Welcome

After treating my friend to some tea and a crocodile bun (my favorite!) at the only teashop within the airport boundaries, we decide to spend the first night at a beach nearby. We enjoy the tuk-tuk ride to Negombo and settle in a beautiful old Dutch mansion turned into a guest house only half an hour later. From our large balcony, we watch the sun set. Back to the west coast after six weeks, this is my first sun set at the beach.

We walk down the street in search for dinner and pass a traditional wedding ceremony. Curiously, we stop to take pictures. A sudden 5m-high firework makes me run when it starts raining. My first rain in Sri Lanka! Stuck under a rooftop, we find ourselves amongst the wedding guests in their fancy saris and hip blazers.


A restaurant popular with locals is just across the street, but we would be soaked to the skin. So we wait and have a very late dinner. As introduction to Sri Lankan cuisine, we order rice and curry, of course. My labelling of "not-so-spicy" lets my friend choke. And before I can warn her that my favorite coconut sambol is not sweet, but just as spicy, she loads a big spoon into her mouth. The papadam does the trick to neutralize the chili.


Welcome to Sri Lanka!