I know it’s the weekend and you may have more potent drinks on your mind, but fancy a cup of char? After all, tea did conquer the world…China, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Japan, India, England, Russia, Tibet, and even beer-swilling Australia.

One drink 1,000 tastes: How tea has conquered the world Published on CNNGo.com 18 January 2012

Still want more tea madness then read my articlle Liquid Gastronomy: Tea inspired cuisine

Sadly, March marks the anniversary of the great Japan earthquake and tsunami and although the devastation and heartache is insurmountable, tourists are returning to Japan. Who can blame anyone wanting to explore the land of sumo wrestling and geishas, where everything is familiar and foreign all at the same time. A culture obsessed with rules and protocol and yet consumed by perplexing, and quite frankly kinky, past times.

Luuuurve Hotels Cheesy Love Hotels rented by the hour in Japan were invented for star-crossed lovers, naughty spouses, and travellers on lay-overs (no pun intended) who needed somewhere to rest their heads and other body parts for a few hours. Obviously those delicate screens Japanese décor is known for aren’t exactly sound proof. Name your fantasy and it’s yours from rotating beds, aquariums, merry-go-rounds, costumes for any scenario, mock weddings, class-rooms, and medically-themed rooms. Discreet payments, clandestine entrances, and discreet check-ins ensure you’re unlikely to bump into anyone you’d prefer to avoid, although you’ve got to wonder what they’re doing there too?

Ski buffs Believe it or not, extreme nudists don’t let below freezing temperatures curb their spirit. You could be skiing down Japan’s slopes all snugged up in your bunny outfit and a naked butt will whizz past you. Truth be told, I don’t get it and I’d be concerned for your nether regions in the event of a mishap. But most ski resorts have onsens so you can fly off the snow and land in hot water to defrost. Invigorating, I’m sure.

Captured in the dank staircase of the crumbling Art Deco building, we suddenly alight to an industrial kitchen flooded in a dusky glow. Two little old Chinese ladies are pottering around, oblivious to the chaos of Shanghai several floors below. Me, my husband, and our seven-year-old daughter are instructed with gentle gestures and broken English that we’ll be learning how to make pork buns and pearl dumplings today.

Flour is thrown with abandon for the dough which is torn and massaged into our palms and filled with a pork mixture. The next stage is where the true art of dumpling making lies as the edges are pleated around the filling. Under the skilful eye of our mentors, our mutant dumplings soon begin to look appetising enough to steam and eat. Sticky rice dough is wrapped around date paste and then rolled into balls of pearl dumplings. By the end of the workshop even my daughter had become an expert at these sweet dumplings.

Where there were once rice paddies totter skyscrapers and apartment blocks with washing lines that threaten to take flight; giving new meaning to the term ‘airing one’s laundry’. The futuristic skyline hovers magnificently above traditional tea-houses and alleys that house generations of families. In all seasons the streets are a sea of umbrellas in an ocean of people that use over 45 billion chopsticks every year; and it certainly feels that way downtown. Shanghai is a city of extremes: the weather swings between bitter winters and sweltering summers; the old is giving way to the new; and capitalist China competes with its Communist past.

Our Western sensitivities may find the Chinese eating culture difficult to stomach. They slurp, yell, spit, and consume copious amounts of alcohol while chain-smoking long after the plates are cleared away. In amongst this madness tea or yum cha meaning “touch of the heart lightly” is sipped with dim sum. Food is always shared either over the dining room or huddled around a makeshift table in an alleyway. Many a business deal is done across the table: there is no substitute for trust built over a shared meal. However, a good portion of the population can’t afford to dine in restaurants and street food, dumpling carts and noodle stalls are inundated with anaconda queues, well the good ones are anyway. Survival of the fittest rules in this fast paced city.

