Sri Lanka  – Week 2 (and most of 3)

Hirikiteya – Ella – Ahangama

Well hi. Time to get onto paper everything we’ve been up to the last 2 weeks ish. Tomorrow is our last evening in Sri Lanka (boo) so I’m parked up in a little cafe on the coast again (will explain later how we’ve ended up back here, I imagine you’re waiting with baited breath) taking in the last couple days of that stunning Sri Lankan air. Faye and Alice are currently basking in the sun on the beach, but alas once more I have charred my body and I’m currently wearing a sunburn choker around my neck. Serendipitous perhaps because I get to spend the day shadin’ and bloggin’. See below for the current set up.

Anyhoo, I digress. 

So after maybe the best week ever spent in Hirikietiya, we spent our final evening there perched up on our favourite beach, Dikwella. We spent the entire afternoon looking out at the most glorious clear sea, watching the fisherman on the water. Typically they fish at dusk, so as you can imagine, absolutely stunning scenes. I think I can speak for all 3 of us when I say that this sunset was something bloody special. Sipping on rum and coke (new favourite beverage) while the owner of the bar asked his wife to fry us up some fresh fish (quite literally just caught in front of our eyes) it was truly a scene to behold! I do apologise to the little fishies. As you bloody well know, there’s nothing I like more than a deep ol’ chat while watching a sunset, so this will be a moment I think we’ll all remember clearly. It really is the little things. 

Anyway, it was time to stop being beach babes and get into the thick of it. Next up was Udalawalawe for a safari in the national park. We’d debated whether or not to do a safari, but after much deliberation we decided we couldn’t come to Sri Lanka without seeing an elephant’s penis in the flesh. Just kidding (it was absolutely fucking huge though). We finished our glass of  rosé in Hiriketiya (we are delusional with budgeting, seriously) and we were off. After a two hour tuk tuk ride through the countryside, we arrived at our lovely homestay. We had a few hours to kill before our buffet dinner at 7pm, so obviously we decided to go and get a massage, legs, shoulders, face, the whole shabang baby. Alice was euphoric, after already having had one that morning she was definitely due another. Safe to say it was definitely the most interesting massage I’d ever had, less of a massage for me and more of a soft and slightly odd prodding, but hey, lovely nonetheless. I described the massage in my journal as feeling like she was “lightly slapping my face”, so that’s nice.

Aloe-vera’d up to the max we headed home for our home cooked curry buffet, which was such a treat. Never have I ever tried a banana curry, and I am most definitely now a fan. Fat and shattered, we went to bed early that evening ready for our 5am sunrise safari. 

The next morning, dressed in our safari-chic outfits (finally I had an excuse to whack on my black cargo pants) we set off to the Udawalawe. This was up there for me as one of my favourite days, if not my absolute favourite. I’d never done anything like this before, so seeing elephants up close was pretty special and actually quite moving. They are spectacular! We saw a few male elephants wandering the park on their own, as our guide told us that eventually the male elephants leave their families and roam solo. Even in the elephant world men are trash!!!! We also saw water buffalos (and a carcass of a water buffalo 😦 ), crocodiles, spotted deer and a shit load of peacocks, which I wasn’t expecting. The whole vibe of the day was just beautiful. Apparently it’s a much quieter park than Yala so it really felt like we were seeing the animals roam free. I mean, it’s still 120 square miles, so it felt incredibly vast. Overall, a stunning day. 

After a beautiful start to the day, we got a taxi further up north to Ella. Having heard such wonderful things, we were really excited about this next part of the trip. It was absolutely tipping it down in Ella, nil pwa. Up until this point we had been absolutely spoiled with our accommodation. Our private rooms had all been lovely (and cheap) so you can imagine our dismay when we arrived at the top rated hostel in Ella to a damp and yellow room. When I say yellow, I mean that all the sheets were yellow, so it was really giving mustard. Although, on reflection, maybe the damp walls did have a slight yellow tinge. I had an emotional facetime with Mabs that evening (I still can’t help but cry anytime I see her face on the phone) God love her. It still feels a little surreal that I may not see my family for a while, so I am just trying to ride out those homesick waves and remind myself I haven’t gone off to war. Anyway, we had booked 3 nights in this place, so we got into our sodden pyjamas and hit the hay, ready to tackle Ella Rock in the morning. 

