Tom's India Excursion

Day 5 in Sri Lanka and as it was a festival day, to celebrate the birth and the enlightenment of the Buddha. We made our way north to make the pilgrimage to Adams peak in the centre of the island.

Adams Peak

Sun rise, Adams Peak

Myself and Paul blazed it up in 2 hours and I felt a little sold short until we climbed back down. The views in the day time were awesome, giant Buddha's, temples and waterfalls scattered the landscape.

Adams peak

Giant Buddha, Adams Peak

After 9hours traveling, climbing a mountain and sleeping only 2hours in the last 36 the idea of rest would be appealing but due to our time restrictions we decided to try white water rafting in Kitugala. To be honest either of us had the energy for it but I was enticed by the thought of rafting the 'River Kwai', as it was here that the film 1957 classic, 'Bridge on the River Kwai' was filmed.

Rafting, Kitugala

The rafting itself was ace. We were dressed like crash test dummies and thrown in a boat down class 3 rapids. I had to be rescued as I almost fell out! Our guide was a bit of a legend and back flipped off the raft, I won’t talk about our own attempts.

Me on the condemned bridge over the river, Kitugala

I left Paul in Kitugala to head back to India. My journey back to Colombo airport was something out of an episode of Mission Impossible. After 9 hours on the road the airport shuttle bus court fire and we had to be dropped off 1km from the airport. I made a mad dash with all the other passengers though a huge storm which started around the same time as the fire.

All in all I loved Sri Lanka. It has such a chilled out vibe and although people are just getting back to normal after the 2004 Tsunami all the locals friendly and backdrop is awesome.

We arrived in Sri Lanka with no delay and no trouble after seeing the live images of an attack on the airport. In fact there was no sign; Colombo International has to be the best airport I’ve been too!

Weligama beach, Weligama

Weligama beach break, Weligama

We headed to the southern tip of Sri Lanka, a place called Weligama. It’s a sleepy little town and small town Sri Lanka is really 'small town'. What it lacked in nightlife it make up for with surf. 4ft, clean, long breaks and awesome tropical scenery.

Weligama beach, Weligama

Surf School, Weligama

It was sweet. 40c, amazing accommodation, cheap food, cheap beers and a chilled vibe. Due to the heat I'd decided to shave my head. It looks quite good and I get less touts due to the fact I look like an American GI! Myself and Paul spent 3 days doing pretty much nothing expect surfing and chilling out.

Me surfing, Weligama

The beach itself in Weligama bay is something out of national geographic. 3 mile long beach, white sand, not a sole in sight and the occasional cow! My pictures don’t do it justice.

Cow on the beach, Weligama

On the last day there was a lighting storm, we surfed below and the storm raged above. We head next to Buddhist site, Adams Peak.