Sri Lanka (Day 14-20)

Day 14 Journey to Tissamaharama
In the morning, we went for breakfast in Ella one last time and did a bit of shopping.
Afterwards, we packed our things and made our way to the bus stop. From there, we traveled several hours by bus to Tissa. During a stop of about an hour, we were, as usual, approached by several tuk-tuk drivers asking if they could give us a ride. Since bus travel is very cheap in Sri Lanka and the connections are very good, we hardly need them.
Upon arriving in Tissa, we took a tuk-tuk for the rest of the journey to our accommodation.
After a short break at our new accommodation, we set out on foot for dinner. We chose a small hut by the roadside. We both ordered Kottu, which was really delicious but also quite spicy.
By the way, cows and water buffalo roam everywhere there. Sometimes a whole herd of cows even lies on the roundabout or on the roads.

Day 15 Tissamaharama
Actually, we wanted to go on a safari early in the morning at half past four. Unfortunately, that didn't work out because we couldn't tolerate the food from the night before. Luckily, we were able to postpone the safari by a day.
We spent the day recovering from stomach problems and passed the time as there wasn't much to see in Tissa. We had breakfast at a small shop that our landlord drove us to. Afterwards, we walked a bit around the town and to a lake. In a tree by the lake, we could see over 100 bats hanging or sitting. On our way through the town, we also encountered a herd of water buffalo, which behaved nicely and correctly followed the left-hand traffic rules.
Then we went back to the accommodation, and I slept for a few hours. I could hardly sleep at night since the accommodation had no air conditioning.
Rested, we went to a gym and afterwards to a small restaurant.

Day 16 Yala National Park
We were picked up by our driver at 4:30 AM. On the way to the national park, we picked up more people. Suddenly, a huge elephant came toward us on the road. Upon arriving at the park entrance, we had to wait a bit since the park opened only at 6 AM. However, we were lucky and were relatively near the front of the line at the entrance.
After a short time, we saw a herd of elephants with several babies. When our driver received a call, he raced down the bumpy roads.
Upon reaching our destination, we could understand why he was in such a hurry. We just managed to see a leopard jump from a tree and run away. Our driver's timing was truly spot on. In the front of the jeep sat an 83-year-old woman from Australia. She kept saying she was afraid of falling out of the window and dying.
Additionally, she took some really funny pictures! Lots of jeep and few animals! Her husband sat in the back with us and slept the whole time.
The safari lasted a total of five hours, and we saw really many different animals, including crocodiles, monkeys, elephants, various birds, a leopard, deer, water buffalo, and peacocks.
After the safari, we immediately continued to the next accommodation. Unfortunately, the bus ride took another three hours, and we were really exhausted when we finally arrived in Mirissa.

Day 17 Mirissa
Since Mirissa is right by the sea, we decided to take a beach day.
The beach was truly beautiful, and the waves were quite high. That's why we saw many surfers in the water. After several hours at the beach, we asked at a surf school if we could take an hour the next day.
Unfortunately, that wasn't possible because the next two days were the New Year celebrations (a Buddhist festival).
We spontaneously decided to take a surf lesson right away. However, we took a tuk-tuk to a different beach where the waves weren't as high.
After that, we went to eat curry and rice again. Afterwards, we returned to our accommodation and took a short break. There we noticed that we had once again gotten really sunburnt, even though we had applied sunscreen several times a day. I suspect the intensity of the sunlight was just a bit too extreme for our skin.
Around 10 PM, we went back into town and to the beach, thinking that New Year's was being celebrated that day. However, that wasn't the case, and we enjoyed a cocktail and a beer at a beach bar.

Day 18 Mirissa
After having slept a little longer, we had a leisurely breakfast at our accommodation. After breakfast, we went down to the town. At the harbor there, we walked to a small lighthouse. From there, we had a really great view of the sea and the surroundings.
From there, we continued to Secret Beach. We didn't stay there long, though. When I tried to wash the sand off my feet at a shower, I got stuck with one foot on a palm tree. I had to pluck the many small thorns out of my foot one by one and was bleeding a bit. Unfortunately, we both didn't have any band-aids with us. Afterwards, we went to a beach bar where Jan got a delicious beer, and I got a tasty iced coffee.
Now we continued along the beach to a curry buffet. That was really cool because it only cost 4.43 € per person, and the curry was genuinely very delicious.
Feeling quite stuffed, we walked on to Parrot Rock. This is a rock in the sea, which you can only reach by walking a short distance through the water. There were many crows on the rock, and it was very windy. However, we had a great view.
Next, we drank coconut milk straight from a coconut on the beach and actually wanted to watch baby turtles being released. Upon arrival there, we learned that they wouldn't be released until the next day. So we went to buy some things for breakfast and then returned to our accommodation. Our landlord invited us to celebrate the New Year with them the next day. We of course accepted and later found out that it would start at 7 AM. Additionally, there would be fireworks and firecrackers going off all night starting from this evening.

Day 19 Mirissa
In the morning, we went to our landlord's apartment at 7 AM. The table was already set, and his wife as well as another Airbnb guest were in the kitchen.
The girl introduced herself and told us that she was from Russia, studying Indian and Sri Lankan history, and as a result, spoke almost fluent Sinhala. This was really beneficial as our landlords didn't speak good English, and she could translate everything for us.
She told us that cooking and baking for New Year started at 4 AM.
So we were served various cakes, fried sweets, bananas, and milk rice. The food was really delicious, but a bit too sweet and greasy for early in the morning.
After that, we took a few pictures, and we were invited again for the next day.
Now we made our way to Weligama Beach, where we rented two surfboards. After several attempts, we both managed to stand on the board a few times.
Next, we headed back to our accommodation to shower and get ready.
Actually, we wanted to walk through the town and do some shopping. However, that didn’t happen because all shops were closed due to the holiday.
So it was another beach day. We enjoyed the sunset at the famous Coconut Hill. The view was breathtaking, but a lot of other people had the same idea!

Day 20 Matara
In the morning, we set off for Welligama to go to the gym. Fresh and fit, we got ready for the celebration and took a bus to the neighboring town.
When we arrived, we were warmly welcomed and given juice and pastries. Afterwards, we waited for an hour until the celebration started. This raised the question of whether people in Sri Lanka aren't very punctual?! We were invited for 2 PM, but it actually started at 3 PM.
The celebration began with the hostess reading something and inviting us over. We were then allowed to light the first corners of a star that lay on an altar. After that, the remaining corners were lit.
Then, various games were played. First, only the children played, and then we also had to join in. For example, we had to participate in a race while balancing a lime on a spoon in our mouths. Or we threw water balloons at each other while the team that still had a whole water balloon at the end won.
In the end, we received more cake and a few snacks.
The celebration was really beautiful and it was very interesting to experience something like that. Despite the language barriers, we felt very welcome and had a lot of fun.
Afterwards, we went for curry again.