Sri Lanka day 31 – Goyambokka, Tangalle

This is a lovely spot for hanging around doing absolutely nothing. It’s out of season and there are only two other people staying at Green Gardens, so apart from the inevitable building work that is going on behind us, all is peaceful and quiet. The two other guests are a Swiss couple who have been travelling with a four-wheel drive for an incredible 26 years! There biggest headache seems to be arranging transport for the car, which they are trying to send to Mauritius and then on to Madagascar – not an easy task as we learn from their blow-by-blow account of the administrative bureaucracy involved. The only other people staying in Goyambokka are a French couple who came to the restaurant for dinner last night from the cabana resort across the way. In the afternoon we take the bus into Tangalle and walk along the beach to the busy fishing harbour. There are some sizeable trawlers making their way out to sea, as well as a few traditional outrigger canoes pulled onto the beach. A couple of water monitors are swimming up the river which meets the sea just before the harbour. Banana pancakes on the beach at the Franjipani guest house. Back to Goyambokka for a swim, or more accurately a fight with the waves. The French couple are way out, beyond the breakers, doing what looks aqua aerobics, which certainly seems to keep them in trim. The old boy that hangs around the beach and is highly recommended by the French as an excellent cook (praise indeed from our cousins across La Manche), is waiting with a fresh coconut for us all to share . Another long chat with the Swiss and a delicious and enormous rice and curry dinner at Green Gardens.