Sri Lanka - boring notes. Animals on the beach. Monthly tourist seasons in Negombo

For a long time we did not write in our modest diary and we are very sorry about this, so it's time to correct the situation. Today we are starting our series of stories about the island of Sri Lanka, which we went to explore right after India, especially why go 2 times if everything is close.

So, for starters, a minute of Wikipedia. The island of Sri Lanka is located in South Asia, a little east of the southern tip of the Hindustan peninsula and is washed by the waters of the Indian Ocean. The island is separated from Hindustan by the Gulf of Manar and the Strait of Polk. The so-called Adam's Bridge - a shallow in the Strait of Polk - once completely connected Sri Lanka with the mainland, but, according to the chronicles, it was destroyed by an earthquake back in 1481.

Sri Lanka is an independent state that never belonged to India, as many people think. But at the same time, National composition It is represented mainly by two peoples who come from India: Sinhalese (natives of the northern part of India) and Tamils ​​(natives of southern regions India). Historically, the main activity of the Tamils ​​was the tea industry, in addition, their numbers were significantly inferior to the Sinhalese. supervised british empire Tamils ​​and Sinhalese got along more or less normally, but in 1948 then Ceylon gained independence and tensions began to increase. The first armed conflicts, which eventually developed into a real civil war between the government and the guerrilla organization "Tigers for the Liberation of Tamil Eelam", took place 30 years later. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam operated mainly in the north of the island, at the same time South part developed and received tourists. It is worth noting that the bulk of the Sri Lankans (both Tamils ​​and Sinhalese) were against the war, but who cares about the opinion of the common people. The war officially ended on May 18, 2009.

And now let's move back to modern Sri Lanka, where the plane Air company India with us on board landed at Colombo airport. The flight from India takes just the right amount of time to take off and have a leisurely meal. Theoretically, the plane arrives in the capital of Sri Lanka, the city of Colombo, but in fact it is still about an hour's drive to Colombo. Back in India, we decided that we would spend the night in Negombo, a small tourist town on the coast, so after leaving the terminal, we began to solve the eternal transport problem. If you do not want to spend money on a taxi, then you can use public transport, to the left of the exit from the airport there is a bus stop that will take you to the nearest bus station for free, from where you can go wherever you want, even to Colombo, even to Negombo.

The first thing that catches your eye on Sri Lankan soil is the ubiquitous cleanliness, the appearance of which we managed to wean during the three weeks spent in India. Of course, if you are from over developed country, then most likely you won’t feel it, but compared to India, the difference is noticeable, and neat markings and law enforcement officers in the first hours of your stay in Sri Lanka almost injured our delicate psyche.

All Negombo hotels are located along coastline, therefore, to get there, you will have to use another bus or taxi services.

View of main street, along which hotels are located:

In principle, Negombo can be called clean and with some degree of truth cozy city, which is clearly designed for tourists:

Lush greenery on the sides of the road pleases the eye:

Sometimes it is so violent that you have to maneuver among it:

Negomba beach is quite clean and not crowded, swimming is mainly done locals:

Then it became clear why. clean beach insidiously tempts us to rinse our feet at least once in Indian Ocean, but the purity of the water here is such that even the legs are difficult to see. As we continued walking along the beach and keeping away from the ocean, we noticed the grooves through which various wastes are dumped into the ocean.

This "resort" came from a neighboring village to relax and swim in the ocean. Note the almost imperceptible tan line:

A moment later, his friends also joined the conversation, who felt that we just needed to know where they live and where they came from:

After quickly throwing a map of the area on the sand and specifying the route, we decided to take a group photo:

And finally, the traditional heading " Helpful Hints It makes little sense to bargain in Negombo for the cost of a hotel, the mafia works here, which set uniform prices and does not change them. "By the way, it's a myth that all Chinese know kung fu. Moreover, the police who arrived at the scene turned out to be far from on the side of the tourists. Of course, one cannot exonerate the citizens of the Celestial Empire, but still the service should not be so intrusive. We have money was stolen from the room for a total of 70 euros, with 20 of them in hryvnias, although for some reason they didn’t accept hryvnias in our stores.It makes sense to go to Negombo if you arrive very late and have no desire to stay in Colombo yet the ocean view, although dirty, is much nicer.