We were up at 8am for our hike up Ella Rock. I forgot to mention that we bumped into our wonderful Irish friends, Kerry and Shay, in Ella the afternoon before. By chance, we had met them in Weligama on our wild night out, and we ended up spending our whole 3 days in Ella with them. A real treat. So, Ella Rock, a 3 hour round-trip hike, and fuck me, a humbling experience. I’d been harping on about how I reckon I could do the Adam’s Peak hike which is double this in length and a million times harder, and Ella Rock ruined my body in various ways. My lungs felt like they were closing in on me. I like to think that the struggle was partly down to the heavy smoking habit I’ve decided to pick up again (I am ashamed) in lieu of a vape, but whatever the reason, strike me down, I was not in a good way. I eventually made it to the top, and the view really was spectacular. We sat up there for a bit, taking it all in, feeling very grateful both for this trip and also for the fact that the god forsaken hike was over. See below for pictures of Alice, Faye and I in our tomato-coloured glory at the summit. Despite the pain, a really lush way to start the day and walking along the train tracks with the sun shining down on you is really special. 

Writing this reminds me of how funny this day was. After a yummy lunch and a couple hours of chill time in the yellow wet room, we headed off to the Nine Arch Bridge to watch the “sunset”. I had my heart set on seeing the pink skies over this famous bridge since arriving in Sri Lanka, so the grey skies were a little disappointing, but it was still beautiful. There was a train scheduled for 5:30pm, so we had arrived nice and early to watch it pass through in all its glory, but as is the way here, it was running nearly an hour late so we decided to pack it in and head back for dinner. As we made our way back to Ella along the train tracks, the next 20 minutes descended into chaos. We passed by a bunch of dogs having a really aggressive threesome, incredibly surreal and quite unnerving to be honest. Not too sure if consent exists in the dog world, but from what we witnessed, I’m going to say it doesn’t. In order to continue on our journey home along the train tracks, we had to pass through a tunnel, but bearing in mind the train hadn’t arrived yet and was probably going to come imminently, we were all a little apprehensive to make our way through. Faye, being the trooper she is, led the way and made the first move. The next five minutes consisted of us all shrieking as we ran through the tunnel, jumping from plank to plank, with rats squeaking either side of us and piles of mud around our feet. Low and behold, we got out the other end of the tunnel and the train came. It was both terrifying and absolutely hilarious. We made our way back to Ella along the train tracks, it was about 40 minutes of walking in the dark, overlooked by the most beautiful moon, consistently checking in with each other that there was enough room either side of us in case we had to dodge a train. Once we got back in one piece, we had a lovely dinner at somewhere called Ice Cube (baby, 99 baby), and set a plan to meet at 5am the following morning to hike up Little Adam’s Peak. A compromise as we all well and truly agreed that hiking up the legit Adam’s Peak was not in our stars. As much as I would have loved to have seen the place that many (depending on your religion) believe was the place either Buddha, Adam, Shiva (and other religious figures) took their first step, I didn’t fancy collapsing. 

