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.

This trip has been a year in the making, and started with some dreams which slowly starting taking shape into something tangible and very exciting. Once we had our flights booked and a plan forming In November 2024, I started building this website as a way for us to share some of the special moments from this trip with family and friends.

We have come full circle, and it is a exciting to be finally using the website I spent so much time creating.

The trip is well and truly underway and we started our time in Sri Lanka with three nights in the capital and main city Colombo. The city is chaotic, hot, humid, and a barrage on the senses, and I loved it. Tuk Tuks weave in and out of traffic, colourful buses scream their horns, and people from all walks of life live in a chaotic kind of harmony. On our second day in the city the national power grid was reportedly damaged by a monkey, and the entire country lost electricity for five hours. Locals seemed totally unphased by this as it is a fairly regular occurrence but they could see the humour in it.

The Sri Lankan people are amazingly kind and friendly. I have lost track of how many times someone has gone out of their way to help us. An example was a lovely Lankan lady who waited with us at a bus change when it was her stop so she could point out which bus we needed to take next.

We spent most of our time in Colombo eating delicious local Sri Lankan food, checking out temples, breaking in the Teva's with a lot of walking (can confirm they get more comfortable with wear) and sightseeing. It was a lovely start to our trip, and a great introduction to Sri Lanka and the people that call this island country home.

Next stop is Hikkaduwa for some much needed beach days and hopefully some surfing!!