17th March- Tissamaharama to Mirissa

Since we managed to save one day at Tissa, we decided to push on to Mirissa and leave our derelict guest house behind. We have never been so glad to leave a place that we were practically running to the bus station to catch our bus. This also marked our first time on the public bus, so I had no idea what to expect. Turns out, it's also fairly straightforward and all you had to do was shout out your destination before a tout would lead you to your bus. The old man who got us on the correct bus was a joker of some sort as he pulled the window aside from where i was sitting and said "A/C", accompanied with a snigger.

Mirissa is a tiny little town on the south coast of the island with a stunning beach and great waves for surfing. A little bit inconsistent but still an enjoyable ride, nevertheless. Zul and I immediately fell in love with Mirissa for 2 reasons: 1) After trekking through dry land for a while it was nice to actually anchor by the sea...and you know the thing about me and oceans...2) though a bit more than our budget, we stayed in the lovely Palm Villa and owner Niko really has an eye for great design.

For some reason, I kept thinking of Daniele in Mirissa and how she would have loved to be marooned here with nothing much to do but lay out in the sun. It was indeed paradise and if ever there was a big enough reason for me to return to Sri Lanka, it'd be Mirissa. There, i said it..

We had dinner at the guest house that night, a veritable feast of prawns. One of the kitchen staff approached us with 2 big ones earlier that evening, so we agreed thinking that it probably won't be enough to accommodate our bottomless pits. But when it came to it, there were more than 2 prawns on the plate. Unless they magically reproduced and matured over a couple of hours, this was probably additional cost we didnt need. True enough, they tossed in an extra two for good measure, but not without charge. Oh well....we polished it off anyway.