The 5am start the next day was a bit of a struggle, but this hike was a lot more bearable (still tough though, worryingly) at a lovely 20 minutes to the top. It was just our luck that the sunrise wasn’t very sunny at all and was drizzling, but it was still pretty special. The 5 of us parked up on rocks and all did a ten minute meditation on gratitude together (lol). Namaste baby!!! Pretty pooped after our hike, we still wanted to make the most out of our final day in Ella, so after a shower and a  quick tina-turnaround, we jumped in a tuk tuk to the Uva Halpewatte Tea Factory for a tour with our wonderful guide, Siva. He spent the next hour talking us through in detail how tea is made, from the 600 odd pickers who spend their days in the fields next door (unbelievable, but also not), to the 100 year old machinery inside the factory that dries out and separates the tea leaves. Who knew that the finer the tea, the stronger it was, and the looser the weaker?! Not me, that’s who. Sri Lanka was once the biggest tea exporter in the world, taken over in recent years by China, but as the home of tea, a really fascinating hour spent learning its history. Alice then went for a massage, number 13,000 of the trip, and Faye and I made our way back for some much needed chill time. That night we went for a very low key dinner at the Roti Hut (shoutout to the chicken, cheese and vegetable roti), we waved off Kerry and Shay as they set off on the next part of their adventure and the three of us sat drinking soft drinks and rambling away to each other for hours. Spending all day everyday with each other really does bring a certain kind of closeness, we’ve covered every topic imaginable, quite lovely really. Definitely worth noting that Faye ordered a chicken noodle soup, incredibly rogue I know, which was honestly a sight to behold. Not in a cute way. 

On our final morning in Ella, it was time for the famous train journey through the Sri Lankan countryside. Up again at 5am (safe to say Alice and I are not morning people) we set off to the train station to purchase our tickets for the 6:37am train. Apparently all the first and second class reserved tickets get bought out very quickly, so we were handed our unreserved tickets and we were on our merry way. Choo choo! By God’s grace we managed to get seats, surrounded by commuters who were all chit chatting to each other and passing tea and rotis across the seats. Not like the trains in London whereby if you say hello to someone, you’re at risk of being punched. On this journey, the carriage was filled with loud conversations, crying babies, music – a sensory overload but in the best way. After four hours of lovely chaos and some really beautiful views (albeit cloud covered views) we arrived in Hatton for another four hour taxi journey back down the coast to Ahanagama, where we are now. Our original plan was to head up north from Ella to Kandy, but after whispers of rain up north, we thought, let’s get these beach babes back where we belong! Am I right girlies?! 

So here we are, in somewhere called Ahangama, staying at a little hotel called Crystal Palace in our own cute little apartment. We’ve each been taking it in turns to have our own bed, and in this place it’s mine. I never thought I’d say this but I was actually a little apprehensive to sleep alone (who the fuck am I?!) after a week of sharing a bed with the girlies, but I put my big girl pants on and starfished like a boss. The first night here we went to a beach spot called The Lighthouse, where we sipped on margaritas and I ate potentially the nicest burger I’ve ever eaten. Apparently I’ve said that before about a burger here, I am officially the girl who cried burger. BURGER!!! Yesterday we really took a plunge into the high life and spent the day in the most stunning hotel by the beach. We took a hefty bite out of our budget and sipped Sauvignon at the hotel bar while eating white fish ceviche for the afternoon. I repeat, delusional. Every now and again we just seem to slide into that boujee lifestyle, no shame in the game.  Alice and I have promised ourselves we are going to get back to the budget in India. You heard it here first.

So, two more nights in Sri Lanka before Alice and I make our way to Goa and we say our goodbyes to Faye (boo hoo). We’ve honestly been OAP’s the last week, in bed most nights by 9pm, and absolutely loving it obviously. So tonight I’m thinking, slicked back bun and something high necked to cover this god forsaken sunburn, a couple tequila shots and our final hoorah by the coast.  

Two and half weeks have gone by in a flash, which is a little sad but I feel like we’ve done, seen and experienced so much already. I can really feel myself in the lovely moments reminding myself to be present and take it all in, which I think I’ve always struggled with but am making a conscious effort. I’ve had my moments of feeling incredibly homesick, and sudden pangs of WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING, but this kind of freedom feels pretty liberating. As I sit in this little cafe sipping on a coke (must stop drinking so many of these), and the clouds are rolling in, I couldn’t help but wonder………kidding. I hope that reference goes down well. 

Anyway, I think I’ll call it here. Next time I write I’ll be in India, hopefully doing some kind of ecstatic dance ceremony on a beach in Goa. Living my truest eat, pray, love life. 

Until next time,

Lily xx