Chinese food is the cornerstone of cuisine: shared in a country where privacy is vied for and personal space is consumed by a billion other souls. Their cuisine is integral to the ’five elements theory’ where yin and yang keeps the body in harmony. Wood equates to the taste of sour, fire to bitter, earth to sweet, metal to spicy and water to salty. While these tastes have evolved over time, they form the basis of many dishes familiar to our modern palate. Local menus vary from those Chinese encyclopedia-sized tomes back home with ingredients like stir-fried bullfrog, turtle hot-pot, pork ear (many a domestic dog enjoys the treat of a pig’s ear in Australia), tripe, chicken feet, pig’s trotters, pigeon, snake, monkey, and the prized shark-fin.The cuisine of Shanghai is deemed as oilier than other regions and influenced by its surrounding provinces. The prized hairy crabs are caught when in season between October and December from the Yangtze River. These black-bodied crustaceans have hairy feet and are torn apart, dipped in a mixture of soy, ginger and vinegar, and downed with warm Shaoxing rice wine. Tiny crabs, da zha xie, are shelled and the meat and roe is used as dumpling stuffing, and sometimes appear unsavourily on the menu as “crab ovaries.” Further afield, dim sum tracks back to the Canton region which was originally introduced for travellers on the Silk Road needing tea breaks, known as yum cha, and eventually food accompanied the tea. Given the frenzied pace of China, dim sum hardly provides the relaxing break it once did, but nonetheless the comforting sentiment still remains. The dim sum combinations are endless and it would be a gourmand’s sin to not try xiaolongbao (Shanghai dumplings).Filled with meaty soup preserving your tastebuds from scalding is tricky. Place the dumpling in a spoon and after dipping in vinegar bite a tiny hole out of the crust to release some of the steam. Slurp the soup and then devour the dumpling – decorum is futile.

The nanxiang steamed bun has a thin wrapping that encloses the bursting flavours of pork seasoned with bamboo shoots in spring, shrimp in summer, and crab in autumn. Shrimp dumplings are barely concealed in their translucent skins and can be accompanied with pork and topped with crab roe. The dim sum trolley features the familiar sight of half moon shaped jiaozi packed with meat, usually pork, cabbage and spices. These dumplings are boiled or fried and served with red rice vinegar or a dipping sauce. Slender spring rolls are filled with all sorts of meat and vegetable combinations and deep fried for a crispy crunch. The Cantonese invention of char sui ba, is a bun filled with a slightly sweet barbecued pork centre and a filling addition to the meal. Fried wontons filled with chicken and seasoning are pinched into pouches, tied with a chive and fried into moneybags.

Interestingly, although rice is grown in the region, wheat-based breads, dumplings and noodles are favoured, and rice isn’t a prominent component of the menu like it is in the west. Rice is what you eat when the other ingredients aren’t available or in congee at breakfast. However, steamed glutinous rice wrapped in lotus or banana leaves are a dim sum classic. When steamed the rice takes on the flavours of the filling of chicken, mushroom, seasoning and the leaves themselves.

Although vegetarianism is unlikely to rule, it’s becoming a fad where “mock meat” dishes are formed from tofu and sculptured into meat, fish, mushrooms, and vegetables. Some vegetarian options are dumplings filled with vegetables like leek, or fried taro encased in a flaky pastry, or the delicious carrot cake which is a mixture of flour, taro, meat, and carrot pan-fried in square chunks. Only the truly intrepid foodie will give stinky tofu a go; just follow your nose.Desserts tempt with glistening egg custards, or almond tofu with syrup or fruit for a hit of sweetness. White rice cake with its spongy, porous and jelly-like consistency has a balance of sweet and sour very popular with the locals. Puddings come in interesting flavours that range from mango to ginger. Pearl dumplings, also known as New Year sweet dumplings can be filled with either a nut or bean paste. A Chinese banquet, the epitome of a shared feast, will often conclude with an eight-treasure rice of preserved fruits, nuts, glutinous rice and bean paste.

