We have decided to stay put in Mirissa for a few days and to give Unawatuna a miss. We prefer the low key beachiness of Mirissa, it’s lack of overt commericalism and laid back vibe.
Today we need to top up on cash, which involves a trip into Matara about 15 minutes away on the bus. With a population of around 76,000 this is a bustling coastal town with not much to recommend it to tourists. It’s hot and the traffic heavy with people coming into town to visit the temples and generally enjoy themselves on this second day of Poya. The streets are a riot of colour thanks to the flags and banners everywhere.
This is a place to sit in the shade on the seafront and spend a while people-watching. It’s too hot for anything more strenuous. But there is an endless stream of people moving back and forth across the slightly incongruous suspension bridge which leads to a buddhist temple on the small island of Parey Dewa whilst at other temples people wait patiently sheltering from the sun under umbrellas as they wait patiently to enter.
There is a road widening project underway which involves the partial demolition of all the buildings that line both sides of the main road into the centre of town as well as the moving of the drainage channels. It’s a shambolic affair with rubble lying everywhere and shells of forlorn buildings waiting to have their facias re-instated. Incredibly, all this is open to the street.
It’s not uncommon in Sri Lanka to come across gun-toting soldiers strolling in the streets and it’s quite disconcerting when the board the bus, as they did on one occasion and take their seats for all the world like any normal passenger. Army manoevres also take place in full public view and road barackades as part of these exercises are not unusual though no-one get stopped so what purpose they serve is unclear. In high profile sites such as Colombo and Kandy there are police posts every few hundred yards, manned by jovial and friendly police who seem to have little to do but idly pass the time of day.