I've never been one to turn down the opportunity to travel to a new place, so when my boyfriend, Sanoon, suggested we take a long weekend to Sri Lanka together, I had all but packed both our backpacks before proclaiming the word "yes" in agreement.
Before I knew it, we happily boarded a 25 minute seaplane from our resort to the Male Airport.
Once in the airport, we had the pleasant surprise of running into our friend, Tinos. Tinos worked as a dive master at our resort but was placed with a dive center in another Atoll a few weeks ago. Our happy reunion helped pass the time in transit as we waited 3 hours to board our flight to Sri Lanka.
The flight was an easy breezy hour to Colombo. With only a few days in Sri Lanka, we didn't want to waste any time, so Sanoon and I decided to skip dinner and begin the long journey to the South Coast of the country. One rickshaw, two buses and 6 hungry hours later, we arrived on the outskirts of Unawatuna, a coastal beach town one of our Sri Lankan friends recommended as a good place to spend the weekend. Knowing we would arrive famished in the early morning hours, we opted to go above our "budget travel" allowance and booked a [supposedly] 5 Star hotel with 24 hour room service. However, upon arrival we realized the hotel was not what it promised to be online. With a single security guard at reception to greet us and the kitchen long closed, we were informed that there was nothing they could do to accommodate our hunger.
( I think our "roommates" got the right idea and decided to look for dinner elsewhere).
We must have played on just the right amount of starving sympathy and convinced the security guard to bring us a plate of fruit as it didn't require much kitchen preparation.
Our hotel was conceived by three male European shoe designers. As we noshed on the fruit plate and looked around the new digs, I began to feel as though these shoe designers furnished the entire room from a sex store in New York's West Village.
This room was too flamboyant even for Tim Gunn to approve...
The next day, Sanoon and I left the Freudian phallic paradise and took a tuk tuk to find a more affordable hotel closer to the center of Unawatuna.
The laid back town of Unawatuna was the perfect place to relax and enjoy the beach,
Kick back with a cup of [vaguely familiar] "Starbeans Coffee,"
Peruse some of the famous teas of Sri Lanka in a local tea shop,
And take a welcome break from our resort cafeteria with a delicious Italian dinner.
(I promise to get a shot of the food in my next dinner-selfie).
Aside from eating and relaxing, we were able to squeeze in a nice beach party and a surf lesson in the nearby town of Galle. [Sorry, no pix here folks!]
After a few days in Unawatuna, we took a bus back to Colombo and spent our last 24 hours shopping, swimming in a rooftop pool at sunset,
And taking quick trip to the salon to get our hairz did before our final nice dinner at Tao in the Cinnamon Gardens.
(Chocolate cheesecake and "straight" hair in the tropics...who knew!)
I loved Sri Lanka so much that before I even boarded our flight back to the Maldives, I started projecting plans for the next trip to visit the northern tea plantations of the country. Surely, another adventure is warranted in paradise!
#vacationallieverwanted #vacationhadtogetaway
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