Speaking of treasures, Shanghai sparkles with the following dim sum gems:Whampoa Club, 5thFloor, Three on the Bund (enter from Guangdong Lu), Shanghai, +86 21 6321 3737; this fancy postmodern Chinese restaurant has a sublime nine-course dim sum lunch where the dishes come out in succession.Nan Xiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, 85 Yuyuan Lu, at Yu Gardens, Shanghai; s shrine to the dumpling Yang’s Fried Dumplings, 2nd Floor, Huang Pu Hui, 269 Wujiang Lu, Shanghai, +86 21 6136-1391; you can tell the locals approve of this street vendor by the lines it commands. The fried pork and sage filled shengjian soup dumplings and sesame seed and scallion coated fried dumplings come recommended. Local Perth treasures: Good Fortune Roast Duck House, 344 William St, Northbridge; of course the duck is tasty but those lines are hard to ignore on the weekends and worth enduring for the dim sum. Dim Sum Cafe, 297-301 William St, Northbridge, 9328 9388, is rumoured to have the best Shanghai dumplings outside of Shanghai. Golden Century Seafood Restaurant, 191 James St, Northbridge, offers lavish seafood options and the seafood dim sum is particularly favoured.

I will be selling my book Fluffy Towel Travels tomorrow at the Hyde Park Festival 4th-5th March 2012. Come and find me at the KALM Wellness Centre stall.  

Fireflies flit along the shoreline as I hitch my floor-length dress up around my thighs. Stepping into the warm Indian Ocean I wobble along the watery path lit only by fire torches towards the tiny Taprobane Island off Sri Lanka’s south coast. Waves crash as I grip the sand bank beneath my toes and friendly hands reach out to guide me to cocktails with Candace Bushnell, the author of a little well-known story called Sex and the City.

This is just one of countless unforgettable events the Galle Literary Festival is known for. And after attending the Perth Writers Festival (23^rd – 26^th February) I overheard an elderly lady in the Dymocks tent exclaim, “Well, would you look at some of the young ones buying books!” She had a point as I looked around and noticed that even me, 40 years of age, felt young – not that I would ever complain about such a predicament. This is not so with its Sri Lankan counterpart, where some of the attendants are barely out of school and just as enthralled with a talk by The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas author John Boyne as they are in the after-parties. Perhaps it’s a cultural thing or maybe it’s because the Galle Literary Festival is so intimate and social. And quite possibly the exotic location of Sri Lanka is surely an added incentive to pretty young things, who quite frankly are the writers of future books.

However, yesterday the festivals merged in Perth when Niromi de Soyza gave an emotional talk about her book The Tamil Tigress. It’s a true account of a 17 year-old Niromi running away from home to join the Tamil Tigers with only a bag of books to keep her entertained during the journey. Her foolhardy adventure ended months later when tragedy struck and her mum rescued her and promptly sent her to boarding school in India where she became a prom queen. Niromi’s mum was in the audience and after a brief speech about her own ordeal the floodgates opened. This powerful event left me even further enthralled with Sri Lanka, and once again beckoning me further.

Perhaps there need to be more compelling stories set in Perth to entice a wider audience to our own shores? Being a writer from Perth, I wonder if I have what it takes to tear myself off figurative exotic shores and focus closer to home, only to eventually partake on my own journey with a bag of books?

Join me on my own Sri Lankan adventures in my book Fluffy Towel Travels

I must confess I’m not a beer lover. There I said it. I may be a failure at the Australian tradition of a downing a coldie, but after a tasting at Eagle Bay Brewery, I didn’t mind it. In fact, I even finished my sample of the German style Kolsch. Drank as a lager and likened to the crowd pleasing Little Creatures Pilsner, my Kolsch (note how I’ve already become a little possessive of it) was downed with the rare smoked kangaroo, spiced nectarine , cashew nut chutney and coriander salad. How very patriotic!

My ambivalence to beer will go unnoticed this weekend as Western Australia’s South West hosts the Craft Beer Festival 2012. There will be award-winning beers galore as 12 craft brewers hop to it with a line-up which includes Bootleg, Bush Shack, Cape Bouvard, Colonial, Cowaramup, Duckstein, Eagle Bay, Margaret River Ale, Moody Cow, Occy’s, and Old Coast Rd Breweries, as well as the Cheeky Monkey Brewery and Cidery, and The Cidery. Beer will be swilled all in one location at 3 Oceans Palandri Estate, and non-aficionados will be apples with the ciders.

No need to wait until Oktoberfest as the South West Craft Beer Festival runs 25-26 February.

While you’re down there, you might catch surfing legend Kelly Slater competing in the Telstra Drug Aware Pro surfing competition at Surfers Point, Prevelly 19-26 February.

