Christmas in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka (2/4) By Dave F

(1/4), (2/4), (3/4), (4/4).

Photograph Gallery 1, Gallery 2.

Getting around here is very easy as the whole place is built around one road and you're either beach-side or jungle-side so most things are within walking distance. Tuk-tuks are 3 wheel taxis with drivers who can get you anything you want and take you anywhere for a few pennies, but if you like to get around under your own speed you can hire a scooter for £2 a day. The roads here are not for the fainthearted though as everyone wants to overtake everyone else. On a two lane road with a bike being overtaken by a tuk-tuk being overtaken by a car being overtaken by a bus you don't want to be coming the other way, I know from bitter experience.

A hundred yards from the beach and you're in the jungle and that means mosquitoes... No cream or lotion can stop these little bastards from dining on you, but there are a few things that can help. Mosquito nets are a must and so are mosquito coils which are much like incense, the smoke distracts the mosquito. A hungry she-bitch loves the soft, pink skin of a new arrival so the quicker you get a tan and toughen up the old epidermis, the less you'll get bitten.

The wildlife here is awesome from monkeys and chipmunks running across the rooftops to snakes, lizards, elephants, 3 legged dogs, fruit-bats and I saw a huge eagle the day I arrived. One night, sitting in a bar on the beach front called Top Secret a huge turtle crawled under a sun-bed and began digging a hole to lay her eggs a few feet from where we were sitting. This is something you won't see down the Sailmaker's Arms.

Once you've got your head round the Sri Lankan money system you have to deal with haggling. Everything is for sale here but nothing has a price-tag. As a green tourist straight off the plane it's very easy to pay more than you need to for a lot of things and it helps to have someone with you who knows what things should cost. Even so, most things are so cheap that you are only haggling over pennies a lot of the time, but it's a fun game to play.

Another thing I need to mention are beach-bums. Wherever you are, be it on the beach sunbathing, in a bar having a drink or eating these people will be there trying to sell you anything from mangos to clothing to a massage. The best thing to do is ignore them because however inadvertently you make eye-contact, this is the invitation they've been waiting for and you'll never be rid of them. So, if sun-bathing isn't your thing, what to do???

The waves are good but very inconsistent so you get less real surfers these days and more people coming here to learn. Not having the bottle to try surfing proper I got into a bit of body-surfing which is a total rush. Even so, I couldn't believe the power of the waves here and a couple of times I got wiped-out and battered into the sea-bed which was scary but it didn't stop me going back in.

Continued ... next page (3/4)

Photograph Gallery 1, Gallery 2.

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