The sleepy and rustic fishing village of Negombo is where most trips to Sri Lanka start or end. It does try to cater to the transient crowd with decent restaurants, a few fun pubs and a variety of accommodation options. I chose the Blue Ray Hostel with a private room and balcony for $15 a night. It was $12 a night but I splurged for the AC remote because well, that is how I roll.
The shore fisherman were working hard and the results showed. Beautiful prawns of various sizes, dazzling calamari and loads of fresh fish were being dragged from the sea, washed and put up for immediate sale. Locals were snapping things up as quick as they were displayed. If you were hungry they would cook anything for you on the spot. I am not sure why I didn't eat a batch of prawns. I think because unlike the fishermen of Mount Lavinia, these guys were fairly aggressive in their approach to me. They were friendly enough and quite chatty, but once they realized I was not going to buy anything, they immediately walked away from me in disgust. I get it, I really do. They are trying to make a living and I am just a dumb tourist taking photos.
This was a nice three days. I decided no street food and ate great meals, including some impressive gnocchi and bruschetta at Prego Italian restaurant. Oddly, this town is filled with Italians so a couple of decent Italian places makes sense. The pub was fun and the people cheerful, although it was comical at times to look down the bar and see everyone staring into their phones. I did not have the heart to take a photo. My hosts were nice and the free breakfast with my stay was simple but filling.
I will hang onto the Rupees I have left over. I had a decent job interview the other day for a six month teaching position in Colombo. I have to prepare a demo lesson and the Present Continuous which I can do in my sleep. If all goes well, I will come back to Sri Lanka in July.
Thanks Buddha.
The beaches here are far from idyllic and you will not see them on any travel promotional brochures. After spending time down south on the beautiful beaches of Mirissa and Hiakkaduwa my skin was still suffering and peeling off in sheets. I kept my sweaty tshirt on the entire time and I had no desire to wander the beaches here anyways. Also, this place has the laziest street dogs ever.
Negombo was the site of one of the Easter 2019 terrorist attacks. The bombing of the San Sebastian church killed 104. It has since been rebuilt and is quite a nice church in its simplicity. With all the security elsewhere in the country there was none to be found anywhere near the church. I liked that. Don't get me wrong, there are armed security scattered all along the main strip. They all look extremely serious and are not the "friendly cop on the corner" to go and ask directions. There are tourist police for that. It is easy to know the difference. Battle fatigues with automatic weapons, bad. Smiling blue uniforms with sidearms, good.
There was a small wedding when I went to visit and for whatever reason I was immediately swarmed by the kids in the ceremony. Nothing serious, just a lot of hellos, giggling and photos. As with The Cafe Leopold in Mumbai (2008 attack) or the Artisan Bakery in Dhaka (2016 attack), there is always a strange awareness for me to stand in a place that was the site of such malicious destruction and death. It is not something I set out to do but I will not avoid the reality of it. This and the attacks in Colombo were direct attacks against Christians by Muslims. This was all about religion.
To me, this just about sums up all religions.
"My God is all powerful and all loving but if you do not believe in him, I will kill you"
The tourists are all along the one main strip, which follows the beach. I decided to walk out of the tourist area and following the beach line, heading towards the estuary that is popular with tourist for boat rides. It was a bit shanty but I was greeted by smiles and hellos and never felt any fear. However, it was the gaudy and out of place monolith of a hotel that caught my eye, how could it not. Twenty stories a pink stucco madness that would be more logical in Vegas, not freaking Negombo. As I walked past and took the photo the security guard immediately closed the gate to hide my view. Yes sir. big state secret.
The hotel is as far North from the tourist zone as one could get. The beach in front and around the place is not what you would call luxurious. There were a few other low rise and nice hotels in the area so I must have been missing the attraction. Regardless, this monolith sticks out like a sore thumb. The only thing I could think of was that down the road the Chinese tourists were going to be coming here en masse and this is where they would be sent. This is how the Chinese took over and basically are destroying Sihanoukville, Cambodia. One massive hotel/casino at a time.
There was a small wedding when I went to visit and for whatever reason I was immediately swarmed by the kids in the ceremony. Nothing serious, just a lot of hellos, giggling and photos. As with The Cafe Leopold in Mumbai (2008 attack) or the Artisan Bakery in Dhaka (2016 attack), there is always a strange awareness for me to stand in a place that was the site of such malicious destruction and death. It is not something I set out to do but I will not avoid the reality of it. This and the attacks in Colombo were direct attacks against Christians by Muslims. This was all about religion.
To me, this just about sums up all religions.
"My God is all powerful and all loving but if you do not believe in him, I will kill you"
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The tourists are all along the one main strip, which follows the beach. I decided to walk out of the tourist area and following the beach line, heading towards the estuary that is popular with tourist for boat rides. It was a bit shanty but I was greeted by smiles and hellos and never felt any fear. However, it was the gaudy and out of place monolith of a hotel that caught my eye, how could it not. Twenty stories a pink stucco madness that would be more logical in Vegas, not freaking Negombo. As I walked past and took the photo the security guard immediately closed the gate to hide my view. Yes sir. big state secret.
The hotel is as far North from the tourist zone as one could get. The beach in front and around the place is not what you would call luxurious. There were a few other low rise and nice hotels in the area so I must have been missing the attraction. Regardless, this monolith sticks out like a sore thumb. The only thing I could think of was that down the road the Chinese tourists were going to be coming here en masse and this is where they would be sent. This is how the Chinese took over and basically are destroying Sihanoukville, Cambodia. One massive hotel/casino at a time.
 |
 |
 |
 |
The shore fisherman were working hard and the results showed. Beautiful prawns of various sizes, dazzling calamari and loads of fresh fish were being dragged from the sea, washed and put up for immediate sale. Locals were snapping things up as quick as they were displayed. If you were hungry they would cook anything for you on the spot. I am not sure why I didn't eat a batch of prawns. I think because unlike the fishermen of Mount Lavinia, these guys were fairly aggressive in their approach to me. They were friendly enough and quite chatty, but once they realized I was not going to buy anything, they immediately walked away from me in disgust. I get it, I really do. They are trying to make a living and I am just a dumb tourist taking photos.
 |
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This was a nice three days. I decided no street food and ate great meals, including some impressive gnocchi and bruschetta at Prego Italian restaurant. Oddly, this town is filled with Italians so a couple of decent Italian places makes sense. The pub was fun and the people cheerful, although it was comical at times to look down the bar and see everyone staring into their phones. I did not have the heart to take a photo. My hosts were nice and the free breakfast with my stay was simple but filling.
I will hang onto the Rupees I have left over. I had a decent job interview the other day for a six month teaching position in Colombo. I have to prepare a demo lesson and the Present Continuous which I can do in my sleep. If all goes well, I will come back to Sri Lanka in July.
Thanks Buddha.
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