I was a guest of Eagle Bay Brewery and Tourism WA

Melbourne’s eclectic bar scene covers the cool, the cold, the cosy and the chemical.

What does Nick Cave, a monkey, a bar made of ice, and a corset have in common? A hurly burly bar-hop in Melbourne! Melburnians are spoilt for choice when aching for a bevy, and they all have their favourites. Out-of-towners however may find the options overwhelming and it seriously is enough to drive you to drink, if only you can choose where to go! Here are a few recommendations to help you along the way.

You could be mistaken for thinking you’ve stumbled into someone’s lounge room at the Red Monkey Tea House, especially with the kitsch forest wallpaper in the cosy room behind the bar. The zen-like vibe conjures up oriental illusions, which may explain the “Red Monkey” part of the name. Originally a teahouse it has evolved into a low-key bar, and depending on the occasion, serving laid-back beers or lethal cocktails. The menu is fun and cheap with pan-fried calamari or the thin-crust pizza both at $10.00; and lining the stomach is advisable for what’s to follow.

It’s reported that Nick Cave once frequented Prudence, but the bar-staff insist he actually drank at the grungy local across the road. Everyone loves gossip and his tunes are belted out alongside Tom Waits’ anyway. The intimate booths, beaded curtaining and nooks and crannies of this rambling pub lend themselves to secrets. Downed with unpretentious service, the usual concoctions, and open seven days a week, Prudence is worth a visit if only to explore the intimate spaces and start your own rumours.

It’s time to jump on tram and head to Elizabeth St in the heart of the city and get to work at The Workshop. Housed in a former motorcycle repair shop, it accommodates large numbers which keeps it buzzing, but with so many secret corners all is not lost for a rendezvous any day of the week. Urban, and so very “now”, the industrial space caters to dancing, live performances, art exhibits, light lunches, or creative-types craving the art of conversation, even if it is with their notebooks; of the old-fashioned and modern variety.

Movida has been keeping gourmet bar-flies satiated for years with its tapas, Spanish sherries, beers and wines. Look away if you’re hungry: slow cooked duck shank with hazelnuts, raisins and onions, wet roast lamb breast with fino and paprika sauce, aged jamon, silky croquettes, and churros feature on the menu. Always packed and often a queue, patrons don’t mind waiting with a bevy in hand and with the opening of three other Movidas around town, including Movida Next Door (which is next door), you don’t need to go far for your fix of Spain.

Feeling a little hot under the collar? A drink at the Ice Bar is sure to cool you down. Pull up a pew on the ice couch and admire the ice sculptures as you sip your drinks in glasses made of, you guessed it, ice. Yes, at minus 10 degrees, it’ll be cold but once snuggled up in the provided ski gear and a hot toddy, the night will be memorable if only for the chance to live like an Eskimo for the recommended half an hour, before thawing out upstairs in the Ski Lodge.

If that wasn’t weird enough for you, in the laneways of Melbourne an experiment occurred between a bar and a science laboratory. A chemical reaction, and then voila, the The Croft Institute was born. Spread over three floors, test tubes, beakers, and industrial sinks set the funky asylum tone, after all its cool to be little crazy. Upstairs brings back awkward high school memories with a school gymnasium where groovers bop along to international acts and DJs spinning their tunes. Navigating the darkened laneways to find this joint is an adventure worth taking, even to just check out the turf growing on the bar.

Practicalities:

Red Monkey Teahouse, 470 Victoria St, North Melbourne; (03) 9326 7572; www.redmonkeyteahouse.com;

Prudence, 368 Victoria St, (03) 9329 9267

The Workshop, Level 1, 413 Elizabeth St (entrance A’Beckett St), (03) 9326 4365, www.theworkshop.com.au

Movida, 1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne; Movida Next Door, cnr Flinders St and Hosier Lane, Melbourne; Movida Aqui and Movida Terraza, Level 1, 500 Bourke St, Melbourne; (03) 9663 3038; www.movida.com.au

Ice Bar, 296 Russell St, Melbourne; 1300 423 227 or (03) 9663 3877; www.chillon.com.au