Going on a motorcycle trip in Sri Lanka , we, of course, thought about how and where it would be better to start. Actually, there were not many options, namely two - Colombo or Negombo. The plan was as follows - we arrive, settle for two, maximum three days, in order to acclimatize, see something, find and rent a motorcycle, and then move along the route.

Everyone knows that Ceylon is an island in the warm Indian Ocean, and Colombo and Negombo are located on the shores of this very ocean. Thus, it was quite natural for us to want to spend these couple of days also on the beach. That was the difficulty of the choice. Both of these cities are described almost everywhere as places extremely unsuitable for a beach pastime. Moreover, Negombo is especially bad, but Colombo has an excellent beach area Mount Lovinia, but the downside is that it’s a bit far to get to this very Lovinia, and if you also take into account traffic jams, then this is generally horror.

So, we had - terrible beaches in Negombo, but relatively close to the airport, or excellent ones in Mount Lovinia, but far away. Reading again and again internet reviews and reports, we were leaning more and more in favor of Colombo. In the end, they decided - Colombo.

Reviews and story about the beaches of the west coast -. Description of the beaches south coast - .

It's time to book accommodation on the day of arrival (didn't want to look for something on the spot right after long road). And here again, the higher powers decided to take patronage over the lost sheep, i.e. above us. Otherwise, I can’t explain why, having sat down to book an already chosen hotel in Mount Lovinia, we suddenly booked a guest house on the northern outskirts of Negombo in a place called Ettukala ...

In the morning the weather is different - bright sun and bright colors, a refreshing breeze blows from the sea. We had breakfast and went straight to the beach. In the sun, it looks like this.



We swim and sunbathe for a couple of hours.

Clouds and light clouds are coming in, we decide to inspect the coast. The same beach in the north direction near the hotels Jetwing Sea And The Cove looks like that

The beach ends with piles of stones on both sides. To the north there is another similar beach, the next one looms behind it, but since. We don't have much time, so we don't go any further. And we turn around and move on southbound directly towards the beaches of Negombo. We guess that those terrible beaches that are described on the Internet are located there.

What do we see in the south? And we see something from which our jaws literally drop - this is such a beach.





We are seriously thinking - are we in Negombo and in general - is it Sri Lanka? We do not dare to ask the locals for fear of being in a psychiatric hospital ... These are the “terrible” beaches of Negombo.

In the evening we rented a motorcycle and the next morning, after swimming,

embarked on a dream trip Sri Lanka on a motorcycle, and remained in sincere bewilderment.

This was the first strong surprise at how one-sided and in many cases undeservedly the Internet is slandering this beautiful country and its no less beautiful inhabitants.

A day or two later, after visiting

Located just 38 kilometers north of Colombo and only 20 minutes drive from Bandaranaike Airport, Negombo City offers a unique opportunity for a holiday in Sri Lanka. Negombo has a lot to offer. This city is suitable for almost all tourists, whether you are looking for a fabulous sand beach, great restaurants or unique attractions.
If you want to spend your holiday in Negombo learning about the culture of Sri Lanka, all you have to do is get away from the beach and discover the old colonial churches left over from the Dutch and British rule, as well as Buddhist temples and even the remains of an old fort. Nature lovers will also not be disappointed if they visit the city of Negombo in Sri Lanka, which is located next to the Muthurajawela wetlands, which offer the opportunity to observe a variety of animals.

