12 months, 11 countries, 0 flights 🌏

The coast so far has been busy! We loved the surf spots, the beaches, the food and the hustle, and when talking to people at home it’s been hard to reconcile what we have done so far into a mere ten days.

Tangalle was our last coastal spot for a few weeks. From here we will venture into hill country and the worlds of ancient civilizations, tea plantations and of course, elephants. We wanted our final days on the coast to be relaxing, and we splashed out on some slightly nicer accommodation with the main attraction being a gorgeous pool! Cinnibar Resort is located right on a wild beach with a beautiful restaurant on the sand. Although the resort had many tree houses, our room was on the ground level, with the most comfortable bed and sheets (it’s the little things!) and an outdoor shower. It was open to the elements, so we kept the mosquito net very well sealed around the bed, and Josh worked on his centipede phobia with a few small ones we encountered in the bathroom!

Unfortunately, our time in Tangalle was dominated by the Sea Urchin saga… for those who haven’t yet heard, an encounter with a couple of sea urchins during a swim resulted in the first test of our travel insurance! The prickly spines of these creatures have backwards hooks so once they are stuck in your digits they are very hard to remove. After having a good dig with a needle and tweezers (unsuccessfully, the spines just got even deeper) the amazing team at the hotel foraged us a local plant to help. The sap of this plant is supposed to dissolve the spine so the body then expels it naturally. After 24 hours, only one of our spines had dissolved, and swelling was starting. So we made the decision to visit the local hospital and have the spines removed under local anesthetic. Our experience in the hospital was amazing, it was much faster than any medical experience I have had in New Zealand, and we felt very well looked after. Now fingers crossed our insurance accepts the claim, although it only came to about $80 NZD which is pretty cheap if you ask me. 

Outside of the hospital visit, we spent lots of time in Tangalle just relaxing, reading and swimming in the pool. We got some much needed washing done, and used this as some time to recuperate before the next leg of our trip. We didn’t eat in the resort restaurant at all due to our budget, but instead found a few places down the road that were a bit more cheap and cheerful, still with ocean views!! 

Tangalle did spur a number of conversations about how we want to travel, and how our travel impacts the communities we are visiting. To be honest, it’s something that has been occupying quite a lot of my brain space. I would recommend having a read of this instagram page and watching this Tik Tok video (no account needed) which has impacted my thinking. 

It is such a privilege being able to travel on the other side of the world. A privilege that the majority of people on this planet do not have. I want to try my best to move through this trip in a way that is helpful and not harmful. It is easy to see why and how travel has been described as ‘modern day colonialism’ in a country like Sri Lanka which has a very rapidly developing tourism industry. Examples include Tuk Tuks that won’t take locals anymore due to price inflation from carrying rich tourists, cafes where only western food is served, displacement of local communities for the building of resort towns, and locals moving to destinations such as surf towns for work which consequently removes young people from schools and communities. 

On a personal level, it has been fascinating to look at the variety of experiences we have had so far, and how much the quality of these experiences is dictated by how much (or how little) they are catered for tourists. For us, all of our best restaurants have by far been little places where we walk in and there’s no menu and we eat what we are given! The nicest places we have stayed have been guesthouses in local homes, where you might need to use google translate to communicate but you know you are directly supporting a local family. Even in the surf towns, we loved visiting the side of the road shops for stuffed roti or fresh hoppers from a local grandma. I don’t want to sound like I am up on a high horse here (just this morning I bought a flat white for the same price as I would in NZ - yikes), just wanted to share something that is really on my mind at the moment. 

I think Tangalle made this very obvious, as we felt like we had been a little bubble in the area around our resort. After we visited the hospital (in the main town), we went to a local market that was just next door. Here we had some amazing interactions with incredible people and ate some delicious (and cheap!) food. It made us ponder what our experience would have been if we had stayed in the main town, as opposed to our resort on the beach.

So, the question I wanted to ask myself was, “How am I going to travel for a year and ensure I am helping and not harming the communities I visit?”

Some ideas I have so far are:

If anyone else has any other ideas or thoughts on this I would love to have a discussion in the comments, as I know there are many avid travellers reading this blog!!! I want to reiterate that this is not about judging anyone else’s travel or holiday decisions, it’s my personal experience and something that’s important to me and my values, especially seeing as we are travelling for an extended period of time. It’s also something we’re not going to get right every time, and I’m sure you’ll still see the fancy flat whites on my Instagram from time to time.

