Over the Easter holiday, I took a wonderful trip to Sri Lanka. We spent several days in Mirissa, a lovely beach town on the South Coast. The turquoise waters were a perfect bathwater temperature. And the waves were amazing! No wimpy little swells. Crashing waves that sometimes made my heart skip a beat as they threatened to maul me. They brought back fond memories of summertimes at the Jersey Shore, jumping the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Of course, the Jersey Shore didn't offer fabulous fresh coconuts...or warm water for that matter!
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| Erica drinking fresh coconut on Mirissa Beach |
While the beach was fantastic, Sri Lanka had so much more to offer than just beaches. We were completely charmed by the Fort of Galle. We walked along the fort walls, with stunning views over the Indian Ocean. In addition to admiring the seaside views, we stopped for cocktails, lunch, and coffee at three different cafes in the Fort area. Total overkill, right?!? And we visited several cute boutiques with fun souvenirs. The entire Fort was perfect for strolling and just soaking in both the natural and manmade atmosphere. We were also lucky enough to catch the sunset as the capstone to our Galle visit.
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| Sunset over the Indian Ocean in Galle |
Sri Lanka is one of the top producers of cinnamon in the world. We learned this and other facts about cinnamon during our visit to Mirissa Hills Cinnamon Estate. We saw how cinnamon is planted, harvested, and rolled into shapely sticks. We also visited Handunugoda Tea Estate, where we tasted many varieties of Sri Lanka's famous Ceylon tea that is exported across the globe.
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| Fresh cinnamon anyone? |
Besides these agricultural exports, we were excited to consume the other bounties of Sri Lanka - namely fresh coconut juice and seafood! I drank a fresh coconut each day I was in Mirissa. They may or may not have been spiked with vodka. At our first dinner in Sri Lanka, my friend Dorian ordered crab. When the waiter came to me, I also ordered crab. He paused and said "But your friend already ordered crab." I looked the waiter square in the face and said "Yeah...and I want my own crab." I then had to eat my words and a whole lot of crab to clean my plate and prove the little woman could eat an entire crab of her own.
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| Smiles all around for fresh coconut :) |
With happy stomachs and spirits, we headed towards the airport for our return flight to New Delhi. Along the way, a friend shared a vague news article about an explosion in Colombo. Then I received an email about more bombings. We turned on the radio and heard that six bombs had exploded in Sri Lanka that morning. Airport operations were unaffected, so we continued to the airport. As we approached the terminal, we slowed to a crawl and then spent the next 40 minutes inching forward towards a new checkpoint where security officials were screening every car and opening every trunk. At the terminal entrance, every bag was opened and searched. After that we proceeded as normal to the gate and returned to Delhi without incident.
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| Erica & Karime at Colombo Fort's Clock Tower |
We learned that one of the bombs had gone off at the Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo. Earlier in our trip, we had taken the above photo at the Clock Tower in Colombo. Then we walked down the block and passed right by the Kingsbury. We also heard that an unexploded bomb was found near the airport, and we probably passed right by it as we waited in the long line of cars entering the airport. We are thankful that is the extent of our encounters with this tragedy, but our hearts ache for Sri Lanka at this time.