Negombo on the map of Sri Lanka

Monthly weather in Negombo

Negombo has a typical tropical climate with high temperatures and high humidity. Despite this, it is pleasant to be on the coast of the city, as a light coastal breeze makes staying here comfortable even in the hottest weather. However, if you move at least 500 meters from the coast during the day, the conditions become unbearable at almost any time of the year.
In general, the air temperature in Negombo is constant throughout the year and the temperature difference between different months usually does not exceed 4 degrees. As a rule, the average daily temperature in Negombo is 29-31 degrees, but there are also serious deviations.
In terms of precipitation, the difference between the months of the year can be enormous. Since the city of Negombo is located on west coast Sri Lanka, this means that the weather here is influenced by the southwest monsoon. This monsoon brings heavy rainfall between May and November. Between December and April, precipitation in Negombo becomes much lower, and this period is considered to be high season in this place. The largest number Precipitation in Negombo usually falls in May (an average of 371 mm of precipitation falls this month), while the least amount of precipitation usually occurs in February (69 mm). On average, in this city the sun shines 6-8 hours a day.

How to get to Negombo from Colombo

Getting to the city of Negombo from the capital of Sri Lanka is not difficult, because there are many options for every taste. Do you want to travel in comfort? Then you can go to Negombo by taxi. The cost of the trip will be about 30 dollars. Want to save? Then you can take the bus. The cost of the trip will be about 150 rupees. Want to ride the famous Sri Lankan train? Then the cost of the trip will be from 100 rupees (depending on the class of the car). You can also go by tuk-tuk, but still this mode of transport is more suitable for movement inside settlements rather than between major cities.

How to get to Negombo from the airport

You can also easily drive to Negombo from Colombo airport or vice versa. In most cases, tourists opt for a taxi, because the cost of a trip in the region of $ 15 is not so much even for travelers on a limited budget. Of course, you can save money and go by bus, but the only question is whether you are ready to experience some inconvenience associated with traveling by such transport for the sake of 10-15 dollars.
Note that near the airport there are two railway stations, which stops the trip going from Colombo to Negombo. You can get to these stations (theoretically you can do it on foot, but it's better to take a taxi) and take a train to Negombo. The cost of a train ride will be from 50 rupees.

Negombo beach

Although Negombo is indeed interesting city, he still hardly enjoyed such popularity among tourists, if not for his beautiful beach.
Negombo Beach is called the "Golden Mile". It is conveniently located just 15 km from international airport Sri Lanka. Once Negombo was a small fishing town, which became the first beach resort Sri Lanka.
The beautiful and pristine sandy beach of Negombo is mainly maintained and improved by neighboring hotels that are interested in offering their guests good conditions For beach holiday in Sri Lanka.
Also worth noting are the beaches of Waikkal and Marawila, which are located in quiet resort villages north of Negombo. These beaches are calmer than main beach Negombo, but also located relatively close to the airport. Hotels located on these beaches, as a rule, offer a "club" concept with complex accommodation and meals. Hotels on these beaches have an advantage over hotels in Hikkaduwa, Bentota, Unawatuna and others resort areas in southwestern Sri Lanka. The fact is that from these hotels you can get much faster to elephant nursery Pinnawala, Kandy and even the Cultural Triangle.

Attractions Negombo

Negombo is home to just a few of Sri Lanka's famous landmarks. If you want to dedicate your time only to seeing iconic sights, then Negombo is unlikely to have something interesting to offer you. However, the attractions of Negombo are quite numerous, and if you are interested in what to see in Negombo, you will definitely find many attractive places here. In this article, we will present only the most popular attractions of Negombo, since a description of all the attractions would significantly increase this article.

Buddhist temple Angurukaramulla

Churches of Negombo

Negombo fish market

Excursions from Negombo

You can easily go from Negombo to any excursion, be it a trip to Kandy, a tour of the Cultural Triangle or a trip to national park Yala. About all the most popular excursions in Sri Lanka, we have already talked about in a hotel article, so here we will only present some, so to speak, local excursions from Negombo.
First, we advise you to visit the Negombo lagoon, which is especially beautiful during sunset. Boat cruises at this time of day are an amazing experience.
At the edge of the lagoon lies the Muthurajawela Sanctuary with huge crocodiles waiting for you in the mangroves!
Of course, from Negombo it is worth going on an excursion to the capital of Sri Lanka, the city of Colombo, which is only 1 hour away by local taxi. Here you can not only visit the most interesting sights, but also go shopping in shopping malls and stores such as Odel and House Of Fashion (despite the name, this store has quite low prices on clothes).

