The highlands of Sri Lanka were so beautiful but there were times when I really missed the brightness of the tropical sun that I was so accustomed to back in my country Malaysia. Of course, being a Tropical island itself, Sri Lanka is nothing short of the hot tropical sun but of course it can only be fully acquired in the coastal areas.
Coming down to the coastal areas of Sri Lanka from our last stop in the highlands (check out my post on Ella) was not easy. We took an air-cond-less public bus so it stopped like every now and then to drop off and take in passengers along the way. It was quiet empty in the beginning but it became heavier and heavier as more and more passengers came on board. In the end it was fully loaded so many of the passengers had remain standing for hours on end.
It might only be around 5 hours – and I’ve been on much longer bus rides before – but somehow it felt like forever. Thanks God I was seated on the front row so it was probably less shaky compared to those at the back rows. I had a nice chat with a local Sri Lankan who was so eager to know what I thought of his country. Like most of the passengers on board of the bus, he was coming down from his village in the highlands to one of the coastal towns where he was working in.
Quite naturally I put it simply, that it is an amazing country with a lot of beautiful places and the people are very warm, friendly and welcoming. Of course I did mean every word of it though.
The bus did not take us to Mirissa right away. Instead, we found ourselves dropped off at a very busy bus station in a busy coastal town called Matara. Matara seemed like such a beautful town to explore but it wasn’t quite in our itinerary so we had to forget about exploring further into it. My attention was instantly caught by a beautiful bridge that extended out to a beautiful building that perched on a tiny island on the other side. I was later told that it was a temple.
At Matara, Sri Lanka
We were immediately approached by a horde of Tuk Tuk (or whatever it is called in Sri Lanka) drivers but of course we couldn’t immediately make our pick. One of them spoke in Malay (he later told us tha he once worked in Malaysia) and quite naturally he got our attention. He suggested that we spared Mirisa for the next day and spent the night at a lesser known beach instead – which I can’t quiet recall the name now. We agreed, out of curiosity, and we found ourselves riding on a Tuk Tuk which was driven by his accomplice of sort. They seemed to be high on something – which I sensed was the result of some weed-puffing – and they even asked if I wanted to buy some. “You gotta try Sri Lankan weed. It is one of the best weeds in the world“ he assured and for a moment I wanted to say yes – again out of curiosity – until my brains got the better of me. Heh.
We were taken to a rather run-down wooden house on some secluded beach and was welcomed by a man who was probably younger than his looks. Judging from his appearance, he seemed to be somebody who idolized Bob Marley quite too much. At least we had something in common only to a much lesser extent for me. Heh.
He appeared to be high too. He showed us the room which unfortunately I was not impressed of – although it could have saved us quite a bit of money because of its highly affordable rate. He told us that he’d prepare meals for us too. Not that I didn’t trust him and his cooking skills, but we already did quite a bit of budgety thingy back in the highlands – especially at Nallathanniya where we only paid like 500 Sri Lankan rupees for a room per night – so it was time to spend a little bit of money to buy a little bit of comfort.
We checked out the beach and I gotta say it was beautiful. Coming directly from the open sea, the waves could get quite high and the currents were strong which kinda suggested to me that it was a perfect place for board surfing. It was like the kind of places that novel writers would come to to find ideas and inspiration. Thinking that we’d be dragged into a very long night if we stayed there with nothing much to do, we had to say no to him. The Malay-speaking guy offered to stay at his place for the night and he told us that his wife could prepare meals for us. That was kinda nice of him but the idea of having to behave in front of a stranger didn’t appear at all appealing to us. We just wanted some relaxing time after doing a lot of hiking back in the mountains.
We asked to be taken to Mirissa as we had originally planned. We didn’t book any hotel so there we were, walking from one hotel to another to look for rooms to stay in for at least a night in Mirissa. I’m not sure if it was peak season but it wasn’t quite easy to find one. We did finally manage to find rooms, one for each of us, and it was OK for one night. It was only a stone’s throw away from the beach so I could hear the sounds of the ocean right from the veranda. I found it very relaxing and lullabying.
I wouldn’t say it was the most beautiful beach that I’ve ever been to but the strong currents and waves that the beach is blessed with is something that I don’t get to see at our beaches here in Malaysia. The fact that it opens out to the vast Indian Ocean with almost no islands, at least not in the vicinity so the waves made their way to the shore unimpeded and hence the turbulence.
Mirissa Beach
We didn’t get to spend as much time at Mirissa as we probably wanted to due to the limited time that we had there but it was enough take in the beauty of the surrounding and the relaxing ambiance that the place was so blessed with. It was only one night but the sound of the ocean as we had a candle-lit dinner right there on the beach would stay in my head for a very long time.
Mirissa and other beaches in Sri Lanka deserve another visit. I believe there are a lot more to explore than what I had seen in the very short time that I spent there.