Arugam bay

We shared a car from Ella to Arugam Bay with our new found mates - Sasha and Laura - the newly weds. The journey was very pleasant and took about three hours, with a quick stop for short eats. 

Wild life enroute to Arugam Bay.

We had previously booked SAMs Guesthouse online, for 3 nights.

Sams Guest house and restaurant - I'm still looking for the cakes he advertised!

Bit of a mistake - it's pretty crappy and way more expensive than the other places in Arugam Bay. There seem to be three Sams who work here, Sam Senior, Son of Sam and Sam, Sam the useless man - and they are all a bit weird!

Sam's pants drying at Sams Guesthouse.

The two younger SAMs appear to live on the property, judging by the shower they take in the yard every morning and the underpants hanging from the trees.

We found a couple of nicer places right on the beach and debated moving hotels immediately but decided not to throw our money away and to put up with SAMs for the three nights we'd paid for. Once Sam actually provided some towels, sheets, soap and toilet paper, it was somewhat more bearable! Son of Sam also brought us coffee in the morning (after I got him out of bed) which was the saving grace.

After 3 days purgatory at SAMs we moved up the beach to the Arugam Bay Surfing Club, only to find our newly wed mates had also moved and were in the chalet next door! Obviously we all have very good taste!

Our lovely beach front room at Arugam Bay Surf Resort.

Afternoon tea break.

Arugam Bay is a really beautiful beach. In someways it's  better than I expected and in someways it's worse. 

The accommodations are a bit basic (expected); the beach is gorgeous but one end is crowded with really scabby fishermen huts and boats (damn those fishermen trying to eke out a living - we want all the beach!). 

Unexpected fisherman and bullocks, Arugam Bay.

There are more restaurants than I expected. The '04 tsunami and the war, hit this area pretty badly, so I guess they are still recovering.

The evenings are perfect - no wind, no mossies, just still, warm, beautiful evenings.  The restaurants are a lot less 'Sri Lankan' and a lot more aimed at tourists (to be expected in a beach resort, I guess). I think we spoilt ourselves with the food we enjoyed at the lovely home stays in Colombo, Kandy and Ella. At least now we know what excellent Sri Lankan cuisine is like.

Fisherman huts and boats.

The waves are amazing - this is truly a surfing beach. I've already been dumped on my ass more times than I care to mention - it's as if the sea is trying to spit you back out, with some degree of disgust. I'ts not the easiest place for a quick 'dip', although the swell is much calmer at the far end of the beach. 

Lovely uncrowded Arugam Bay.

The beach is also really uncrowded, there are a lot of surfers here and we see them coming and going with their boards, but the beach is big enough and there are enough cafes to accommodate everyone - it's almost as serene as a Perth beach. 

At the risk of exposing what a travel elitist I really am at heart, the crowd here is also pretty laid back. Arugam Bay is relatively difficult to get to and as yet, is only on back packers itineraries, so the crowd all seem quite cool and chilled out. It's probably like Kuta was in the early 70's. Although, as with other destinations in Sri Lanka, now the troubles are over it's only a matter of time.......

Richie in recovery mode - no beer for four days!

Richie was unwell for the first couple of days here. I think he caught a really persistent virus and was in bed for at least three days. He's on the mend now but his shorts, that were loose before, are now hanging off him. The plus side is, that I'm enjoying glimpses of cute, builders bum crack!

 We've been eating at a few interesting places - great tea at Rocos a few doors down but they don't seem to do food. We asked for toast but they only had enough bread for one serve??

It's non stop at Arugam Bay Surf Resort.

We spent a lovely evening with Sasha and Laura at The Tsunami Restaurant (yes bloody awful name). As it was a special religious day, no alcohol was allowed to be served, so they served our beer in big teapots. All very prohibition and good fun. It was a perfect evening, dining on the sand, listening to the waves crashing and the beach fire crackling and drinking beer from teapots, as the tourist police patrolled up and down trying to catch us out drinking alcohol on a religious holiday. 

Sasha and Laura - we gate crashed their honeymoon.

We bade a sad farewell to Sasha and Laura today. Our time at Arugam Bay is coming to an end. A couple more strolls up the beach to Mambo's for breakfast and a swim, a few more pots of tea on the verandah and then its onto Batti.