The Croft Institute, 21 Crofty Alley, Chinatown; (03) 9671 4399; www.thecroftinstitute.net; best to check the web-site for directions on how to find it

Burlesque Bar, 42 Johnston St, Fitzroy; (03) 9415 8088; www.burlesquebar.com.au

Red Bennies, Level 1, 373 Chapel Street, South Yarra; (03) 9826 2689; www.redbennies.com

House of Burlesque, 397A Brunswick St, Fitzroy; (03) 9417 1192; www.houseofburlesque.com

Bottoms Up Burlesque, 3 Pitt St, Brunswick; 0411 119 956 (Willow) or 0402 689 355 (Jacquie); www.buburlesque.com.au

The Australian Burlesque Festival also tours to other capitals and check out the web-site to keep updated for the next festival in 2012. www.australianburlesquefest.com

Published in Asian Geographic Passport November 2011

NOW AVAILABLE AT DYMOCKS KARRINYUP & SUBIACO, BODHI TREE & PLANET BOOKS FOR $20

ALSO AT KALM WELLNESS CENTRE WITH TRAVEL TOWELS FOR $40 

I will also have a stall at the Festival of Christmas markets at the Perth Cultural Centre on 9th December. Well done to  Events and Beyond for utilising Perth’s public spaces with cultural events  http://eventsandbeyond.com.au/

My travel memoir, Fluffy Towel Travels was launched on 21st October at Quinlan’s Cafe Fremantle in a flurry of wine, tales, beauty, breasts, and art. An enormous thanks to Shiona Herbert and her Breastique Art crew for arranging the event which drew 200+ punters through the door and raised funds for Breast Cancer Care WA. http://www.breastiqueart.com/

The light-hearted travel memoir takes the reader to Bali, Paris, Sri Lanka, Broome, Vietnam, Shanghai, and tells a quirky story about why I don’t like camping. Because I appreciate your support, here’s a sneaky peek…

“A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”– Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

While travel is certainly an eye-opening experience and can often lead to an incurable wanderlust, it’s not a right or a need. You won’t die if you don’t visit Angkor Wat. I haven’t visited the Taj Mahal yet and I’m fine. Travel is a privilege, and when faced with the extreme you’ll understand this better than ever and feel blessed for having the opportunity to leave behind the trappings of the mundane. Or it will leave you clinging onto the knowledge that you can return to the regularity of home. Either way, you’ll end up with an appreciation of travel, even if it’s to never leave home again.

Apart from a sense of humour and an open mind, you’ll need a towel through-out the duration of your journey. Sometimes the towels won’t be fluffy as my chapter on “When to ditch the fluffy towel,” demonstrates. Although perhaps you actually enjoy the challenge of roughing it, there is no harm if you do, unless your roommates object; if a room does in fact exist.

I may never understand the appeal of sleeping on the ground or sharing a room with smelly strangers, especially when there are perfectly good beds and hot showers with fluffy towels available. Travel already takes you out of your comfort zone. No longer exists the routine, the familiarity of home, or your friends and family; unless you’ve brought them along. The language and currency could be different; the food may be strange, even the smells will seem odd. A bit of comfort will make you a more agreeable travelling companion and allow you to cope better with whatever you’re confronted with on your travels. After all, travel consists of a lot more than magical nights, awe-inspiring monuments, and astounding views. You never know when you’re going to encounter a “strag”, lay your towel upon a bed with questionable linen, wrap it around yourself for warmth or modesty, or for something as practical as drying yourself.

At some point in time, you’ll return home refreshed and with a greater appreciation for all the reasons you left in the first place. In the meantime, and until you save up for your next adventure, please share your experiences, especially the awful and embarrassing ones, because let’s face it, they make the best stories.
Tell me all about your weird and wonderful encounters at carmen@fluffytowel.com and keep up-to-date with mine at www.fluffytowel.com.

And don’t forget a man (or a woman, child, or other) with a towel is a force to be reckoned with; especially a fluffy one on inter-galactic travels.

Wine, beauty, boobs, and travel…honestly, what could be more enticing? Please come along to this open event on the 21st October as the proceeds go to Breast Cancer Care WA…I’m also launching my book Fluffy Towel Travels…and there’s plenty of tantalising surprises in store too!

by Carmen Jenner

Some of the finest, least populated beaches anywhere can be found on the newly peaceful island of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean.