Where to eat cheap and tasty in Negombo

All of the following is purely personal impressions and thoughts and may not at all coincide with the opinions of other travelers.

Why Sri Lanka? I feel the need to explore different places, countries, continents and people inhabiting them. I regularly return to places I like. I collect countries - this is the 54th.

As a matter of principle, I don’t take tours if I understand that I can organize everything myself and most likely cheaper and better.

So, I originally planned Thailand (I was there a hundred times, but I really wanted the sea - I got tired after a couple of stressful months at work) - however, when I saw the cost of tickets, I thought, maybe something new. Goa, Bali - there were, Madagascar - well, I don’t know ... but I liked Sri Lanka.

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I got tickets for Emirates. The transfer was in Dubai - at night, from 00 to 2.30 .. but arrival at 8.00 and not at 4 in the morning like fly Dubai .. and departure back at 9 in the morning and not at three in the morning .. Well, it’s 4 rubles more expensive - this is not essential . The ticket cost 45 rubles with all the redeemed legrooms .. probably if you take it for six months it will be cheaper. I took for a month. I'll tell you a good one at the Emirates Business Lounge in Dubai, although Sharik has better service and food.

There is no schedule. The program is conditional. Negombo and Unawatuna are the main places where I will hang out, and I booked hotels here. Booked tedious and long. I read reviews and was in shock - with an increase in stardom, enthusiasm decreased and negativity increased, while prices from stardom grew straight to the sky.

Therefore, even in the presence of financial opportunities, I ruled out the 5s ... immediately. And I felt more free!

Sri Lanka is very similar to India .. Local, more trained by the British, of which, by the way, there are a huge number. Later I read that all the Indians were brought in at one time by the same British, because the locals were distinguished by enviable laziness and did not like to work in principle, although the Indians are not very agile either.

Upon arrival, I thought - what a fine fellow I am that I made an electronic visa (1500 rubles - 3 hours), the queue at the airport for a visa is huge.

At the exit, I famously bargained with local tour office and took their car to the hotel for a symbolic $15. I used the same car with a driver for the next two days.

By the way, oddly enough, but the best exchange rate is at the airport, but I realized this already in the city.

Negombo.

Reviews about the country in bulk - therefore, it’s not a hunt to ship superfluous. I got up All Sutes Hotel 4 *. Eighteen thousand rubles for 3 nights. Booking on Hotels.com - seemed cheaper, I had two free nights, which I used (and paid 6,000 r - beauty).

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The hotel is very decent, clean, closer even to 5 *. Kettle, bathrobes, slippers, refrigerator - everything, a beautiful view of the ocean. Friendly staff, good breakfast, good wifi. Nice clean pool. Of the minuses - they cook to order so-so, but there is even a hookah for $ 10 - nothing at all. .

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But the beach looks depressing, dirty - plastic, glass, no sunbeds or umbrellas for you, there are few people. The ocean, if there is no wave, is not bad, but after 17.00 I was afraid to enter - it seemed that the wave was hefty powerful.

Walking along the street in the evening, I saw restaurants full of Europeans - they keep prices for them there - decent (by local standards), but they cook lousy in my opinion. Souvenirs - like in Goa, elephants and Buddhas ... well, some other terrible leather bags.

Yes, it's cleaner here than in Goa, that's a fact. But people sometimes rest right on the pavement.

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Negombo is most often used as a place to adapt after a flight and as a base for trips to Kandy, Sigiriya, Dante's Peak. Much closer from here. This does not apply to group tours- these are usually on a bus and driven to Unawatuna Beach for six hours, or seven to Melissa. And then they are taken to the same Sigiriya on an excursion, but with an overnight stay - well, it's just tin. And I gathered in the morning in Kandy.

Kandy.

This town is very popular, there is a temple of the Tooth of Buddha there and you should see it - well, definitely!

