Sri Lanka’s South; beaches, beers and bikes, part two

Returning to Cool Spot for a final breaky we jumped on a local bus signed ‘Matara.’ Just shy of an hour and a half we were tapped on the shoulder by the bus conductor telling us we had arrived in ‘Mirissa.’With no real direction or accommodation booked we decided to wonder around and price some, the first of which we walked into; ‘Ocean Reach’ found us settled on 2 nights for just $40. It was the cleanest room we have come across so far, with a nice big comfy double bed, white linen, white mosquito net and clean shower!!!                      

Eager to set our sights on the beach we put our swimmers on and ‘reached’ the ocean!! I would compare this to maybe the Surfers Paradise of Sri Lanka.. Tonnes of plastic day beds in front of the reggae pumping restaurants. The beach was underwhelming but I can imagine in peak it would be beautiful!! The waves crash quite close to shore so there’s always the murky sand break before you get to the more refreshing water. We found ourselves a spot and ordered two beers (when I refer to beer it means longneck/always, and unfortunately you have to take the good with the bad.. Some are deliciously cold and crisp, others are room temp.) As Sean swam I could see the rain in the horizon and within a minute it was absolutely bucketing down! Whist some danced and whistled jumping into the already splashing sea, others ran from the wetness and seeked refuge in the restaurants until it passed. 

Two bad cocktails later we wandered down to another beach restaurant; ‘Nissan,’ for an awful pizza… It was literally a bad version of the pocket pizzas but packed with tonnes of shredded carrot! After too much sun/rain/bad food choices, we decided to nap it out in our white crisp linen! Waking a little rejuvenated and again hungry we ventured back to ‘Central Beach Inn’ for a candlelit dinner on the sand. We had two tasty meals of a red snapper special and a crab (you crack open) and salad, beers were cold and we could hear the crashing of the waves so our faith was restored in Mirissa beach! 

We woke the next day, wanting to see the sights of what the area had to offer so we hired an overpriced scooter from the man next door. After doing a little research we decided for brekky we would try ‘Dewmini No 1 Rotti Shop,’ as we had read nothing but raving reviews of the family restaurant nestled in their backyard. I ordered a banana and chocolate Rotti, adding coconut and ice cream, and Sean ordered a banana, chocolate and pineapple rotti, not knowing really what we ordered as I have only tasted Indian Rottis which are like a small version of naan bread. To our astonishment we were served the most incredible crepe like dish!!! Honestly amazing!!!!!!! And all under $10 Aussie. So we booked in for dinner and headed off on the scooter for the day! 

We followed Galle road down south until we hit the 172km marker post and turned onto the small, muddy dirt road in order to find what was promised to be the vast serenity of Talalla beach.. And we weren’t disappointed! It was a pristine beach yet to be trashed with tourist eyesores! There was only one cafe on the beach and maybe 10 other tourists! The water was clear and refreshing.. A few degrees cooler than Mirissa. We splashed in the small waves for maybe only an hour until we saw the dark cracking clouds rolling over. 

Back on the bike it was a race against the weather home… and we lost! The drops were hard and big.. it felt almost like pellets of hail being fired at us, and although it was difficult Sean managed to steer us in the direction of home, stopping at just about every road side book store to successfully find some playing cards! After a long, hot shower we stopped shivering and rode our bike back to the Rotti shop for an incredible feast; a 6 dish prawn curry and a chicken, egg and cheese Kotthu (a Rotti chopped up finely with ingredients so it appears like a fried rice). Both were equally incredible and a good amount of spice.. (We asked for medium but I would hate to see how much you would sweat with the hot option). Satisfied and smiling we finished the night on our balcony with a bunch of beers and cards. sr

Our last morning South and we couldn’t have had it any better way; a sandy walk on the beach on route to our new fave place!! Two sweet rottis later and iced coffee, we checked out of the Ocean Reach and waited by the main road for a public bus…little did we know what kind of day lay ahead of us on our venture into the hill country!!