We left Unawatuna for the promises of quieter beaches and headed East to Mirissa. The hour long bus ride brought us along a coastal road with views of turquoise waves and lush tropical forest out our right hand window.

In Mirissa, we quickly fell into a routine of eating a cheap breakfast of roti with egg or fruit at a local hut for a meal 1/10^th the price of the hotels. The extremely friendly owner is a testament to our first impressions of Sri Lanka which is that its people are some of the warmest and kindest we have come across yet, and saying a country is friendly after visiting India is a difficult thing to do.

Nick quickly found that when ordering local food you better be really hungry, because one order produces a table of 6-8 dishes with different vegetable curries and usually one meat curry to be mixed in with a giant plate of rice. Even Nick finds it impossible to finish.

Our days were filled with sun and as the temperature rose at midday, we would take to the water to cool off. The beach made for much nicer swimming than Unawatuna because the under toe and currents were a lot less strong and even the beach itself was far superior. Mirissa offers quite a few options for sleeping but most of them are tucked away off the beach which keeps the beach area clear of any large scale development. We were lucky to find a room for 600rs (6USD) on a small beach around the corner from the main one. Mirissa attracts a smaller number of tourists than Unawatuna and most of which are Russian or Ukrainian celebrating Orthodox Christmas at this time.

Last night we stopped by our favourite roti hut for a dessert of plain roti that we brought back and smothered with Nutella. We were held there by conversation with a local man getting his late night snack, and the woman who ran the place. They talked to us passionately about the details of Sri Lankan topography and politics. When planning a route through Sri Lanka we found it strange that such a small island could have two monsoons at different times of the year while the opposite coast wouldn’t see a drop of rain. He explained that the hill country in the center of the country prevents the clouds from crossing the island keeping the monsoon isolated which is why the hill country is always locked in misty clouds. We also learned that aside from Japan, Sri Lanka has the highest education rate in Asia and the government (as corrupt as it is) provides money for university or post secondary education. Even our roti shop owner explained she had further education in agriculture, farming, biology and chemistry which is something we would not have assumed.

We have decided to linger just a little longer than planned in Mirissa as the friendly locals and fellow travelers, cheap living and incredible beach are too good to leave just yet. Our next place in mind, Tangalla, will just have to wait.