Negembo, Srilanka

My Srilanka trip was very short. We stayed there for just 6 nights and 6 days.

Jet airways, Air Sahara, Air India and Srilankan Airlines operate flight between India and Srilanka and they connect Colombo to several cities in India – Chennai, Trivandrum, Bombay, Bangalore and Delhi.

We flew Srilankan. We took the flight from Chennai on a Monday night. The flight duration is 45 minutes from Chennai to Colombo. The flight took off at 9.15 pm and we were to reach Colombo at 10 pm. But, as Srilanka is ahead of India by 30 minutes, we reached at 10.30 pm local time.

Our chauffer cum guide for the tour Mathow arrived to pick us up. He was there on time, waiting for us. But, instead of having our names on the welcome card, he had the name of the local travel agent in Bangalore. I realized the mistake in names and recognized him.

Mathow drove us to our hotel for the night, Camelot beach hotel at Negembo.

Srilanka is very popular for its beaches. Indian itself has a large coast line, then, you might ask, what is special about the beaches in Srilanka. The beauty is that, there are beaches like that of Goa, with silver sands, beaches like Vizag that are mountainous, beaches like Karwar, shallow for most part of the day, beaches with white sands like the ones at Andamans and Lakshadweep. The waters here are shallow with reefs, the colour is of copper sulphate blue, very inviting. There are also backwaters, like Kerala. So, there is variety in one small island, which is just 160 kms wide and 240 kms long. No wonder, it is called Pearl of the Orient and Serendib – which means Island of Peace.

Negembo is 12 kms north of Bandarnayeke International Airport and took us about 15 minutes to reach by car. By the way, the airport is located 15 kms north of Colombo. While driving through the silence of the night, Srilanka seemed so much like India, the narrow lanes lined by shops, the coconut trees, the dogs on the road, barking at every passing car, young boys standing on the road and having a chat with friends, it all looked so familiar.

We reached this part of Negembo that is full of beach side resorts. We checked in at Camelot.

When we reached our room, the first thing on my mind was to look out for the beach. How far is it from the room ? Can I hear the waves from the room ? I opened the balcony door and realized that there is hardly 100 feet separating the room and the sea. I could see the froth of the waves, and could hear them clearly. I was way too tired to stay out. Plus it was sultry, so much like Chennai. I slept, promising myself that I will wake up early to walk by the beach.

Camelot is a simple 3 star beach resort, obviously by the beach, with simple rooms, has 2 swimming pools, has a nice restaurant cum bar, has a good open beach side restaurant, barbeque and common area with a good collection of books. The rooms are simple and neat with TV, attached bath and basic facilities. All rooms face the beach.

I could not sleep comfortably coz I was scared that a tsunami was on its way. I din’t realize when I dozed off.

So, I woke up really early. I must have slept for just about 6 hrs or so. I usually sleep for about 8 hrs at home.

The first thing on the mind was to get some time by the beach and click some nice photos. We were to proceed towards Dambulla and Giritale at 9.30 am with Mathow. So, that left us with just about 3 hrs to walk by the beach, have breakfast and get ready to leave.

The beach at Negembo was like it is in Chennai and Pondicherry. Rough waves. It was cloudy and sunlight din’t reach the land. There were several traditional fishing boats parked by the shore. They were unique. There were 2 parts to every boat. A fibre glass component on one side, and a bamboo component on the other, which I think is meant for balancing. Between the two parts is a bamboo bridge, where the fisherman stands and fishes. There are usually 2 men in the boat. Later I came to know that the sail is covered with fish blood. The smell would attract other fish when the boat is at sea.

We walked for about an hour. The entire beach has lots of beach resorts one after the other. All of them looked the same, they were facing the beach, U shaped with all rooms facing the sea, with the swimming pool in the center.

As we walked a little away, we saw residential areas. There were many parks. We saw young and older men going for their early morning walk, many young kids were playing foot ball.

At the same time, fishermen from the nearly fishing hamlets were setting out to the sea to fish. The boats with their red sails, were getting in one after the other. It was a really nice sight. There were over 100 boats in the waters, and many more were getting in. Most of them had motors fitted, some of them were operated manually.

The sun just got out from behind the clouds, the sunlight, the grey clouds, the red sailed boats, the bluish grey water of the sea, the white frothy waves and the golden sands made a lovely picture.

We walked as far as we could, and came really close to a fishing hamlet. My husband was worried that some local fishermen may come and demand money from us…such things happen in India, it is not really safe there. We din’t want to get into trouble in Srilanka and hence walked back to the hotel.

We were really hungry, and decided to finish our breakfast before getting back to our rooms. Dosa or Idly or Milk rice with Chicken curry or Fish curry is the staple break fast at Srilanka. The fish curry tasted like the one my mom makes – with tomato and tamarind juice, lots of chilly powder and coriander leaves. The chicken curry tasted like the Kerala fish curry. Of course it will, if coconut is used. So, I know food would never be a problem here.

The tea was superb. At every place in Srilanka, we got the best tea.

After a nice break fast, we went to our rooms, got ready, and were ready to leave at 9.30 am. Our sojourn in Srilanka was just about to begin.