Tracking our progress on the train with google maps I knew we were getting close but never hurts to ask the officer on the train, he instructed us to sit back and he’d come get us when it was time. Lucky he did because he called to stop the train in the middle of a field……..just jump out the open door into the rain and mud………Walking along the tracks we found a tuk tuk driver willing to bring us to our homestay!

We were about 50m from the beach at our homestay which suited us perfectly, our hosts made everything even easier with help for tours, breakfasts and even snorkelling rentals! We started into a few days of beach bum lifestyle, which included eating, drinking, reading, swimming and of course sun burns! Despite the area being famous for turtles we did not see any while snorkelling which made the sustained sunburnt backs harder to deal with!

The country itself has fallen on hard times but the people are what made Sri Lanka so amazing to visit, just very friendly, easy going (a stark difference from our experience in India). Rolling blackouts were the norm daily but we are well versed in using candles in blackouts at this point!

Our big trip in Mirissa was going Whale Watching, hearing rumors of blue whales in the area and I was sold! Unfortunately no whales were seen but we did see a lot of turtles, spinner dolphins and Whale Sharks. More unfortunately we both fell asleep on the boat, me with no hat on…………my head was absolutely humming!