After getting a little taste of Sri Lankan surfing while we were in Hikkaduwa, it’s safe to say I was full of excitement for our next stop on the south coast, the surf mecca of Midigama. There are a whole selection of amazing surf breaks in the area, including a famous left hand point break dubbed “Lazy Left” which was situated directly in front of our accommodation. I was able to roll out of bed and walk over the road with my board for a sunrise surf after which we would grab a big Sri Lankan breakfast. 

On our first day in Midigama we went and treated ourselves to an expensive coffee in a place reminiscent of many western style coffee shops in Bali. While we were planning our day, Marie, one of Alice’s ex-colleagues from NZM, walked in. It really is a small world! She had been in Midigama with her partner Ollie for a couple of weeks. They had collected a group of friends who adopted us and showed us the best surf spots and places to eat over the next few days.

While Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna were both packed full of Russians, Midigama seemed to have almost none. Maybe Russians don’t like surfing? It was predominantly Europeans of every other variety, and at times it felt like I was surfing in Europe with all the different European languages I heard people speaking.

Here is a breakdown of my favorite day in Midigama. It started with a sunrise surf at Lazy Left while Alice went to a morning yoga class. After my surf I rented a scooter with a surf rack (it’s actually really hard doubling on a scooter with a surfboard), and went to pick up Alice from her class. We brought some cheap but delicious breakfast (coconut pancake rolls and a coconut cake), and found a beautiful spot on the beach to read our books and enjoy our coconut heavy brekky. Outside of just Midigama, the surrounding southern coast of Sri Lanka boasts a huge selection of beautiful surfing beaches, with waves ranging from beginner to advanced. We took our scooter for a drive to explore some of these beaches and found ourselves in nearby Mirissa, where we parked up at a beachside bar offering happy hour cocktails (“hour” in this case meaning from 9am till 9pm 😂). After reading more of our books with a cheap cocktail while watching the local surfers, we made our way back along the coast to Midigama. In the evening I went for a sunset surf at another local spot named “Coconuts” for the towering coconut trees dotting the beach. An alternative name could be “Coconuts & Turtles” as there were turtles everywhere, and the combination of getting some great waves with a beautiful sunset, surrounded by turtles really exceeded all my expectations of surfing in Sri Lanka. We finished off this perfect day, by meeting up with our friends for dinner at a great local spot near our accommodation.

Our friends had been in Midigama for a few weeks surfing every day, and by the time we were about to leave I was feeling a little envious as three days didn’t feel like enough. I can definitely see myself coming back here one day for a dedicated surfing trip, as it really is a surfers paradise. 

The only real downside was the localism, which for the non-surfers reading this is basically a general unfriendliness towards non-locals at a surf break. Unfortunately, it  is a part of surfing, and as the Earth’s population increases, beaches erode, tourism increases, and surfing’s popularity grows; surf breaks are getting increasingly crowded. This is definitely not exclusive to Sri Lanka, I have seen localism at New Zealand surf breaks. However, it was quite brutal at times when a group of the locals were out. They would often take over the lineup, totally disregard surfing etiquette and hand out cold stares at any tourists. Not following surfing etiquette is dangerous and can cause injuries, so when this happened I would usually call it a day. It is frustrating, but at the same time I totally understand why they do it. Many of them likely only have a few months a year when the surf is good, and they have to deal with hordes of tourists getting in the way and competing for the waves.

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our old and our new friends, as we continued on our way down the coast. I left Midigama with my body aching from all the surfing, sand everywhere, but totally stoked.

I’m a big believer that the universe sends you little signals so you know you are on the right track. It’s not a coincidence that you get the perfect coffee on the morning of a major meeting, or that you and your sister happen to message each other at the same time. Our day in Galle Fort was no exception. It felt like a real affirmation to me that I had made the right decision coming on this trip, and that there will be opportunities for me and my unique strengths that will come my way in the future. It reinforced the importance of the connections you build with individuals, and the responsibility we all have to use these for the good and people and planet. 

