Our flight from Mumbai to Colombo, Sri Lanka was a comfortable one although at a ridiculous time (3.10am). Interestingly, we were able to take liquids, gels and pastes without any problems. Immigration and customs etc was a breeze and we were at our hotel in Negombo by 6.30am. We'd now been awake for 24 hours and we were desperate for sleep.
As we lay in the bed, staring at the dubious pink and white Battenburg ceiling, we dozed off.
Once refreshed, we went for a walk into town, we needed money, water and food. The 20 minute stroll took us parallel to the beach and at intervals between the hotels, houses, shops, churches and temples we caught a shimmer of the suns glare upon the ocean.
Negombo town is clean and bustling. Clothes shops, jewellers and beauty product shops dominate the high street. At every corner or lay-by, scores of tuk tuk drivers call out for business "Tuktuk? Taxi? Massage?", why would anyone take a massage from a rickshaw driver?
It was hot and the warm sea breeze was doing nothing to bring us any respite. The wary feeling of being in a strange country was upon us again as we notice a change in people's attitude. We can't work out whether this is due to the very touristy location we're in or if Sri Lankans are a bolshier bunch. They have a bit more persistence than the coastal Indians. We're trying not to draw comparisons between the two nationalities, but Negombo and Calangute are similar in many ways visually (miles of sandy beach and geared up for tourists). Small things like the smiles we get disappear a little too quick for them to have been genuine or when a shop keeper steps out in front of us to beckon us into his shop and then we do the 'we're-trying-to-get-passed' dance on the pavement as each way we move, the shopkeeper blocks us off.
We stop for a well earned ice cream sundae (well, we did walk about 3 kilometres) and then wandered back to drop off the bits and pieces and went to have a look at the beach.
We crossed the narrow road in front of the hotel and down a passageway all but directly opposite. Two steps in and there's soft, warm, golden sand between our toes. At the end of the short walkway the beach opens out in front of us. As far as the eye can see in both directions is Negombo beach. It's breathtaking, the wide sandy coast is backed by coconut palms and a smattering of restaurants and hotels and its shore slopes gently into the Indian Ocean.
We immediately stuck out feet in the sea and we were amazed how warm it was. The northwest monsoon is in full swing and the water was murky with churned up sand from the sea bed. No snorkelling to be had here.
We found a spot and plonked ourselves down. Within ten minutes of relaxing, a huge wooden outrigger beaches itself, returning from a scenic tour. The boatmen holler for help and I'm off jogging to lend a hand. I get put at the back of the boat, still in the surf, and where everyone else pushed, I had to lift. Between the 10 of us, we hauled the boat high enough up the beach to keep it clear of the rising tide. It was exhausting work and Jan told me afterward that the two guys that had been out in the boat watched on disinterested.
The crew were very quick to offer their thanks, which was really nice and in stark contrast to the Indian fishermen I helped in Goa, maybe we had judged the locals too quickly and too harshly.
We sat for a few hours before heading to a beach shack and getting ourselves a couple of jelly coconuts. These bright yellow coconuts are soft inside and full of sweet water. They're just perfect to refresh us from the beating sun. The jelly in the centre somehow acts like ice cubes and as a small chunk gets sucked through the straw, it cools us from the insides out. Drinks finished and we set off for our obligatory walk along the shoreline. As we walked, the number of people on the beach increased. After about a kilometre, we reached some rocks, beyond was a sweeping crescent of sand. This part of the beach was teeming with people.
Local families and friends crowded onto the beach, it was the familiar scene played out on thousands of beaches everywhere round the world. Ice creams being eaten, ball games, frisbees, kites, splashing in the surf and bathing in the sun. Along the beach to the horizon was picture perfect. However, when we looked inland and up at the sky, it was far from idyllic. The heads of black thunder clouds rolled in from the north. In the distance we could see lightning that would light up the sky for long seconds, followed by a deep rumble of thunder. The locals carried on regardless and in fact people were still arriving after a day at work, weary and looking forward to a revitalising dip in the sea some even kept their clothes on to do so.
We knew better than this foolhardiness and we decided to make our way back to the hotel before the imminent storm hit hard.
We were about half way when the thunder storm was upon us. Forked lightning raked the sky with such intensity that while illuminated, the clouds looked like they were being held in a net. The boom of thunder that followed reverberated in our chests and our eardrums.
We quickened our pace and wondered why no one else was running for their lives. We could see a few people starting to take shelter under the palm roofed boat huts but as we were close to the hotel now and we decided to just get back.
We escaped the rain by about 5 minutes and it was just as well. The rain lashed down and the wind bent the coconut palms as it swept its way through.
Night came and by the time we ventured out, all was calm again. There was the odd light sprinkle of rain as we walked to dinner but as we have got accustomed to, the air is so warm that we were drying off quickly.
The restaurant choice is limited to very touristy places which surprisingly serve very little in the way of traditional Sri Lankan food. Many places were still not yet open for the season which officially begins 10 November. We settled on one restaurant having walked up and down and despite the 1970's Majorca feel to the place (disco tracks playing and lots of lights round the plants) we had a pretty tasty meal of devilled prawns and veg rice.
Generally, the food here is average at the very best. The abundant black pepper, chilli, ginger and coconut is missing from all but one meal and often the seafood was overcooked and tough. What we mostly received was a vague vegetable curry and some prawns in a shop bought chilli sauce both of which tasted more like a rinsed out Thai in flavour than Sri Lankan.
We got the feel that the only side of Negombo we could see was the touristy side. There were no quiet side roads hiding gems or rundown restaurants serving mamma's food. The tourist trap here is all but impossible to escape from and everything we've tried to avoid if possible. We get the "Luvly Jubbly" shouted at us when they discover our nationality and I swear to Jan that if I hear it one more time I'll stuff a yellow three wheeler up their arse. She replies "mange tout, mange tout" and I feel calm again.
Each day the thunder clouds start to build around 3pm, most people tend to remain on the beach or in the sea and wait for the worst to pass. We decided to do to the same, the rain came down and the thunder started soon after. We jumped into the sea and waited for the shower to pass. Being in the sea during a storm is pretty exciting but as it intensified we became slightly concerned for the camera that was in our bag on the beach and we decided enough was enough. And just as well.
As we got to our stuff, the sky went black. The wind whipped up a stinging sandstorm that reddened our skin. The rain fell with such intensity that we initially thought it was hailstones. We quickly tried to get some clothes on for protection but trying to dress yourself when you're wet is a slow process. People must have wondered what on earth we were doing as we stumbled into each other. Jan's skirt stuck tight to her calfs and she was hopping around just to stay on her feet and my t-shirt was stuck on my head and arms and looked like an elaborate reverse escapologist as I struggled to pull it down.
We got dressed enough to be able to run to the nearest boat hut. We sheltered there until the worst of the storm blew past.
Returning to the hotel, soaked to the skin and covered in sand we got lots of smiles from the locals. Some jokingly offered us their umbrella or pointed out it was raining.
Negombo wasn't exactly an introduction to Sri Lanka, it was more waving across the room to it. We got no feel for the culture or heritage. But it was a nice few days by a beautiful beach, which allowed us to reflect on our time in India and plan our onward route.
Tomorrow we set off to Anuradhapura on our first Sri Lankan train journey. If the trains are like the Indian trains, we'll have no worries.