#surftillyoudrop

Happy New Year and welcome to my blog! I was first inspired to write about my search through the vast cultures and epic scenery this world has to offer in my time in beautiful Sri Lanka. You see, I’m an ordinary bloke with a full-time job and a recently purchased home after deciding to marry the love of my life. So yeah, things are going pretty good at the moment! 

My wife and I have always shared a passion for travel and my upbringing in Indonesia has only added to this thirst for culture. So, in late August we decided to move to Dubai in the UAE and score teaching jobs at an International School. We figured this would be the vehicle to which we can achieve this dream of ours: to travel. So, four months later we found ourselves being greeted by the amazing greenery and people of Sri Lanka. 

I’m a surfer. Let’s get that clear. My lovely wife, Emily, understands this and after a 16 week school term, a surf was much needed! We found ourselves driving down the seemingly deserted highway to a place called Hikkaduwa. AMAZING. Hikkaduwa offers its guests a quiet small touristy town that is still in the beginning stages of its tourism potential. What potential it has! On the north side of the town lies delicious restaurants that are all built quite closely to the beach. This makes swimming a bit difficult especially since most of the beach here is reef. 

My first morning in Hikkaduwa I was up early to suss out (inspect) all the local surfing spots. I met a lovely bloke (whose name I can’t quite spell) who surfed himself and offered to drive me to the nearest surf spot. He took me to a little alley that opens up on to a spectacular beach next to a popular pub called Top Secret. Just north of it lies a well-known sand bar suitable for beginner surfers. About 10-15 meters north of that lies the start of the reef breaks. At low tide they can pack a punch but they offer up some fun “A-breaks” that break left or right and are consistent. Being a goofy-footer the left was a less favoured option by the crowd and saw me getting a fair share of my own waves. The crowd here seemed friendly enough and quite diverse in nationality with a healthy mix of Australians, Europeans and the lovely locals. For non-surfers who love the beach - this side of the town is a must for swimming and relaxing in the sun.

Following my ‘five-day fix’ of surfing it was now time for us to explore what the heart of Sri Lanka had to offer - so we headed to Ella and Kandy. Ella is a quiet town nursed in the beautiful green hills of Sri Lanka. It offers spectacular views and a quite retreat from the noisy busses and motor bikes. We misjudged the hike to Adam’s Peak, a site of religious importance to both Christian and Muslims, thinking it was close to Ella, it actually lies a long three and a half hour drive from Ella. So we did Little Adam’s Peak. This site offers beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and was made even more special for us bathed in the golden sunrise of Christmas Day.

Kandy is a busy town. A busy town with LOVELY people! We stayed at an Air BnB house where our host spoke fluent English and explained how Kandy was a former colony for the English. This was made evident with the old-fashioned English architecture coupled with the more recent development of local markets and shops which seem to fit into every small gap the British left behind.