Arugam Bay

The next day we went to the beach at 10 o'clock. No resorts, no large areas with beach chairs, many fishermen, plenty of space to swim and surf, that's how I would describe Arugam Bay. The few beach chairs can be easily occupied, but then you should buy a drink at the bar, that's fair! In the afternoon, we went on another safari, this time we wanted to see crocodiles. After a short time, we saw the first ones, but they are so shy that we could only watch them disappear into the water. We continued to a small river, Sissy, the owner of our accommodation, jumped out of the jeep and we should follow quietly. With flip flops and shorts, we walked through the undergrowth, bubbles rose in the water, it made us uneasy, I definitely don't want to fall in there. A short time later, we were standing 10 meters in front of a 3 meter long crocodile, what a sight! Sissy threw a stone and it disappeared in the water, quickly run away! On the way back, we saw an elephant on the side of the road, which didn't like us very much. When we were about 15 meters away from it, the elephant suddenly came towards us. Ana and I immediately ran for our lives (I've never seen her run that fast before :-D), Sissy stopped and yelled at the elephant, causing it to turn around quickly. Thank goodness we weren't alone, because running away is definitely the wrong decision, it turned out well in the end...

We spent the remaining days at the beach swimming, relaxing, eating and drinking. In the evenings, we met again with Saskia, Arian and a few other backpackers. After a few beers and lost games of Yaniv (JaNee), cow riding on the beach was fun too.

After the third night, we continued towards Trincomalee. The bus left on time at 05:30 a.m. What followed was a 7-hour bus ride on heavily damaged roads and a bus that was fully occupied at times, all of this at 40°C, at least the doors were open, wonderful.

Arriving at the upscale beach resort, we went straight to the private beach and the pool.

The next morning we went diving, absolutely fascinating. Hundreds of different fish, starfish and corals to admire, and we were only at the beginner's reef. At the beginning, we were a bit scared, as we were supposed to dive 10 meters deep after a short introduction. After the first attempts in shallow water, the initial skepticism subsided. I think I've found another hobby!

We continued with snorkeling, in the first two hours I didn't see any turtles or the promised sharks and was already very disappointed. What now? After a few Chinese people pulled a turtle out of the water and got a huge scolding from the security guard, we simply asked him where we could best see turtles and sharks. We sweetened the deal by smearing some honey on his nose and telling him that such behavior as just now is not acceptable. He was so impressed with us that he offered to let us snorkel in the restricted rocks. There we could admire countless sharks and a huge turtle, asking definitely pays off!

In the evening, we went for a ride on the scooter, visited a few deserted beaches and got to watch some fishermen catch their prey in the evening.

In the afternoon of the penultimate day, we took the bus to Negombo, which was 250 km away and reached after a 9-hour drive. The VIP bus had a little more legroom and the air conditioning cooled the air down from 40 degrees to 38 degrees. In addition, the comfortable leather seats, in which you only sweat a little at these temperatures. My ass needs a vacation now!

Conclusion:

After spending the last day lying in the sun at the hotel, I can confidently say that it was a great trip. Although the accommodations here are slightly more expensive than in other Asian countries, it's still manageable. What's pretty cheeky is the entrance fee, which is only charged to tourists. Sometimes up to 30€ for a historical site, so you can easily end up paying 100€ entrance fee in two days, while locals pay only 5€...

However, since you know the circumstances beforehand, everyone can decide for themselves whether a trip is worth it or not. The friendly people and the incredibly diverse landscape make up for it!