Hikkaduwa - from 2 to 4

Happy reunion was on July 14th. The small, inconspicuous train station of Kuruna near Colombo airport served as an ideal meeting point for Philipp and Nina with Lukas and Sabi. Due to lack of beer, the reunion drink turned into a coconut milk, but that didn't diminish the joy. So we took the train south. The destination was Hikkaduwa - announced in the travel guide as the 'place where sports, fun, and beach can be best combined'. When we arrived there after a few hours of train ride (by the way, we were able to enjoy the regional train's second class standing in the tightest space for 1.5 hours), we took a leisurely walk along the beach. On the way back to our small but cozy accommodation, we came across a beer shop, so we raised a toast to our reunion :)

The first full day in Hikkaduwa started after a comfortable sleep with a delicious meal, during which we could discuss our rough travel route. The rest of the day was spent at the beach, swimming, playing, and relaxing. The positive highlight was giant sea turtles that were very close to the beach, so we could get just a few steps away from them. Unfortunately, Philipp stepped on a sea urchin while observing them... Luckily, there were only a few spines, and Nina successfully removed both from his foot ;)

The next morning, before continuing our journey to Mirissa, we visited a small local turtle farm. There, injured turtles are cared for and turtle eggs that are sold on the black market for consumption are hatched. Each of these turtles is then released back into the open sea.

After this visit, we made our way back to the train station to continue towards Mirissa.