Unawatuna
Saturday, December 15th, 2007
Chloe Writes: The journey south from Colombo by train winds its way along the coast just a few meters from the sea. From here the devastation caused by the tsunami is very much apparent and every one we spoke to, locals and ex-pats, all had a story to tell. Some development has happened quicker than others especially with the busier beaches such as Unawatuna. Here we decided to settle in for a few days, which un-surprisingly turned into 10.
Apart from the usual swimming, baking in the sun, yummy seafood BBQ’s and general relaxation and enjoyment of the surroundings, we have had time for one or two other things. We visited a turtle hatchery where we saw tiny little one day old turtles, Pete had minor surgery when the locals tried to remove around 20 sea urchin spikes from his hands and feet (I’ll let Pete fill you in on all the gory details) and I’ve learnt how to cook up a Sri Lankan feast after spending a day at a cookery class. The only problem is I am itching to try out my new skills but have no kitchen to do so. Oh well, maybe when we get to Oz I can cook Sri Lankan curries from our camper and dazzle the locals.
As per usual we got a bit side-tracked and didn’t get any further east but we’ve really enjoyed Sri Lanka so it’s an excuse to come back some time in the future 
Pete Writes: After lounging around for 5 days, we decided it was time to explore a little bit more coast. We grabbed our scooter, helmets and hit the road.
We headed along the south coast, taking in lots of lovely scenery as the road hugged the coastline. One of our plans was to see the famous stilt fisherman, unfortunately they were not out (as the tides were not right). We decided to push on to Mirrisa. Mirrisa is a quite beach with a handful of guesthouses dotted around. The first thing that I noticed was the surf, as Unawatuna does not really have any, I felt drawn.
I grabbed my board and headed for the waves. As nobody else was in the water, I took a guess as to which route to go in. In my wisdom I began to clamber over some rocks slightly submerged. I suddenly stood on something sharp, realizing my mistake I began to back track, stepping on more spikes in the process. After muttering some insults to myself, I lifted my head just in time to be knocked backwards by a huge wave.
Rolling over the rocks, trying to find my footing I managed to pick up at least another 10 spikes. Beaten, slightly bruised and feeling like a porcupine I made my way back to the bar. Reaching the bar, I was instantly surrounded by 5 locals, who began to extract all of the black spikes from my feet and arms. Apparently if you leave them in they just keep heading deeper 
During the procedure, they used sap from a plant (which was supposed to be heated, I found out later) to coax out the infiltrators. During the treatment an old local went to see his wife, to fetch some local medicine (a mixture from local plants) that was pressed into a couple of the deeper wounds (that pulled the spikes out over night).
So that was fun… I have spent the last few days hobbling around the guest house. Oh, I have also had my feet re-treated as there were still loads left in there. Joy 
This whole incident has shown me how kind and friendly the locals are. Sri Lanka is a definite holiday destination of the future.
Page Gallery
Stilt fishing minus the fishermen…we thought it was a good photo none-the-less
Sri Lanka produces the most amazingly sweet and juicy pineapples…were addicted to them.
Another colorful stall, this one for of delights for my Sri Lankan veg curries
The raw ingredients for making chili powder
A rare albino turtle from the hatchery
Caught in the act….
Chloe Writes: Our short but sweet journey through the hill country started in Nuwara Eliya and at nearly 2k meters above sea level it was back on with the jumpers. ... 
Pete Writes: Since being in Sri Lanka, I have noticed how friendly all of the people are (not only the touts!) although the one thing that we did not ...