Foreigners, burquas, and children bob along to the rhythm of boats along the curvaceous bay of Unawatuna. The scents of coconut oil, incense, diesel, sunscreen, salt, and curry flirt with abandon in the gentle breeze. The idyllic scene is complete with swaying palm trees and sauntering bikini-clad bodies glistening in the humidity. Yet, the very sea that surrounds the tear-drop island of Sri Lanka is both friend and foe.

Etched in our memories is the tsunami of 2004. However, Sri Lanka’s catastrophic relationship with water dates back to the biblical times of the Ramayana and the belief that the ruins of an Atlantis-like city sleeps just off the south coast. Long time resident of the island and science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke wrote about a tidal wave hitting Galle harbour in one of his earliest works, referenced in 1957 in The Reefs of Traprobane. A run through his impressive list of titles (which includes 2001: A Space Odyssey) it’s clear he was so inspired by the island, named Ceylon at the time of his arrival in 1954, that he remained until his death in 2008. There is a theory that due to gravitational anomalies of the south coast of the island, there is an intense gravitational pull to the area. Fact or fiction? As a second time visitor to this magical region, I have to admit that during the 12 months between visits, I often found myself longing to return.

WET

Unawatuna translates as “it fell from the sky” and this heaven-sent beach hosts makeshift cafes, bars, guesthouses, and water sports like diving, snorkelling, fishing, boating and swimming. Snorkelling equipment can be hired along the beach and the reefs near the west end can be explored year round. There are several shipwrecks and marine life to see, and diving trips can be organised with Sea Horse Divers, who also offer diving courses, night dives, reef dives, and wreck dives. The Unawatuna Diving Centre also runs diving services and offers beach-side cabanas for an affordable beach shack experience. The best time to dive is mid October to the end of April and the double reef makes it very safe for swimming and a favourite with families.

However, the tsunami continues its devastation as Unawatuna slowly erodes away, but a revitalisation program is scheduled to commence in 2011 which will preserve this paradise for many years to come. Unawatuna isn’t only famous for its beautiful beach and since it’s surrounded by hillside jungle, treks are popular, especially on the west end of the beach near the temple across the Rumassala peninsula to Jungle Beach, which can only be reached by foot or boat. Just a few kilometres to the west of Unawatuna is the town of Galle and its charming UNESCO listed fort. Its walls protected it from the tsunami and not only preserved its beautiful Dutch architecture, but also the working community of administrative offices, local families, street peddlers, businesses, and expatriates. See the break-out box for more on the Galle Fort.

Heading east along the coast are the laid-back towns Ahangama and Midigama, which are best known for their consistent waves thanks to the many rocks and coral however, at times the conditions can be hazardous. There’s an area at Midigama commonly known as Lazy Left, which bends around the rocks and onto the bay, but it’s at Ram’s Right, a few hundred metres down that draws the experienced surfers to the region.

Continuing east is the town of Weligama (meaning Sandy Village) best known for its clay handicrafts, colourful outriggers in the sapphire bay, and the tiny Traprobane Island. Indulge in some barefoot luxury and rent out the only house, a five bedroom mansion, on the island and live like the auspicious bevy of adventurers, authors, artists, and royalty before you. The only way on or off the island is to wade through the crashing waves at low tide but soggy underwear is a small price to pay for a visit to this magical island.

Imagine a coconut paradise where you long to escape to with your loved ones? Your wish may be granted a few kilometres east of Weligama at Marissa Beach. Bordering on the surreal in the beauty stakes, the golden sands are lined with palm trees and are the epitome of the kind island where you’d love to be deserted. Between November and March, Marissa attracts plenty of surfers and the clear water, reefs and rocks make the snorkelling excellent. The currents are strong though and it’s wise to find out which places are the safest to surf and swim. Girigala Rock, at the eastern end of the bay, has small reefs ideal for snorkelling, fishing and to witness that infamous Indian sunset. The sleepy town is relatively undeveloped and most facilities can be found a few kilometres away at the busy commercial town of Matara.

