The Road South: From Wacky Races to Water Tigers

The road south was a welcome reprieve from the "Wacky Races" of Colombo, a city where you half-expected Dick Dastardly and Muttley to veer out of an alleyway and scupper your route at any moment. The expressway offered a two-lane haven of relative sanity, though the rare police checkpoints served as a sobering reminder of the country’s underbelly, where drugs and weapons move silently along these arteries. However, we weren't stopped, so we surrendered to "Sri Lankan time" that peculiar clock that drifts in and out of rhythm without ever truly knowing the hour.

Ninety minutes later, the expressway dissolved. The chaos returned, but the flavour had changed; it felt more leisurely now, a jigsaw puzzle with larger pieces. Tiny resorts lined the road, their entrances crammed together with just enough room for a vehicle to squeeze through the gates and escape the madness of the broken tarmac and potholes, the likes of which you’ve never seen.

Our sanctuary was a beachside room, dominated by a striking shade of blue. It had the essentials, a cooling fan and air con, though the mosquito net was a functional addition that offered little in the way of aesthetic inspiration. Then, the "wow factor" hit. Walking through the lounge bar, the view opened into something stunning: endless cobalt water and waves that broke over swimmers with impressive force.

With chilled Lion beers in hand and cool music drifting through the air, we tucked into beach-style soul food. You can’t truly describe "chill," but the feeling of powder-soft sand between your toes, fine as the highest grade of powder comes pretty close.

The next morning the sun was already heavy with heat as we clambered aboard an early boat to scout the horizon for whales.

The giants of the deep stayed hidden, but we were rewarded with something more dynamic: schools of dolphins racing between the visitor boats, leaping through the wake in a truly exhilarating display of speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RqXiH3Kejw

The following 48 hours were a blur of sand and sun. We hopped between beaches for surfing, swimming and quiet reflection, eventually finding ourselves close to glass-bottom boats equipped with snorkels and fins. If only we had had an underwater camera; the fish were majestic. Some were shimmering and striped like water-based tigers; others were sleek, the "angels of the sea" gliding effortlessly passed us.

We watched as they pecked at mooring ropes for a sea-based lunch, sinking and rising in their hundreds, a joyous, swirling kaleidoscope beneath the surface.

As we made the journey back to the smog of Colombo, we took a moment to reflect.

This trip had been more than just a getaway, it was a truly interesting view of this aspect of Sri Lankan life, where chaos and calm, grit and beauty, exist side by side.