Middle-aged flash packers

Shan’t miss the Raveena guest house. All our stuff feels damp and there is no comfort here at all. Steve was kept awake by the revolting smell coming from the bathroom. The bathroom window looks directly out onto the breakfast cooking area and there is no soundproofing. Yuk!
We shared our taxi with Max and Desiree, a German couple probably in their mid thirties. They were delightful, very easy to get on with.
Our driver didn’t look old enough to have a licence and drove like a lunatic. It made no sense – constant acceleration and braking, overtaking on blind bends yet we didn’t arrive any quicker than Google maps predicted.
However, he was a nice guy and he knew I’d wanted to see a wild elephant. As we drove along a road crossing a huge lake , he spotted one and stopped for us to take photos. As it was we ended up seeing another one close up and three in the distance. Hurrah!
The scenery we drove through was very diverse and beautiful. We started off in mountains, then flat paddy fields, then hills and lakes, then banana plantations.
Our accommodation, the grand sounding Maison d’hotes Sanda Beach, is a 10 minute walk away from Mirissa beach but there is a small beach 2 minutes round from it.
We paid quite a bit more for our room but it’s still really basic and we have to keep our curtains closed as everyone entering the building can look straight into our room! Still, the bathroom doesn’t stink and it’s luxury compared to the Raveena.
We were extremely weary from our journey so went straight to the little beach and had a dip, then showered and walked into Mirissa.
The walk was not pleasant, with buses thundering past us. There was also a rubbish dump by the side of the road that stinks.
Anyway Mirissa beach itself is perfectly nice but heaving. People rent sunbeds from the beach bars and they were crammed in like sardines.
Steve had particularly wanted to come to Mirissa as blue whales can be seen off the coast. We had heard that you can get a boat out to see them but some of the reviews weren’t good, with boats carrying over 100 people. (Compare this to whale watching in Hawaii where we were on a boat with 12 other people.) We were also very concerned about the hassle factor to the whales.
There was one company – Raja and the whale – that got good reviews so we went to have a look at his boat. Turned out to be two huge boats with regimented seating, each taking around 40 people. Steve decided it wasn’t how he wanted to see the whales and gave up on the idea.
Before he descended into a spiral of negativity we stopped at a beach bar and had a drink. As the sun started to fade, the staff moved the tables around and brought out candles . People stood and watched the sunset and it was very beautiful.
The beach was soon dark and was lit up with fairy lights and candles. Very special.
For me, Sri Lanka’s theme is “heaven and hell”. I swing between the two. I wonder which is going to win?