We drove there for three hours - it's a hundred kilometers. The landscape is of the same type - palm trees, palm trees, mountains - palm trees. The car together with the driver cost $ 100 and at 9 am we left.

After two hours of driving along narrow roads and heavy traffic, we stopped at Pinnewala, a town where elephants are led through the streets to the local river and then they are bathed!

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Two hours of show .. from 10 to 12. Then even in the Nursery it's not particularly interesting. But, surprising is the fact that without a ticket for swimming (and this is a simple street with access to the river) you can’t get through.

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The ticket costs 2500 rupees (920 r). But the spectacle is very, very exciting, Although I'm in Bali - on elephants and rode and swam. I note that there are several nurseries there, there is also a place where crippled animals are kept - it’s not a fact that it’s a fascinating sight to watch crippled elephants.

On the way we stopped at a fruit market, but there was no mango. The locals will not ripen until April, well, papaya, pineapple, breadfruit and everything else is available.

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I understand the prices are special - tourist prices, because there were no local buyers, but minibuses with tourists were constantly slowing down.

Well, my driver, of course, brought me to some kind of spice plantation .... razvodilovo of course. But I bought something for $ 50, I'll experiment. (I bought an ointment for hair removal (I'm bald, I was wondering) with which I got an allergic reaction later, and they advertised so beautifully)

I did not like Kandy itself - hectic, dirty, noisy. In fact, after the elephant nursery, you can safely turn around. Unless you're a Buddhist of course.

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Another religious plane did not seem attractive to me, but if I arrived, I naturally went to the Temple of the Tooth Relic, but was not imbued.

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And I missed the lake next to the temple - well, a lake and a lake, nothing special. I have already looked at so much - in Goa I didn’t advance beyond the night market .... and now I feel in Goa - I’ll be back 100%, but here it’s not a fact yet

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After visiting the local Christian temple nearby, you can fall out of the city for lunch and my carrier-bred brought me to the "super ^ buffet with some kind of cosmic prices, and it feels like I paid for myself, the carrier and another guy (probably the carrier's brother.) By the way, the driver was fed for free.

On his part, there were two more attempts to tease - but I didn’t fall for one at all ... a factory for the production of masks and elephants, and I stopped by for a tea tasting, but why not drink tea. ^Golden^ tea - 500 gr cost truly magically - $ 33 - I was surprised, do they really take it. In Unawatuna, by the way, this tea was sold for the same $35 but for 100g. So, they gave me tea to drink, so that is simpler - so I went, and the consultant was upset. Well, there are a lot of scammers here ... at every step they are literally trying to process a tourist and sell something, but who else to take money from. The price for locals and foreigners is unimaginably different ... in an elephant sanctuary, for example, even cash desks in different places- so that the tourists do not go nuts. We also note that the price tag for our own and foreigners is different.

We returned dark.

I am surprised at weirdos - that I rent cars here and talk about it as a feat. Here I read one, for 3 weeks he paid $ 2,100 (I paid many times less in the States) and he also steered. Yes, for 1500 a local driver would take a minibus and pray for you, or maybe cheaper. The traffic is very complex - it's not even Moscow, there are many nuances - in the form of exits to the oncoming lane, etc. Notels.com offered me a Honda for $330 for 9 days, but I never matured.

Unawatunna.

From Negombo, you can get to Unawatuna Beach by a paid highway for two and a half hours or by a regular road for 5-6 hours. Naturally, we went on a paid one, even if it was more expensive. The car cost me $90 that day. My same breeder, who received instructions to follow the route clearly, looked pleased, no wonder - I found out that it was possible to fly for $ 70 .. So the first toll road cost 300 local rubles, then there was a long connection with the second road through the city, because the highways do not connect, and the second cost 1100 dirhams.

The hotel, located four kilometers from the main village, upon arrival caused some bewilderment, although I seemed to read reviews, but at that moment time was running out for me and prices were growing by leaps and bounds.