Now I know this is a travel blog, so before I get all woo woo, let me give you some of the facts. Galle Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the southwest coast, and a key travel destination on most modern day Sri Lanka itineraries. However foreign visitors to the fort are by no means new. Galle Fort has been a key stop on trading routes for hundreds of years, due to its prime location along the Indian Ocean. The fort was originally built by the Portuguese in 1588 and later was captured in 1640 and fortified further by the Dutch. It was taken over by the British in 1796 and stayed in British control until 1948 when Sri Lanka finally became an independent island nation once again.

The fort has always been a diverse cultural hub, and still is today. As we toured the fort we saw places of worship of different religions, architecture influenced by many styles and antiques and trinkets from all over the world. Interestingly, we were told that ancient artifacts had been found in the area dating back to King Solomon, showing the level of history embedded in this special place. It has to be said, colonization is a real cornerstone of the Galle Fort. Despite its colonial roots, it was the presence of ancient connections between different civilizations and a modern day melting pot of culture that I felt most strongly. To be clear, I’m not saying that the colonization of Sri Lanka (three times!) wasn't terrible for this country. We discussed the role colonization played creating the cultural context that has made Galle Fort the special place it is today a lot over the course of the day. I’m still not 100% sure where I sit on it. 

Our day at the fort started with a walking tour with the writer, artist, curator and connector Juliet Coombs. Originally hailing from the UK, Juliet has now lived in the fort with her family for over 20 years. Her late husband’s family are ninth generation traders in Galle Fort! She has worked around the world as a war correspondent and photojournalist, oftentimes award winning. She has authored a number of books, many which tell stories of the people of Sri Lanka. She’s also an advocate for the animals and landscapes of this amazing country, working on the creation of the Pekoe Trail, and now protecting elephants with her latest project, https://www.instagram.com/elephantstorytrails/. She is also a mother to two wonderful boys, and from our time spent walking the streets of the fort, is clearly such an important part of this diverse community. The smiles and conversations we shared with others throughout our walk were telltale signs of her unique gift for connection and making others feel special. When we arrived she said that she wants her guests to leave the fort as friends, and she so graciously made us feel like we could return at any time, or maybe never want to leave in the first place!

Throughout the morning Juliet showed us so many things we would have missed on our own. There were cultural traditions like hanging chilli and lime above doorways to keep out the spirits and the different types of masks used in Sri Lankan culture. We discussed historic stories such as the use of shipping chests repurposed as modern day furniture, or the coral used to build the walls of the buildings. But perhaps my favourite part was the introductions to the artisans and characters of the fort, whether that was to pick up a fresh roti and chai or check in on a jewellery project. Juliet also helped us work out a plan for the rest of the day which included walking the walls, a cheap and cheerful lunch stop, beach time and of course browsing the many shops, before we met for drinks again later. We loved the history steeped into every step we took in the fort, and the people we met along the way. The jeweller who happily showed us around his whole studio with no pressure to buy, the lighthouse keeper who took us up to the top of the lighthouse just after sunset for magic night time views of the fort, and the mixologist who proudly championed Sri Lankan arrack in all his drinks. 

The highlight of the day for me though was sharing a cold glass of Chardonnay at Juliet’s studio above the gallery at the end of the day. She knew we were on a budget so invited us to her place, an intimately thoughtful gesture that broke the fourth wall of ‘tour guide’ and truly invited us into her space. She had bought some nice cheese from the supermarket, and sitting there eating, drinking and chatting while surrounded by the most amazing art was a pinch myself moment. The power went out (still repairing from the monkey), and we kept talking in the dark before moving to a nearby historic hotel for our first taste of Arrack (a distilled coconut liqueur), as the perfect ending to a very special day. 

Seeing the space Juliet creates for all those she encounters was very inspiring, and the way she lit up when discussing her family, friends and her projects was how I want to feel about the things I choose to do in my life. Whether it was giving a voice to the stateless Tamil tea pickers, protecting the remaining elephants, or checking her sons school exam marks, Juliet approaches this world with a mixture of honesty, grit, passion and love that I deeply admire. And to get to experience this all in one day, within our first two weeks of travel… such a treat that will continue to define our next steps. 

