The end of November and the beginning of December brought about our first holiday in the school year (aside from one rain day the week prior). For the combined American Thanksgiving/UAE National Day long weekend, I chose to get some rest and relaxation in Sri Lanka, bringing my country total to 55. Although Sri Lanka is a reasonably sized island, I decided to stay close to the airport, just north of the capital city of Colombo. I chose a boutique hotel and Ayurvedic Spa, which was about 20 minutes from the airport.

Negombo is a beach/fishing town that is often overlooked by visitors to Sri Lanka in favor of the Southern beaches or the mountains and tea plantations. Also known as Little Rome, due to the amount of Catholic Churches situated in the small city. The Portuguese missionaries were very successful here! The Dutch later captured the town before the British finally took over from them. It has a laid back vibe, and I found the people to be very friendly. I was able to walk around without safety concerns.

Day 1 – Rest and Relaxation

Upon arrival at 5 am after an overnight flight from Dubai (and after filling in the landing card, which I didn’t realize that I had to fill in), I headed out of the arrivals hall into the heat and humidity. I had tried to find an ATM to withdraw money (there are exchange places within the arrivals hall, but no ATM). Since I didn’t have any cash, I decided to try out UBER. This was probably a mistake, as the driver wanted cash, and then cancelled on me. I also couldn’t take a taxi or tuk tuk without cash… I finally found an ATM just outside the departures terminal (there is security which blocks you from entering into the terminal itself). Once I had some cash, I managed to get a ride to my hotel.

Thinking ahead (and because accommodation is pretty inexpensive), I booked my hotel, Ayur Ayur Ayurvedic Retreat, for the night before my early morning arrival, which meant that I could check-in and sleep as soon as I arrived. I definitely needed this, as I slept from 7:30 am until around noon. I think the hotel staff were a little concerned, as I didn’t leave the hotel at all on my first day there!

After lunch, I met with the ayurvedic doctor, who told me that I have too much pitta, or “fire”, and basically need to relax, meditate, breathe deeply and try yoga. He prescribed an oil treatment ( ) in addition to the full body massage that I signed up for. This took up most of the afternoon, and then I chilled, doing some readings for my grad studies and sleeping. For dinner, I had a delicious prawn curry, although it was way too much food!

Day 2 – Venturing to the beach

I opted to not get breakfast at the hotel, given that I was unsure of what I could eat. Instead, I ventured towards the beach, about a 15 minute walk. The beach was completely empty, and there were very few vendors. The beach is good for walking, and a few people were swimming, however, on advice from the locals, I did not swim, as the water is supposedly not clean. The downside of this area is that there are a large number of resorts that block the view of the beach, and could potentially lead to hundreds of people on the beach, however, this was not the case while I was there.

I did end up buying some flowy trousers from a beach vendor, who tried her best to get me to buy some dresses too. I bought 2 in the same style, but different patterns, and wore them for the rest of my trip (they are super comfy and light).

Since I didn’t have breakfast, I stopped in for an early lunch at the JetWing Ayurveda Spa’s restaurant: Koththamalli vege & vegan restaurant. The food was amazing! I had an avocado smash (appetizer), but it was super filling, and aside from the soup that they gave me to sample, and juice, I didn’t end up eating anything else.

Just like yesterday, it rained in the afternoon, and I spent the rest of the day reading (in my room, or by the pool before it rained).

Day 3 – Cooking Class

This morning, I wandered back towards the main street near the beach, to find an ATM and then stopped for a delicious house blend of juice from Grace’s Negombo Juice stand. Grace’s daughter was lovely, and we had an excellent chat. She is mixed Filipina and Sri Lankan, and grew up in Kuwait. I had wondered, as she had a very mild accent while speaking English, but it was very neutral. Turn’s out that she is also a teacher, and makes her way into Colombo each day (about an hour’s drive) to teach.