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These bookings know that if you come in once, it makes no sense to make it cheaper, but it will always be more expensive. By the way - you can easily accommodate in place, there is a choice.

No, in general, if you look at it, I lived in India and in much extreme conditions ... I didn’t really like it here - aged furniture and a lack of sockets. In Negombo, I really lived in a 4-ke .. and moved a bitch to a three-ruble note. Nearby there was a good hotel, but there were no places. Anyway.

Amanda Beach Hotel- 31,000 for 6 nights with breakfast. At first I thought; I probably should have gone to a more populated hotel - only 7 people lived here, of which I saw 3, including two Russians from Yaroslavl. The Internet is not so hot (but the same in Goa), the tablet is barely connected.

I think I got shorter .. no pool, no shops nearby, no restaurants. A good place for lovers. But the breakfasts are good - the air conditioner works, hot water there are no mosquitoes. And then I appreciated given place, quiet, calm, cooked to order perfectly.

So - the first thing I saw when I entered the sea ... no, I tried to enter, this is a wave twice as high as me (and it seems to be small from the shore) - and threw me ashore and scratched my knees and immediately understood, thanks for that - alive!.

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Well, don't back down... The second and third attempts were more successful - I dived, missed the wave - well, we got to know each other - Unawatunna.

The village itself is four kilometers away, a tuk-tuk took for 200 rupees ($ 1.5), the hotel manager really sold it for 500, but I'm sure that the locals pay about 100.

In the Tartuga restaurant on Unawatuna beach, it seemed generally good. I can’t say that the prices in restaurants are straining anymore ... the locals are also sitting, I don’t think that they have a special price list.

But the service is slow, they smile but really do everything slowly - they can carry the menu for 30 minutes, so I always took the menu myself. The food is of average quality, although they can easily spoil the fish.

Irritated by some moments: well, for example - I ordered tea in one cafe - they brought half a mug, I ask the water ran out? No, it's worth that much. I say pour water ... .. no, pay extra for water - however. Well, I got up and left, let him drink, he pays. .

The behavior of foreigners is interesting - a couple with two children (Danes) sits next to each other and both smoke cigarettes and extinguish the bulls in the sand under the table. I called the waiter - bring them an ashtray, and they asked the waiter to move me away with the hookah - like children. I had to send... Russians, in order to smoke - get up and go to smoke aside .... here's the culture of education for you.

Unawatunna.

Today in the morning it finally turned out that it was impossible to swim near the hotel - in the morning a wave with a house and reefs stick out. It takes about 10 minutes to walk to a normal beach.

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But the beach is great. The lagoon is 100 by 20 meters, closed by reefs and there are no waves at all, the most great depth 150cm. For children - a paradise, and for adults it's super - you swim like in a pool of sea water.

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Even with a mask good - fish more than on Jung Beach (very popular beach). And yet, swimming or approaching the edge of the reef ridge (and the depth is chest-deep), you watch a blue wave on the horizon that menacingly rises from the ocean - and then it breaks on the reefs and billions of bubbles forming a bubbling foam rush towards you and create the illusion of a jacuzzi. Fantastic.

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And if you want extreme sports, jump in a wave - please go a little to the right, where the wave rises under 2.5 meters and is ready to demolish you. It’s good that there is a double sandy rift and you can also jump quite safely.

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Turtles again - they swim there, almost daily - but you can watch them just on the rifts .. There are not very many people in the lagoon, sunbeds are rented for 500r, there is no music - just the sound of the waves. There are 3-4 restaurants, average weighted prices. Lyapota. The beach is called Dalawella Beach. Hotels near Sri Gemunu Beach / Sayra Beach.

But to the main beach of Unawatuna - you can’t walk along the coast in principle, and why.

Galle - Fort .

Visited Galle Fort today.

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Yesterday's tuk-tuk driver took me to the fort, showed me the main places (I didn't have to go at all). I don’t particularly like fortifications - well, this one is so-so. Of course, it would be necessary to restore it a little, but why? In general, it's kind of weak. There are no shops here, restaurants too, a market with local goods and a couple of museums.

