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Two days ago, we travelled by train from Sigiriya to Trincomalee on Sri Lanka’s north/east coast. Elenka complained from start to finish that we should have taken the bus. So what if the train was an hour-and-a-half late in leaving, followed by a 30 minute delay en-route, I told her. It may now be the only rail system on the planet where you can sit your arse on the floor and let your legs dangle out the train door while in motion. 

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From Trincomalee, we tuk-tuked it 10 kilometres farther north to the more exclusive Nilaveli Beach. The booking.com site had just one room left at our chosen hotel, so we snapped it up. So what if it was just a quaint little cabina on the back forty. When we got there, though, Front Desk immediately offered us an upgrade with a balcony, looking out on the sea. Who wouldn’t take advantage of such a wonderful gesture? We snapped it up.

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Generally, Elenka and I give hotel swimming pools a wide berth when we’re by the sea. But this time around it’s a bit different. The sea is just a touch too rough for Elenka’s healing back, but what we do have is a giant sized people-less pool—I think there are just four other guests here, all non-swimmers.

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After doing our pool lengths, we perch ourselves on lounge chairs under a coconut tree where there’s always a pleasant breeze, and read not so great books that we’ve picked up along the way. We’ve been assigned our own guard dog. His name is Wrexuš and he’s got a very frightening bark. And that is good, not a single hawker has gotten within 20 metres of us without making an about-face. 

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We may just stay here until it’s time to go home. Then again, tomorrow is another day.