Always on the lookout for amazing locales for our Women Embrace Adventures, I've been busy doing some recognisance in Sri Lanka with the fam bam in tow....
Another long winded update - hope you enjoy!
DAY 8 - Arugam Bay We arrived around lunch time to our new accommodation âBAYWATCHâ (look out Pammy I may don on a red full piece and patrol the beach ) and headed straight to the best burger hut in town, lonely planet and trip advisor are the best things when traveling to find out little hidden gems like this. We then headed for the beach, the water was perfect and the boys hired some body boards for the afternoon - they had a ball. Luke and Pete went out around 11pm to watch the World Cup. Itâs a very touristy town so there were plenty of people watching it on a big screen set up on he beach.
DAY 9 - Arugam Bay Poor Luke went down hill and has been in bed sick all day đ¤˘. The poor kid has been wanting to come to Arugambay since we decided on Sri Lanka and this happens to him. The rest of us had a quiet day and just walked the town for the day in between checking on Lukey boy. Luke and Jan stayed home and the rest of us went on a boat safari in the afternoon hoping to spot some crocodiles. No crocs but we did see elephants playing in the water and so many amazing birds and was a beautiful and peaceful afternoon on Pottuvil Lagoon.
DAY 10 - Arugam Bay
We've decided to stay an extra night here so Luke can recover and can hopefully get some surfing in (the beauty of using booking.com to organise your accommodation and free cancelations). He had a rough morning but came good and ate some lunch and slept most of the day away so fingers crossed we get some surfing in tomorrow.
Pete hired a scooter today, 1000 Sri Lankan rupees which is about $8.50. However, it could become more expensive if we get pulled over by the police as none of us has an international licence BUT old mate said just slip them 500 and you should be right and if they donât leave you alone bring them to my shop and Ill pay them off
đđ OMG! No cops and we all had fun scooting around.
Oh and here is another dodgy story ... we wanted a drink on the beach this afternoon so I asked one of the restaurants if they have cocktails and beer - âyes mamâ. Great we took a seat. Then he came up to me and said âoh mam cocktails are cold but beer is not, police are out checking so we have to hide the beer as we do not have a licence so cannot keep it cold in fridge. But spirits can be mixed with cold drinks the cocktails are coldâ. And same thing when we asked for beer over dinner - their beer was cold here but it was all on he sly and hidden out the back of the restaurant. The staff even moved pot plants out the front so it was harder for police to see in and spot alcohol on the tables!
DAY 11 - Arugam Bay Long story short.... đ Today we hired 2 tuk tuks đJo and I had a go of driving and decided it was better for everyoneâs health if we hired a driver so we found âJamesâ đPete drove the other tuk tuk đLuke felt a bit better so came with us đThe clutch cable on one tuk tuk broke, luckily a quick fix at a local garage and about $3 AU to get it fixed đFlat tire in same tuk tuk - Pete and James to the rescue đPete smashed up the arse of the other tuk tuk in the tuk tuk he was driving đLuke went down hill and couldnât even get in the water after lunch đWent to a beach that had crocodile sign warnings all over it BUT hey we swam and I tried to surf anyway đSBG (Super Backpacking Grandma) got dunked by a freak wave while she was standing in the shallow water đAND the surf board we hired had chunks taken out of it from James pushing it onto the roof of the tuk tuk and across some sharp edges....
âall fixed, no problem, I
fix this same problem
every day on this van"
đđđThere is some good news, we didnât get pulled over by the police and have to bribe them because Pete didnât have an international licence!
đđđAnd we laughed at our unfortunate day and loved every minute!
DAY 11 - Arugam Bay - Trincomalee. Luke is back to normal and went for a body board this morning whahoooooo - however, he has passed the batten to Tyler who is now sick as a dog! We now have a a 257km drive that will take us over 6 hours!
About 5 minutes in and guess what???? The van broke down - another clutch issue!
Yep we are laughing so we donât cry! Not sure Arugam Bay is our place! 15 minutes later a mechanic turns up on a scooter with one small spanner đ§ (Sri Lankan Lube Mobile) and in 5 minutes it is all fixed and we are back on our way. Dennis was not to sure about it being fixed enough for a 6 hour drive and questioned the mechanic. Mr mechanic said âall fixed, no problem, I fix this same problem every day on this vanâđ¤Łđđ
Next stop Trincomalee... HOPEFULLY!
Stay tuned for more...
Check out Arugam Bay:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Arugam+Bay+Beach/@6.8436914,81.2759704,9z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x3ae5a2d27b6fafbf:0xc6efd6b59df5db34!8m2!3d6.8404078!4d81.8368478