Galle, Sri Lanka
The next few days take on a gentle rhythm and routine as we sink into a relaxing mixture of tropical beach days and pleasant evening wandering.
While Galle itself has no beach to speak of, it sits at the heart of Sri Lanka's stunning coastline featuring some of the best beaches in the world. The easiest way to reach them is by tuk tuk and fortunately two brothers, Akura and Asanka, become our regular drivers chugging us along through the fume-filled roads of modern Galle beyond the fortress walls before we reach our chosen beaches.
On the first day we head to Unawatuna, our journey delayed by the ever-escalating demands of work filling our inboxes. But we make it there by lunchtime, finding a backpacker's resort of shabby guesthouses and restaurants advertising rooms to rent, alongside souvenir shops and places touting scuba diving, river safaris and whale watching.
The nicest place to spend the day is the Kingfisher bar and hotel but all the daybeds have gone so we settle for a place called Thilak next door, where two sun loungers have just come free under the shade of a parasol.
At one end of the beach sits a large Buddha looking out to sea, the temple below hopefully protecting Unawatuna from the complete destruction it suffered ten years ago and for which a sign thanking the tourists who stayed to help rescue and rebuild is erected on the winding road that leads the tuk tuk to the sea.
Unlike ten years ago, Unawatuna now seems to be the destination of choice for Russians who make up the vast proportion of our neighbouring sun-bathers, with restaurants having signs in both English and Russian.
Thilak's sunbeds are free of charge for those who eat there so we have a very garlicky fish and chips while next to us a family, who seem to be from the Black Sea according to their children's sun hats, smoke industrial-strength fags and order "Shex on ze Beech!" cocktails.
The beach is lovely, although very crowded, and the sea is gorgeously light blue, clear and warm. Vendors selling mango, pineapple and papaya ply their trade alongside souvenir sellers, masseurs, palm readers and even snake charmers with a monkey on a leash.
The following day we take a longer ride up the coast to Hikkaduwa and a quite incredible beach. It's vast and the kind of palm-fringed, golden-sanded paradise that fills tourist brochures and day-dreams in equal measures. Under a banana-leaf cabana at the Blue Moon Beach Bar we snooze and read for the day, sipping cool beers and heading into the sea for the odd dip now and again.
The water crashes onto the sand with huge white plumes of spray and surfers and body boarders ride the waves. At one stage, as I dive in and out of the rolling breakers, I'm taken by a particularly forceful wall of water and suddenly, head over heels, I'm being thrown around like the spin cycle of a washing machine. As I desperately try not to swallow seawater - frantically trying to get my feet down and my head above water - there's a moment of primal terror before I manage to gasp fresh air and make contact with the ground.
A restorative lunch and cocktail makes it all better! After a couple more hours we walk far along the beach to a hotel called Chaaya Tranz where apparently turtles come ashore. It's a vast all-inclusive style place that our travel agent had originally suggested and we're relieved we chose to ignore him and stay in the Fort Printers in Galle instead. It's not our style at all, and God knows why turtles would go near it.
There's no sign of natural wildlife, although there's plenty of sunburnt holidaymakers with pot bellies and speedos, so we just grab a quick drink at the beach bar to cool off before flagging down the Colombo - Galle on a bus at the side of the road, which skids to a halt for just seconds while we jump on board. Our tuk tuk had cost 1600 rupees whereas the crowded public bus is just 50 rupees each.
Above the driver are flashing electric Buddhas and music is played to keep the passengers entertained. We reach Galle in half the time it had taken in the tuk tuk and are dropped off at the bus station, walking back to our hotel along the fortress walls as sun sets.
On our third day we visit Mirissa beach, almost an hour's tuk tuk drive along the coast to the east of Galle, past the surfers paradise of Weligama. Less developed and extremely beautiful it too is blessed with white sands, crashing waves and little restaurants. It also has an outcrop you can climb for stunning views and an array of rock pools with bath temperature water swirling around.
Mirissa is also the starting point for whale watching excursions as the waters of southern Sri Lanka have recently been revealed to be one of the migratory route for blue whales. Having attempted a couple of whale watching trips previously that always ended in abject disappointment we forego the opportunity and just relax instead before taking another bus ride back to Galle.
Three days of sea, sun and sand have been the perfect way to relax after all the travelling we've done... but there's still a last bit of exploring to be done before we have to return to reality.