This story picks up right where the last one left off, as our journey to Dalawella was a perfect example of the generosity and kindness of the Sri Lankan people. We were standing at the bus stop out of Hikkaduwa for thirty minutes, waiting for the right bus to stop. Google maps had told us that one should stop every minute but we quickly realized this was not the case!! We’d had a few tuk tuks pull up next to us asking where we were going and if we wanted a ride, and we were getting pretty good at the customary smile and no thank you, explaining we wanted to catch the bus. One tuk tuk driver in particular kept asking, and we told him we were going to Dalawella, just past Unawatuna. “My home town” he exclaimed, before encouraging us to pile in with our bags as he was heading that way with an empty tuk tuk anyway. He told us we could pay what we liked, and he was just happy he could help us out. We stopped for gas on the hour-long journey which we contributed to (probably more than our bus would have cost), but totally worth it for a much more pleasant journey further south. 

For this next stop we had again chosen a small town out of the main center, and we were staying in a beautiful room just below the main house of the family hosting us. We were met by the daughter, who was helping run the guest house, working reception at a nearby resort, and in school to be a nurse. They offered us a cup of tea on arrival and explained some of the main tourist attractions in the area, including suggesting a temple to visit later that evening for the Poya Day celebrations. We’re realizing it’s not uncommon to feel totally looked after by our hosts, which has really defined our stay so far. 

We chose to stay in Dalawella for its proximity to Galle Fort and Unawatuna, and as a nice midway spot between Hikkaduwa and Midigama (our next stop). Dalawella itself is quite a local beach, and with the high tides at the moment due to the full moon it wasn’t somewhere we spent a lot of time. Same with Unawatuna, we popped in for a look and found a highly developed beach area absolutely packed with restaurants, hotels, beach loungers, umbrellas and hawkers… and even more Russians than Hikkaduwa. It would be fair to say we were a little disappointed as it wasn’t the beachside town we thought we were getting, but a quick reset at the room helped us reframe what else the next day or so could bring. 

In case you haven’t picked this up by now - Josh and I love food. Trying different things and exploring the more local options is totally one of our favorite things to do. Between Unawatuna and Galle there is a stretch of road along the beach that is more of a local hub, so we knew this was where we needed to go to find dinner on our first night. While Josh was fixing our scooter tire using a mixture of body language, google translate and trust, I walked the strip looking for the most packed spot (my favourite gauge for good food). Madeena Beach Hotel had a crowd outside and inside with people waiting for tables and takeaways, and I went in and had a look. There were cabinets full of rice and curry, guys rolling rotti in the window, and best of all - no menu. We waited outside for a table and Josh did ask for a menu, and the guy laughed and said “I’m the menu!”. Options for dinner were rice and curry or biriyani, and we asked for whatever he recommended. Chicken biriyani it was, with all sorts of delicious sides like an unforgettable eggplant curry. The food was incredible but the atmosphere was even better and we were so well looked after, the team seemed to genuinely enjoy bringing us things to try and sample (to our absolute delight). We came back the next morning for string hoppers, curry and roti followed by sweet tea overlooking the ocean. After dinner we also found a bakery for some chai and fresh bread straight out of the oven for dessert, taking the place of our usual evening ice cream. It’s funny how one amazing food experience like this can be one of our favorite parts of a place!

Another food highlight in this location was the amazing breakfast cooked for us by our homestay, it literally had every type of Sri Lankan breakfast delight. String hoppers, egg hoppers and plain hoppers, coconut pancakes, Dahl curry and pol sambol, coconut roti and so much fruit! We were absolutely full to the brim by the end but did feel like we had to try everything and finish as much as we could for the sake of pleasing our amazing hosts!!

Also on our first evening we visited a local temple, Yamagata RajaMaha Viharaya. Seeing this temple all lit up for Poya day was an amazing experience, with worshippers all dressed in white visiting the various Buddha statues around the premises. The temple itself was built into the rocks, and with the chanting, candle light and incense offerings it felt otherworldly. We are excited to learn more about Buddhism here in Sri Lanka and throughout our entire trip, we’ve been especially interested in its link with Hinduism here, most temples also have shrines dedicated to the Hindu deities right alongside their Buddha statues. Throughout Sri Lanka so far we’ve been really amazed at how the different religions coexist, it’s not uncommon to see a Church, Mosque, Buddhist Temple and Mandir all within the same block. 

We spent two nights in Dalawella, with our full day taken up entirely at the historic Galle Fort. I’m going to do that as a separate blog post, as it was a very special experience that deserves more time and space than I have here. From Dalawella we are off to Midigama in search of more waves, only a thirty minute tuk tuk drive down the road. This will officially take us into the South Coast, the backpackers paradise of Sri Lanka (apparently). 

