Day 5: January 23

The beach here turned out to be very interesting. In one place, a natural pool had formed thanks to a wall of coral reefs. It made for a lagoon without waves (they broke against the reef and never reached the shore).

We take turns swimming because we’re afraid to leave our backpack in the room, so we carry it with us. And at the beach, one of us swims while the other keeps watch over the backpack. First I went swimming, and then Wolf.

Wolf came back beaming, with a mask in his hands, and said: “Can you imagine, I was swimming on my back and suddenly heard someone snort nearby. I was very surprised because there was no one around. I decided to look around and then I saw a huge turtle underwater! I quickly ran to the shore, rented a mask, and went looking for the turtle. The turtle was out of sight for a long time, and then I found it again. It’s so huge! I was swimming there alone with the turtle, and then I grabbed its shell and it gave me a ride. Can you imagine!”

Wolf’s eyes were shining. “See those people gathering over there,” he pointed at the people in the water with masks, “they probably found my turtle too and are gawking at it now. Go on, go, and don’t come back until you find the turtle.” I took the mask and set off in search of the turtle. Wolf was right — the people in the water with masks were hunting for the turtle. The turtle was really huge — about a meter long. Soon the people lost interest in the turtle, and only I and some boy kept swimming after it. It was so cool to swim after such a giant. Under its belly, some little fish were swimming — probably they have a symbiotic relationship with the turtle. From time to time the turtle would sink to the bottom and eat seaweed. Then it would float back up to the surface, stick its little head out of the water, and breathe. Then it would keep swimming again.

We sat on this beach a little longer, and I went a second time to look at the turtle. The second time, it was barely possible to find it. We returned the mask and went for a walk.

We thought we’d find some other place to stay here and spend another night. But nothing turned up — all the hotels were either very expensive or completely booked. We went into yet another villa with a beautiful grounds. It turned out that it was rented by a man from Russia — they have a business like that here, renting houses and turning them into hotels. Russian tourists are gradually occupying Sri Lanka.

We returned to our hotel. Ate mango and sapodilla. To our surprise, this mango did not please us at all… It was better than the first one, but still so far from those delicious fruits we ate in Thailand and in India in Goa.

At the moment, the only tasty fruit turned out to be sapodilla — it has a pleasant texture and is very, very sweet.

In the evening we got on the moped and went to eat in Unawatuna. We went into a little restaurant and ordered seafood chop suey (it was Volchy’s idea). It turned out to be very tasty!

On the way home we bought cookies and beer. We sat on the balcony overlooking the ocean by candlelight and drank Sri Lankan beer. By the way, we bought Carlsberg and their local Lion beer. Carlsberg turned out to be tasty, with a slight bitterness and a good beer aftertaste, while Lion was a complete nightmare. And, as we read, they’re made at the same brewery.