While I was in the south of India I started thinking that since I was so close to Sri Lanka (and who knows when this would happen again, I should go…) Fast forward to when I arrived in Sri Lanka (A former British Colony next to India) without a plan, with the hopes of just getting lots of surfing done and exploring the country.
A passport and a dream!
This is a pretty funny story. I´m on my own at the end of the day of sightseeing and walking back to the hostel to see if there are other people to go to dinner with and as I´m walking I notice this girl walking along next to me the same direction, so I said hello. After 2 minutes of small talk as we´re walking she said she´s going to dinner as its her last night, and asked if I´d like to join her, so I did, and we had a very nice dinner together.I got extremely lucky that my friends Ellen and Vic, who I had met in Varkala (India) found out I was in Sri Lanka and told me to come down to a place called Midigama. They said there was a nice group of people and good surf, so I might as well start there. After giving it some thought, I said why not and only explored Colombo for a day, before taking the train down to Midigama to meet them.
As I said, I was really lucky, because when I arrived I found that beside it being paradise as the guesthouse (Rams Surf Beach) is right on the beach and in front of a famous surf spot, with beautiful beaches and nature all around, there were an amazing group of people that became my family in Sri Lanka.
The main reason anyone would go to Midigama is to surf, as it isn’t even a town…it’s more like a village with a few good surf breaks, so the people who go there are there to surf, and that says a lot about the people. The people were down to earth, good hearted people who love the thrill and search to ride waves.
The beach and social area of the great guesthouse, Rams.
We had a great view of where some of the islands best surfers showed their stuff.
Some details of life at Midigama and our guesthouse were:
Going to bed early (before or around midnight) and waking up early to be in the water to catch waves before sunrise or shortly after.
More reflecting and soul searching….meditation, yoga, juggling, drawing, practicing mini djembe drum.
Looking up at the amazing stars and moon from the beach right in front of our guesthouse, sunsets were also unbelievable.
Good conversation and gatherings and singing around a guitar or music…not really late nights of partying, with some occasional party nights.
Day trips on scooter or bus to villages along the coast like Galle, Unawatuna, Ahangama, Mirissa, Weligama, and Matara.
If you don´t care about Surfing you can skip this part, if not keep reading….
Surfing is the most humbling activity that I have found yet. Although I first learned to surf a long time ago, the last few years I have been trying to surf when the opportunity arises and I’ve tried to get better, as standing on a board is not that tough, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Learning to understand the waves and paddling past where the waves break (exhausting and frustrating as sometimes up to 45 minutes battling the sea just to be able to get to where you need to be ), and then when you finally are past the break of the waves, then they are far from predictable (to a beginner like me) and it’s hard work to be at the right place at the right time, which is key! So LOTS and LOTS of paddling (using your arms to move around and to generate some momentum).
While in Midigama I ended up surfing a few breaks like Lazy Left, Lazy Right, Plantation, Devils Rock, and Kabalana which were all nice, and it felt strange surfing over reef where if you fell you’d sometimes feel it!
Watching the most stunning sunsets with the spectacular colors reflecting off of the water as I sat on my surfboard at one with the ocean and sometimes sea turtles and other surfers.
At times really frustrated from spending up to 2 hours in the water and not being able to get a good ride on any of the waves I managed to stand up on.
2 sessions a day…in the morning and afternoon surf sessions trying to get as much surfing done as possible and better!
Yelling out in delight after catching a good ride and finding a big sea turtle 2 meters away either being startled by my yelling, or coming up to celebrate with me!
Getting pummeled by the ocean at times and feeling the force of the ocean when it decides to show you how small and insignificant you are and you learn to not fight against the ocean, but try to flow with what it throws your way. You learn to be smarter and strategic, or else you are DONE!
It was hard to pull myself away from Midigama and the amazing group we had at Rams, but one morning I took off to explore and hopped on a train around 7 hours (parts with beautiful views through the mountains) to get to Kandy, that is beautiful as it is surrounded by mountains and beautiful landscapes and vegetation and even has a nice lake in the middle and temples around.
One day I was walking by the big buddhist temple, and there was a ceremony so I ended up renting these grandma clothes to cover my tank top and shorts and went in to explore and check it out and it was beautiful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_the_Tooth
Something I’ve noticed is that in India and Sri Lanka they often use newspaper or random paper to wrap your snacks or even as napkins here. I like this from an environmental standpoint, just hope it is hygienic!
Then my lack of planning and a bit of bad timing found me traveling in the mountains where almost everyone in Sri Lanka who can, goes…to the mountains where things got really crowded and accommodation started becoming scarce and expensive and people gave me incorrect information and I wasn’t able to get to a mountain I wanted to climb (Adams Peak) or to Nuwara Eliya and Ella that are supposed to be beautiful , so then I did something I loved. I exercised something I was fortunate to have. A choice! I decided to change my plans and just go back to Midigama to get more surfing done in a place I knew I already loved, and spent one more week there surfing and enjoying it.
Although, I had always seen the skatepark (Bowl or empty swimming pool space) next to the guesthouse, I never went assuming (Never assume anything!!) that you had to take your own board. But then people told me you can borrow one there, so in my last few days in Midigama I went on a few skate sessions, which were fun!
Before this I had never skated in a skate park or pool or anything like this, so it was very new to me (not to mention around 20 years since I last skateboarded!), but within minutes I was getting the hang of it, and enjoying some nice falls 🙂
Not a bad place to have your breakfast, right!?
Sad and pathetic skin whitening products sold all over 🙁 I even noticed after using a soap I bought that it was whitening! Anyone who knows me knows that the last thing I want to do is get lighter!!
My last surf session in Sri Lanka, and the day of the best sunset… I had no idea someone was taking this picture and I was coming out of the water and ran into my friend Mariano from Uruguay who I had met on the train on the way to Kandy, and had told him if he loved surfing he had to come to Midigama. And here we were running into each other.
Has anyone ever handed you a bag of money?…as I´m saying goodbye to someone at the guesthouse a guy I hadn’t even met sitting with my friend asks where I´m heading. When I say India, he says he has a lot of Indian Rupees left, but I tell him I´m leaving right then and don´t have money to give him for them as I have to go to ATM, and he says, he can´t use them anywhere else and just gives me this bag full of cash. It ended up being like $25 bucks…what a nice guy, and how about my luck!? I will have to pay it forward at some point!
OK this one is a little embarrassing…As I arrive at the airport for my flight the person checking the ticket at the entrance points out that my flight was…the next day. So, I foolishly left paradise one day early, but at least was a day early, not a day late. Here having a beer with my friend Mitch, whom I shared a ride from Midigama with before his flight (his was that day!)After so much exploring the last almost 14 months, My Sri Lanka trip ended up becoming a surf holiday. I explored a bit, but not as much as usual as I gave myself the opportunity to get better at something that I’ve always wanted. I spent almost all of my time in Midigama where I surfed by far the most I had ever surfed, and on top of it, I was in an island beach paradise surrounded by good people giving me hugs and love and we all shared laughs and good times.
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More info about Sri Lanka and it’s 30 year Civil War that ended in 2009.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Civil_War