P.S. Josh here. Sorry about any spam emails you received today, I was working hard to fix some technical issues 😅

Part of the appeal of starting our trip in Sri Lanka was the world renowned surfing. The trains, buses and tuk tuks make it easy to navigate the palm tree lined west and south coasts, which are dotted with towns ranging from sprawling local hubs to tourist towns with an uncanny resemblance to Bali with their beach clubs and hip cafes. There is a whole variety of waves to keep Josh occupied, and many a beach that I can sit on and read, or back streets to explore.

We chose our costal itinerary while at home in New Zealand, with information from guide books and blogs and tik toks to guide our choice of places to stop. It can be so hard to get an idea of the vibe of a place this way, but we were pretty happy with our decision when we arrived in our first stop, Hikkaduwa. We caught the train from Colombo, which was a beautiful costal line that took about two hours. We sat in second class unreserved, but in retrospect third would have been fine. The train only cost 400 rupee ($2.37 NZD) each!

Hikkaduwa is the original surf spot in Sri Lanka, boasting an A frame reef break and beach breaks to choose from. We spent much of our time in Hikkaduwa parked up at a cafe/surf rental spot on the beach called Mountain Surf, where I finished two books while pretending to watch Josh catch some waves. Hikkaduwa itself is situated on the main costal road, Galle Road, so to get respite from the local buses that thunder past and the many calls from the waiting tuk tuk drivers, walking on the beach or having our own scooter were the best options for getting around. The area has a small but busy town centered around the train station and then as you headed south this slowly morphed into shops and restaurants catered to tourists. We were staying slightly south again at Tamaro Beach, away from the hustle and bustle but still close enough to get in and around. We could see the ocean from our room, that was away from the main town center. It was small and quiet, with a great swimming spot right on our doorstep. The family who ran the place had two gorgeous children who spoke amazing English at only ages four and six.

While we loved the flat whites offered at Mountain Surf, we quickly discovered that outside of the tourist stretch was where we would find food that was much more within our budget. I think this is something we’ll find throughout our trip, while the sun loungers and bikini friendly beaches are great, there is much to be discovered in the local hubs that these tourist areas fringe. One example was the local fish market. We paid our 60 rupee (40 cents NZD) to look around the dock, and got invited onto the boat of a local guy, Banu. He showed us proudly his brand new V12 engine and storage areas for 15,000kg of fish (don’t quote us on this amount, it might have been lost in translation). We also saw a group of men meticulously fixing the fishing nets, a stark reminder of the culture of repairing and restoring here as opposed to the throw away mindset in the west. A lot of these men looked as if they had physical disabilities such as a lost leg or foot, which we would assume is from the war. After our private boat tour, we went into the market itself and selected some fish for lunch - oysters, squid and Marlin, all for 1700 rupee ($10 NZD), and then paid another 500 rupee ($3 NZD) for it to be cooked for us, local style. We took this back to our accommodation and feasted on this fish alongside roti, and mangoes for dessert. This whole lunch cost us the same as two coffees at our beloved Mountain Surf.

Other highlights in Hikkaduwa included a candle lit dinner on the beach due to another planned power outage to fix the monkey’s damage, egg hoppers for breakfast, finding a gorgeous natural pool surrounded by reef, and the great company from the local surfer dudes - cheeky as all hell and a lot of fun.

A sobering moment was learning about the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, which was completely devastating to communities along the Sri Lanka coast. The area we were in was where the train was hit by the wave, killing 1,500 people. The museum explained the damage done to the communities which outside the damage to buildings and loss of life includes a large amount of trauma for survivors. The Japanese built an incredible temple as a place of worship dedicated to those who lost their lives and were heavily affected. The Buddha statue, in an East Asian design, stands at 30 m tall to - the height of the wave.

Something we didn’t expect was the number of Russian tourists, most signs and menus were written in both English and Cyrillic, and we felt like a minority amongst tourists as native English speakers! This is due to visa free travel for Russians to Sri Lanka, who face a number of sanctions in a number of western countries. We have heard stories of Russian exiles who now run tourism businesses here, meaning that unfortunately not a lot of money ends up back in the hands of locals.

Our two nights in Hikkaduwa went by quickly, and before we knew it, we were packing up and walking down the road to brave the bus to Unawatuna.