Wijaya Beach, Dalawella. The beach and restaurant there are hidden gems. By now my hankering to have Sri Lankan curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner was slowly fading. A week later I got back on the bus south for twenty minutes to the idyllic Mirissa, for lazy days, coconuts and calm lagoon water. Having spent so much time on the beaches, I was eager to see the other side to Sri Lanka so I ventured Northwest up to the hill country – Ella to Kandy to Sigiriya to Dambulla.

Text and photo Grace Difford

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