In the afternoon, I signed up for a traditional Sri Lankan cooking class. After driving around in the tuk tuk, unable to find the restaurant in the rain, I finally arrived at This is It! restaurant for my cooking class. I was the only person there, and the lady who was teaching me was the main cook for the hostel of the same name. They severely overestimated how much I could eat, and we cooked about double what I was able to finish for dinner. (I was told that what we cooked is the typical portion for a Sri Lankan). We cooked rice, poppadom, chicken curry, coconut sambal, dhal curry, gotukola sambal (greens, delicious!) and coconut roti. All the food was delicious. For those who are interested in Sri Lankan cuisine, one of the biggest things that they emphasized to me is that you must do your cooking in the clay pots (which you then serve the food in as well). This provides the best flavours.

Day 4 – City Tour

For my last full day, I booked a tuk tuk city tour. I was picked up at the hotel around 10:30am (my driver, Jude was very punctual). The first place he took me too was the Tamil Hindu temple, Sri Singama Kali Amman Kovil. The exterior is very interesting, with lots of colours. Jude waited outside with my shoes while I went into the temple. The flooring is basic inside, with a large shrine in the centre, and small shrines to different gods, including Ganesh, along the outside wall. I was the only woman inside, and it was a bit weird for me to be going through while people are praying.

After that, we drove to the famed Negombo Fish Market. It is not at all what I expected! I was expecting markets like I had seen in Margao, or Kampala, where vendors have their fresh fish to sell. Here, instead (or maybe because it was Sunday), what I saw was huge tarps covered in fish being dried in the sun. As I was walking around, an old man came around with decent English, and was explaining how all the fish are “good to eat day one and day 2, then after that, you cover them in salt and let them dry for 4 days”. There was mackerel, sardines, and rays. The rays take longer to dry, as they are much meatier and thicker. Unfortunately, the unseasonable rain was affecting the drying process, and while I was there, the skies opened up again. You should have seen how fast everyone moved to cover their fish with the tarps! It was also interesting to see how the birds do not go after this fishy buffet, since all the fish are salted.

From the fish market, we drove through the centre of town, and the main shopping area. I stopped in Kalpana’s Batiks and Souvenirs, where I bought some hand-died fabric for mom. The batiks were a little pricey (in my opinion), however it was the owner’s wife who dies them herself, and the sections of fabric were at least 2 meters long.

The next stop was to the Angurukaramulla Temple (which includes a Buddhist monastery). The Buddha statue in front is huge, and everyone that was there was all dressed in white. Just like with the Hindu Temple, I had to remove my shoes before entering the mouth of the temple (like an open tiger’s mouth). I crossed the ornate moonstone threshold, and then followed the progression of Buddha from ordinary man to enlightenment. Again, Jude waited in the tuk tuk for me.

The last major stop was to St. Sebastian’s Catholic Church. When we arrived, Jude explained that we may or may not be allowed in, and he had to show his ID to the guards at the door. I knew that there was a major bombing of Christian sites and hotels in Sri Lanka just after Easter this year (April, 2019), however, all the papers said Colombo, not Negombo. It turns out that St. Sebastian is the church that was bombed. Visiting it 7 months later, you would never have known that it had been the site of a major explosion. The only thing that shows is the pictures that they have posted outside of the rebuild. For more on the church bombing, you can check out this article.

Leaving St. Sebastian’s, we drove through the Muslim Quarter along St. Lazarus Road. Before dropping me off at the hotel, Jude invited me in to his house, where his wife served me a delicious peanut butter coconut cake, and sent me with about 4 more pieces to take with me. It was delicious!

If you are in Negombo, and would like tuk tuk transportation, Jude is definitely the best priced! You can ask for him at the Ayur Ayur Resort (I don’t have his contact number).

Alternatively, you can use the app “Pick Me”, which is like Sri Lanka’s version of Uber.

In addition to what I saw, you can also sail along the canal and the lagoon, or visit the Dutch Fort. So, if you are looking for a low-key time in Sri Lanka, don’t overlook Negombo!