I left Dubai a day after Mell and fly to SriLanka. I embarrassingly cried as I boarded that plane, hopefully the other passengers just thought I was scared of flying!!! I continues to cry a bit during the flight, but luckily as it was a late flight it was half empty and I had a whole row to myself. I sort of curled up and had a little sleep. We arrived in SriLanka about 1am local time (new stamp for passport). I’d arranged a hotel transfer, which went all very smoothly.
That 1st day in SriLanka I spent very quietly. I was still struggling with home sickness, still a bit tearful. I didn’t actually leave the hotel, but I did make the ‘effort’ to use the hotel pool. I also arranged a city tour for the following day.
The next day I did the city tour with a really nice guide. His English and knowledge were brilliant. He showed me the main attractions and we also visited a Buddhist and Tamil temple plus the Catholic Church where all the killings happened last year ? At the end of the tour, the guide dropped me off at the museum which I wandered around in my own time. I was still a bit low, but the kindness of the Sri Lankan people was starting to rub off on me.
The following day I was supposed to move on, but my lack of oomph meant I hadn’t anything planned. With this in mind, I booked an extra night in the hotel I was staying, sat in the shade by the pool and made a plan. I think this really started to refocus me and get me back on track. I studied my Lonely Planet Guide, and thought about recommendations from friends, chose a route and booked all my accommodation. I also booked an onward flight to Kuala Lumpur (I’ll just be stopping there a couple of nights on route to Vietnam). Plan made. I liked the driver who had shown me around Colombo, so I booked him to drive me to my next stop, Galle. I thought he was just going to drive me there, but on route he suggested that we stopped at a turtle sanctuary and I also asked if it was possible to stop at the tsunami museum. For good measures he also threw in a mini tour of Galle Fort area.
So 1st the turtles…..if you know me, you know I love turtles sooooooo much ???. The sanctuary was on a beach where the turtles lay eggs all year round. As I have seen in other places, the eggs are collected and reburied to keep them safe and help improve the turtle population. Once hatched they keep them in tanks until their umbilical area closes, usually 3days, and then release them back into the ocean. Because Sri Lanka is a mainly Buddhist country, no deformed turtle is killed, so they also have tanks full of turtles with various ‘problems’. Not going to lie, I had a little chuckle at the blind ones that kept bumping into things ? A really lovely visit and I was starting to feel much better than I had recently. Nothing can mend a heartache like holding a baby turtle ??
Eggs (empty) very soft because turtles don’t have much calcium in their diet 
1 Day Old hatchlings 
3 days old and we can touch, ready for release 
Buried eggs waiting to hatch 
Molly is blind and 7 years old 
The beach where the turtles lay their eggs 
After turtles I went to the tsunami museum, for obvious reasons I don’t have any photos. Very moving and an absolute tragedy for the Sri Lankan people. They had never been hit by a tsunami before this one on Boxing Day 2004. There was no early warning system and most people didn’t even know what a tsunami was. The largest loss of life was from the 2nd wave, because people had gone to the beach to watch the ocean when the tide line retracted (Drawback) approximately 1km, before the wave then came in and hit the coast. The waves travelled up to 800kph in deep water and were 300 km wide. The largest waves were six meters and they surged inland up to a km. I think from talking to the people at the museum, there is now an early warning system in place, and they are educating the people to what to do should another tsunami hit. A new fault line was created near Sri Lanka following the under ocean earthquake that caused the tsunami, so it is inevitable that this is going to happen again. (My facts may be a bit wrong, please research if you want to know more, or for the correct facts).
We arrived in Galle, a really pretty town, built by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. My driver did a quick drive around the Fort area, and I went into a gem shop (famous in this area) and saw a private antique collection of someone ??♀️ Then onto my accommodation for the next couple of nights.
My guest house left me a very useful leaflet with emergency numbers on it….I think they knew I was coming!!! That evening, as Sri Lanka feels really safe (except for the traffic), I went for an evening stroll, found a lovely, empty, local restaurant, had some food (no spice ?). So nice to be able to go out and about in the evenings.
Vegetable rice and grilled fish ?
Next day I had a bit of a lay-in and had to lie to my hosts, telling them I was jet-lagged, not just being lazy ? I had planned on doing a Galle Fort guided tour, with a local, so caught a TukTuk (my 1st ever) to the Fort. What an experience that was ?, I survived.
The fort tour was brilliant. The guide really knew what he was talking about. I learnt loads of history about the area and Sri Lanka in general. He also talked about how the fort/walls had saved Galle a bit from the tsunami and not so many people had died there because of it. After the tour I ate in a local restaurant and got chatting with a British couple who were doing a similar route to me, but the other way round, so we gave each other loads of tips. The following morning I managed to get up in time for breakfast, and was given coconut roti, these are lovely.
After breakfast, I caught another TukTuk to a small town called Mirissa…I’m getting to be a pro in the TukTuk now…hold on tight and don’t look forward. Mirissa was a lovely place, really nice safe beaches and a great vibe. I only had 1 night booked here and wished I had longer. I walked into the town from my guesthouse, which wasn’t too far, but I somehow got over hot and felt a little faint. After sitting in the shade for a bit and a load of water, I got a TukTuk back, got changed and went for a swim in the ocean. All better ??♀️. That evening I treated myself to pizza instead of rice and fish ?
Before leaving Mirissa, I was up very early to go on a whale watching trip. I was collected at 05:30, but not before I had taken some sea sickness pills ?. Once again, the whole trip was wonderfully organised and the staff can never do enough to help you, from serving snacks to helping you move around the boat for better views. I saw blue whales… you could spot them from the blow holes shooting up water followed by the tail fin as they dived ? and we also a pod of dolphins?. It was a magical trip. No pictures of the whales, because the boat didn’t want to go to near them and stress them out. Got some lovely sunrise pictures though, which isn’t something I see very often, not being a morning person ?
And finally….the tears have dried and the smile is back on my face. I’m so glad I didn’t give up, deep down I knew the homesickness would pass, but its very difficult to keep going when all you want to do is jump on a plane home. The people of Sri Lanka, are some of the nicest I have ever meet, really genuine. This was probably the best place in the world to keep me going and find my mojo again ?? Thank you also to everyone who got in touch after reading my last blog, your support means so much to me, you lot keep me strong xx
