Breakfast is the only meal where I do not openly abuse the open-buffet: omelet, some fruits, a few gallons of tea and I am ready for the day.
Some permanent residents get free food and board and I watch them as I eat.
This one was a creature of habit and took the same path every morning.
Selim drops by my hotel on his morning stroll and we head towards his hotel via the beautiful sandy beaches. We feed some fish and also come across Rosie who hangs out on a particular spot on the shore. We feed her – she is huge and lets you pet her. It is more welcoming to cuddle Tanya the monkey than Rosie the turtle but I still realize I feel the same type of affection for Rosie that I do when I come across a friend’s cantankerous grandpa. There are different types of love and affection in this world and one shape and size does not fit all. As long as there is enough to go around…
Selim and Angelika are staying at the
Seethani Guest house. It is about 30 minutes walk from my hotel via beach and about 3 minutes via tuktuk on the road. It is also where all the surfers stay and the partying goes down. I have deliberately opted for a hotel that will ensure I get to be left alone to suit my Garbo-like tendencies.
Angelika cleanses the remnants of the Arrack from the night before with coffee and omelet. We have a final chitter chatter before they leave.
They are en route to Kerala in India, a place that is in the top two on my places to see list.
They are going to eventually end up in Goa, a place that is in the top two on my places to see list.
Good minds I say!
This is heaven for a fruit-junkie like me. Everything is fresh and delicious, picked off the tree, the old fashioned way. Tastes just like they used to back in the day.
This is a coconut boy. Very sweet and shy – unlike the beach boys who seem to have a terrible reputation as Casanovas chasing after the tourist girls who also seem to have an equally terrible reputation amongst the beach boys for their fondness of being chased as well as caught. Circles…
I walk Selim and Angelika to the tuktuk. They will make a mini stop-over for a night in Negombo which they claim is a very pleasant way to break up the journey to Colombo. We hug and make plans to meet in Goa where I will join them in the next month or two.
Serendipity:
(from thefreedictionary.com)
ser·en·dip·i·ty
n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties
1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery.
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Just a few steps from the Seethani Guest House what seems to be a shop selling surfer shorts. Billabong – Made in Sri Lanka!
Turns out almost all of these shops double up as tailors. These girls were very good and very quick. I pick out the material and they take measurements. Very excited about my future new shorts, sweet serendipity! This shop is called Sithija Tailors and this is Rasika.
I am able to now touch my toes without bending my knees. This is a pretty good indication of my yoga skills – or lack thereof. I still do make it a point to find a place I can practice wherever I am and I come across this sign on my way back to my hotel. Sweet serendipity strikes again!
I go in mostly following my passion for yoga and partly because my guilty conscience delivers a swift kick to my butt pushing me in – I have been a bad girl and have been going all the way with the open buffet every single night (starters, main course plus multiple trips to the dessert table – oh yeah!).
This is Lyndon, the owner and yogi of The Yoga Studio. The classes are given on the terrace of ‘The Retreat’ – a cluster of studio apartments. The terrace is covered with a roof but open around allowing you to see the tress and smell the rain. Today is it unfortunately puddled up due to the same heavy and heavenly rain that has been crashing down the past few days so no yoga classes until it dries up. Looking forward to the sunshine so I can yoga as well as scuba dive. Other than that may it rain, rain, rain… amen!
Back at the hotel and indulging in the open buffet dinner. My self imposed food-rule for Sri Lanka: if I can’t pronounce it, I eat it. Absolutely loved Sri Lankan food! Your wine is my tea: always drink it with breakfast, lunch as well as dinner. The tea here is simply delish – coming from a Turk, you know that that is a qualified opinion!
I miss sleeping with my cuddly cats but I must admit I am loving having full nights of uninterrupted sleep. Good night world ZZZzz……
