Colombo To Arugam Bay

So, throughout the night, I heard some other people come into the room, and this morning, I heard them silently waking each other up. I got up to ask Hidesh about transportation to Ella for today and he mentioned that the three girls from my room are headed to Arugam Bay today, which was on my list of places to go to! I chatted with the girls, Loni, Emma, and Kiara from Australia, and they said I could ride with them! They are sisters and have their surf boards so we needed a van regardless. Wow, I am honestly shocked. Went to sleep alone, hoping to wake up and make my way somehow to Ella towards Arugam, and wake up with three new friends and a ride to the beach! There is a surf competition in Arugam Bay but not until the 24th, which is when I leave for my next country.

There was free brekkie at the hostel, and of all things, there was papaya!!! This day gets better and better! Coffee, papaya, watermelon, toast, and plays with the tinniest little kitten I've ever seen. Then, while waiting for our transportation to arrive, I played ping pong at the hostel with the other worker, Sujith. I also asked him to translate some words for me- sthuthi is thank you, hondai is good, and machang is slang for mate! We checked out, paid the 1300 Rupee for the night ($7.19), and then loaded in the van and off we went! We have an 8 hour trek ahead of us so this allows me much time to catch up on my writing!

We stopped to pee somewhere, the driver brought out some treats called aloua (so so tasty!), and then Loni suggested we have a bite to eat here. Once we saw the food they were serving, we all understood why she wanted to eat. I'm not sure what it was that we ate but wow was it all absolutely delicious! Spicy chili peppers, rice, some lentil dish, some unknown cooked fruit, and so much more. The people barely speak English so we're just going with it. We had two rounds of the 4 dishes along with our own rice and the whole meal cost was $1300 Rupee for 4 of us! With tip, I paid $1.94 USD.

Back in the car and on the road, driving over bridges, passing canals, seeing signs to watch out for elephants, and then actually seeing an actual elephant on the side of the road! I have never seen something like this! And I had just been telling the girls that I hope to see elephants. MANIFESTING! The roads here are nice and paved, and the driver was very good. I even fell asleep for awhile (not that that's hard to imagine). We stopped for some snacks during the drive later on and then kept moving forward. We saw more elephants during the night too on the road! So amazing! By 8:45 PM, we reached Arugam Bay. The girls got off at their homestay, which was on the main street. Since I had no plans of where to stay, I got out of the car and found someone who spoke English, which isn't too difficult to find here because English is the second language. He recommended Alcatraz, which was right down the road.

I arrived to the hostel and saw quite a bit of people sitting outside, playing cards, sipping beer, and listening to good music. I walked in and Johnny greeted me. There was space for me, so he showed me to my room. This is a 20 bed hostel but rather than being bunkbed style, it's cubicles. Genius! And it is the only room in the hostel! There is great aircon and all the cubicles have shades for privacy and cubbies underneath for lockbox space. Only top cubicles were available so I climbed right up and settled in. The bathrooms and showers are super clean, they sell bottled water and provide a clean towel for you. After dropping my bad down, I walked outside to chill. Johnny called me over, pulled up a chair for me, and cracked me open a Lion Lager, the common Sri Lankan beer.

He was seated with a Swedish girl, Felicia, and a British dude, Sam. Felicia has lived in South Sri Lanka for 2 years now and comes to Arugam Bay often. And Sam has lived in Arugambay for 6 months. We conversed and gazed upon the big moon settled right in front of us. Eventually I mentioned that I was only in Sri Lanka for 6 days and said I'd head to Ella on Friday morning. Turns out, Johnny is driving to Ella on Friday and said I could join. Could things be flowing any more naturally? Sam mentioned there was a party at Ocean Sky tonight, which I had also heard from Hidesh, the hostel manager from Colombo. Side note: Hidesh has checked on me throughout the day and has been incredible with responding to my questions as well as helping me plan my time here in Sri Lanka.

I wasn't planning on going out tonight, but Felicia said I should go see it if I'm only in town for 2 nights. So Sam and I headed over, and boy am I glad I went! There was a DJ, beautiful lights, and was situated right on the ocean. We sat with our toes in the sand and the waves right in front of us. The moon was so bright and luminous that there was a big circle reflection surrounding it, something I've never seen. We did some boogying on the dance floor and socializing with other tourists. Sri Lanka is so diverse, especially Arugam Bay. There is actually a surf competition here on the 22nd, but unfortunately I will already be a few towns over.

Being so close to the ocean, I couldn't help but resist her calls. And luckily, I was wearing a swimsuit under my jumper. So I went off to the side away from the bar and dove right in. YUM! A dip in the sea will never do you wrong (unless there are sharks). It is so humid here that after some dancing, I could't tell if my hair was wet from the sea or from sweating on the dance floor. So Sam and I headed back to the hostel. On our way, I smelt something so similar to one of my favorite flower from Bali. I scooped one up from the ground and it was a Frangipanis flower! I skipped the rest of the way home. I took a shower to rinse the sand, salt and sweat from my body and hopped into bed. But my tummy was talking and I heard there was a 24 hour roti shop nearby. So, naturally, I climbed out of bed and walked my bum to have some food. I realized that I never had a hangover while spending the last month in Australia, and that's when I realized it was probably from all the late night kebabs! I had a veggie kottu dish with lentil dahl. Kottu is a style of roti where the whole roti is cooked in a pan and chopped up, so the bread mixes with the veggies rather than being like a sandwich. Anyways, it was so so so yummy! Then I went back to my cubicle and fell right to sleep.