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On the way back - we dropped into a fruit shop - it turned out that the prices in the city were lower.

The tuk tuk driver offered dozens of entertainment options along the way - I stopped at several marine ... fishing, whales in Merissa, turtles in Hikkaduwa, and possibly Yala (reserve and jeep safaris). There were strong doubts about Yala, because it takes 4 hours to go one way, well, I don’t know. I read the reviews in the afternoon, listened to the boring and bleak story of the Yaroslavl people (they went to a similar reserve - closer, got tired, didn’t really see anything besides two elephants and a buffalo) and came to the conclusion that I’ll go to Tanzania there and look wild world animals, and I saw buffaloes and an elephant in the zoo.

Unawatuna. Fishing.

Tuk-tuker - organized fishing at my request. I invited neighbors from Yaroslavl and at 6 am we went to the boat. This process is unchanged in any country of the world - boat..sea..rod..wave. There is only one question, will it bite there, where they will bring it.

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Local sail from the coast for 2-3 km. Well, something was pecking, they caught about 20 pieces, different ones. One Yaroslavl got sick - and for him it was a real test, and he will probably not forget him. The trip cost $80.

I was surprised by the behavior of the neighbors when paying (although I had encountered this before) two men paid $ 40 for fishing, with the words - is it normal? Well, 80 for three is by no means 40, and at least 25 for a person. Well, I said nothing, okay, I think, sort of called. A couple of days later, history repeated itself. The three of us take a tuk tuk to Jang Beach. How much do you usually pay? I ask. - There are three of us, probably it will be more expensive?

Four hundred answer, but they give 200 when calculating.

You guys are smart, I say, you can immediately see that you are friends with mathematics, engineers probably; - another 100 from you (I cooked 150 myself) - but they gave only fifty dollars. I didn't go anywhere else with them.

Unawatuna.

Today on our beach, I swam with two huge turtles, well, under a meter of shell .... big. Moreover, in principle, the depth was a meter and a half. Cool. I even stroked one, and it seemed to explode into the depths - well, not manual, however.

It turns out that five species live off the coast of Sri Lanka sea ​​turtles out of seven. Surprisingly, the turtle matures for fertilization after 30 years, and then it returns to where it hatched. They write to the beach of Hikkaduwa that they are tame and you can feed them, but judging by the pictures - they are fed by such a crowd - that it’s not a desire to go already, much less sawing there for 45 minutes ..

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There is also a place Sigiriya and Dante Peak, but, as I wrote, they are closer to Colombo and in the depths islands - road it will take 5-6 hours to the Peak - plus an ascent of 3-4 hours, plus a descent and back - two days minimum. Neighbors from Yaroslavl went to Sigiriya one day in a car with a driver and a guide - heroes. We left at 4 am and the tour company charged them 360 bucks for this tour (60 for the guide, incl.).

And I specifically found out that a private driver, for example, will charge $ 150 for this. The road is 5 hours, I don’t know what kind of pleasure it is - there are not particularly autobahns here.

I turned down Melissa and whale watching. And again I read the reviews, out of 20, two saw the tails of whales on the horizon, but everyone vomited, for a long time and painfully. And many write they didn’t see nichrome, but they liked it !!! What did people like - puke???

I understand that this is not an oceanarium, that wild animals, you can’t organize them specially for display, well, I don’t know, I need more guarantees ... By the way, a walk costs $ 50-70.

Unawatuna. Jung beach.

There is such a place in these places, in the area of ​​the Japanese pagoda (although this is an ordinary Buddhist stupa). You go uphill for a while... and then a winding path from above leads you through the jungle - straight to the shallows.. I did not observe snakes, monkeys or other living creatures. So - below the lagoon, no waves, sand, some homemade and free sunbeds under the palm trees.

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I went to a local massage - a tuk man lured me. well it clean water profanation. Do not fall for this provocation - for $ 25 they just rubbed it with oil.

