Sri Lanka Part II (December 2019)

On the second part of our Sri Lanka trip, we had some relaxing time on the beach in Weligama, which is on the southern coast of Sri Lanka. For the first two days, we enjoyed the beach and whale watching before our friends, Varun and Evaan, joined us from Colombo on the third day.

While staying in Weligama, we went whale watching with Raja & the Whales in Mirissa, which is a town right outside of Weligama. Raja and his crew are all family members. We woke up at the crack of dawn and took a tuk tuk to the meeting place, which was a short walk to the boat. When we checked in, they gave us sea sickness pills for the boat ride. The sea sickness pills had a major side effect (more to come on that later).

On the boat, while they briefed us about the safety rules, they handed out ginger cookies (also for sea sickness) and coffee. On the way to the whales habitat, they gave us a briefing on what types of whales and dolphins there were on the southern coast of Sri Lanka. When we reached the whale habitat, fruit was handed out, and they cooked eggs for everyone on the boat. You could order the eggs however you wanted, but their specialty was Sri Lankan omelettes, which is what I got. Mom thought it was very impressive that they could cook eggs to order on the boat while it was rocking. The food was very delicious. Elise, the youngest person on the boat, ate the most food.

While we were eating, we saw some whales and lots of dolphins. Raja and his team had spotters on the top level of the boat that were constantly searching for whales and dolphins. When a spotter saw a dolphin or whale, he would let everyone know by shouting out the position on the clock face, then everyone would dash to that side of the boat and look for the whale.

As mentioned above, the seasickness pills had a side effect, and pretty soon Mom, Elise and I were conked out. Fortunately though, we didn’t miss any of the whale sightings.

After the boat ride was finished, we went to the beach. Elise searched for treasure while I swam and made sand castles. We also worked together to dig a big hole.

Later that day, I gave surfing a try. The waves in Weligama are perfect for surfing because they’re big but not too big. The waves are also consistent, and they all go the same direction. Also, the water remains shallow a long way out, so you can ride waves for a long time. Surfing was a lot of fun because it was fast, exhilarating and exciting.

After we finished at the beach, we had afternoon tea.

The next day, we woke up and went to the beach to continue digging our hole.

Varun and Evaan joined us later in the day.

Varun and I went surfing while the little kids played in the sand.

Dad and I liked surfing so much that we even convinced Mom to try it out.

After we had enough of the beach, we rinsed off and went to the pool.

That night we watched a traditional Sri Lankan dance show. It had many elements, including plate spinning, singing and dancing. My favorite part was the fire dance. When the dancer used his torches to hit piles of powder on the ground, it made an explosive column of flame, which startled everyone in the crowd.

The next morning after breakfast, Varun and Evaan left and went back to Colombo with their parents, and we spent the rest of the day swimming in the pool. Once we showered, we had a delicious seafood dinner at the hotel restaurant. The seafood was very fresh. They had it all on display, and we got to choose what we wanted and how we wanted it cooked.

The following day, we went to Colombo and spent some time with Uncle Gem, Auntie Shibi, Varun and Evaan. The next morning we flew back to Kuala Lumpur. The Sri Lanka trip was one of my favorites, and I’m glad Uncle Gem and Aunt Shibi invited us.