Beautiful tropical coast

Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Tangalle, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
It's beach time!!  And only a short drive to our hotel Turtle Bay for 4 nights.  Originally we were due to stay in Tangalle in beach cabanas but they were fully booked so Rickshaw found this hotel as an alternative further along the coast and more remote.  It's splendid, everything you image a remote palm fringe beach location to be.  The sun is shining and there's a good cooling breeze.  We've had a long beach walk with not a sole in sight. The sea is quite rough and is too dangerous for swimming but there's a pool to dip into right outside our room.  The 2004 tsunami hit this coast hard and we can see some washed up boats but otherwise the land appears to have recovered. 
Thursday 1st March
There is a bird sanctuary nearby and we arranged to go early this morning by tuk tuk and then were punted for a couple of hours round the inland lagoon and waterways.  It was a very peaceful experience with birds and water buffalo thrown in.  Back to the hotel for breakfast, including buffalo curd and palm syrup (a speciality in this region and it's delicious).  It's unusual for us not to be active but here we are lounging under the palm trees feeling totally soporific and booked in for another Ayurveda  massage....bliss.
Friday 2nd March
The massage was probably the best yet..... warm herbal oil and strong massaging hands.  Mike thought we smelt like a tikka masala....... I'd like to think it was more fragrant than that.
 This morning there's a "Sri Lankan" flurry of preparation for a Sri Lankan style wedding on the beach organised by the hotel.  The couple getting married are Swedish although he is of Sri Lankan origin having left the island when he was only 4. There is only a small family group of guests who have been staying here since we arrived.  We can sit under the palm trees and observe, not having anything else pressing to do.  The hotel sits on a small promontory and we can view the sweep of the bay but just round the other side is more sheltered small bay where we spent the morning in the sea,  taking pics etc.  Although the hotel was not built when the 2004 tsunami swept in it avoided the worst of the devastation because of the slightly higher elevation either side of it was pretty well flattened.  

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