Tuk tuk workers, as you understand, here replace both guides and travel agencies. They will agree, book, change the bucks, take them to the alcohol market, and so on. Indispensable. They are sociable, cooing in local English ( for the most part understandable), carry with them some letters of recommendation from tourists and they are very friendly, but pretend to be naive simpletons. My evening takes me to the hotel, and everyone complains about how difficult it is to raise two children, that they earn little, etc. (average salary on the coast $150-$200). I somehow deaf. So - he brought it and pointing to the rear wheels, he says something about the repair - then he dumps it - give them a thousand bucks - I really need it. Lovely people - no fuss, as they say.

I went to the spice shop. Not where the guides drag you, but where the locals buy. Well, I’ll say this - prices are cheaper than in Russia in online stores. The choice is decent. With tea, I think it’s more difficult - you won’t understand what they mix in bags there. I bought a couple of kilos for 50 bucks, I hope the tuk man did not let me down.

I went to the alcohol market, looked, asked. Wine in general New Zealand, Australia, Africa, India. Local wines are not produced. Price up to 2500 rupees ($16). Rum from 1800 (don't know which one).

Negombo.

Before the morning flight, I decided to get up for the night in Negombo - for the flight was at 10 am (Yaroslavl residents had a flight at 3 am, so the bus took them from the hotel at seven in the evening - this is how the agencies work).

Taking a local carrier guy in love with cars, I flew to Negombo in 2 hours and $ 65. The same kiwitaxi asked for 90. The boy - Samir (+94724217441) works hard, dangles to the airport 2 times a day. Two years and two months without days off. The car is ^Toyota Plus^ on lease and you have to pay 2300 bucks a month. Their cars are terribly expensive ... This Toyota costs $ 40,000, my Merc cost so much.

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In Negombo, I stayed at the Hotel Pledge 3 *, for 6,400 rubles / night. The place is not deluxe - before hiking trails you have to walk for 10 minutes, but the hotel is not bad, I lived in a room of 60 meters - large and stupid (with some kind of trouble with the lighting, I didn’t figure out where it turns on), the pool at the hotel. The restaurant could be called good, but they confuse orders - for example, they brought something completely different from what I ordered. And breakfast, after sitting for 25 minutes, did not wait, they only managed to bring coffee - but they paid $ 13, very disproportionate. I liked the first hotel much more - there is still a view and access to the sea and around more fun, and generally better by an order of magnitude.

As a result of a 10 day stay - I liked everything, except for the service, because they act as they see fit, you as a guest absolutely do not care, an hour, an hour and a half - you wait and do not spoil their karma, as they say ... confused the order - do not care .. undercooked, overcooked, oversalted - don't care, ..forgot, didn't bring it, shortchanged - don't care. No one will ever apologize - just a stupid happy smile counting on indulgence. Food prices are sliding towards European ones, hotels are decent - they are expensive for the most part, in guesthouses I think a complete hello (in the bad sense of the word, but ours stay there), the ocean is good - if you know the location of beaches, waves and currents, about restaurants already wrote. (choose those checked for quality and service - in TripAdvisor). Well, in general, probably no worse than Goa - fruits are only catastrophically small - probably depends on the season. The main difference is that the ocean is much more serious - there are many reefs and high wave, but there is an opportunity to wander around different sights - if you can’t sit still and if you need them. As a result, for some reason, it turns out that they are not particularly needed, these sights are very nondescript. Well, it's still a long way to go, that's a fact. But while writing, I thought, I’ll definitely be back, I liked something.

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Another moment - they all - KNOW PUTIN - And they are just crazy about him and in different places they told me that he - the president is their favorite, can he steer a couple of terms there?

There is still a peculiarity with the weather - in winter (May-October) - in the described places it rains and it is very stormy, but on the other hand, in the northeast there is peace and quiet - the wave is very small, warm, there is no rain .... surprisingly, however, the service there is weak developed.

Caution and attention should be paid to reviews about hotels, beaches - they write a lot, often beautifully and enthusiastically, but people with little experience write that they were mostly only in Egypt.

Good luck with your travels, stay safe