Still heading east along the coast is the quiet beach town Dickwella, which many pass by as it’s often overshadowed by the better known beaches. Several hotels and resorts have popped up here and just a few kilometres east at Kudawela is Sri Lanka’s only known blow-hole, Hoo-maniya. High seas force water to shoot up into the air over 20 metres through a chimney.

The competition for who has the most beautiful beach continues at Tangalle, particularly at the coves of Goyambokka, Medaketiya or Marakolliya Beach. Your footprints might blissfully be the only ones in the sand. It would be easy to collapse onto one of these idyllic beaches and not move until the monsoon season (April to September) rains on your parade. However, it’s worth the effort to visit Hambantota to see what a fishing town in Sri Lanka was like before tourism hit. Hambantota won’t remain in this untouched state for long though since it is the hometown of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and an international port and airport, railway line and highway from Colombo will provide easy access to the south coast.

Get wordy in the Galle Fort For an insight into the Galle Fort read Around the fort in 80 lives, by Juliet Coombe and Daisy Perry. Available in selected bookshops and with other Sri Lankan titles http://www.sriserendipity.com/purchase_books.html For budding writers, time your visit to Galle with the Galle Literary Festival, known as the festival of choice for the international literati www.galleliteraryfestival.com What’s so refreshing about the intimate festival is how accessible the authors are and you could find yourself mingling with the literary greats as if they are old friends.

WILD

Until the new highway and railway line are operational, the most common way to the south is to drive from Colombo along the south-west coast. On your way down, about halfway between Colombo and Galle, is the Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project. Since 1988, the project has been dedicated to conserving and protecting the five species of turtles that lay eggs along the coast. Holding a cute baby turtle will delight all ages and studying the older turtles can become mesmerising so don’t plan to rush away from this rustic beach-side affair. Further south near Tangalla, on Rekawa Beach you can see green, hawksbill, and on occasion leatherback turtles. All proceeds go to the Turtle Conservation Project and for a unique experience, there are volunteering programmes available.

From November to May, Blue whales and dolphins can be seen frolicking off the coast of Mirissa and nearby Dondra. Sightings are plentiful as these magnificent creatures feast on the abundant food source found off the coast. Given their frequency to the area and the numbers regularly registered there is some debate about whether the whales are residents or migrants, or possibly both? There are several operators in the area and the Sri Lankan Navy also offers tours with Jetline Nautical Enterprises. Jetwing Eco Holidays are the longest standing operator of eco tourism, and come highly recommended for whale watching.

Yala National Park is cradled in the far eastern corner of the south and covers approximately 1297 square kilometres. It has a range of ecosystems including wetlands and sandy beaches, and is known for its extensive bird life (over 100 species), elephants, water buffalo, wild boar, jackals, sloth bears, deer, monkeys, water monitors, crocodiles, and the highest density of leopards in the world. The park closes between September and October and the best time to visit is during the dry season between May and August; especially as elephants don’t like to get their feet wet and will head to higher ground or use bushes as makeshift umbrellas when it’s wet. There are several tour operators including Eco Team Pvt Ltd who can also arrange unforgettable overnight adventures.

On first glance, an island is defined by water, whether it’s streaming from above or crashing into its extremes. Sri Lanka is no exception and is teeming with stunning beaches and coves, and no-one would mind or blame you if flopping on the beach is all you did. But interacting with the land and its people will be only the beginning of a life-long affair with an island so rich in beauty, culture, wildlife, and history, most of which seem to somehow connect with water. The monsoon season dictates the best time to visit certain regions, but the rain also brings enchanting surprises like butterflies feasting on the nutrients found in mud puddles left from jeep tracks or elephants playing in a mud bath. The south, west and east coasts were decimated by the tsunami, and the north has been ravaged by war. The aftermath of these tragedies are still evident both in the land and etched into the faces of the locals, most of whom are willing to share their own personal experiences or at least reward you with a kilo-watt smile. Sri Lanka is like those grains of sand that seem to seep into the most unlikely of crevices after a visit to the beach. Virtually impossible to instantly remove, but by the time they are washed away, you’ll be left with an everlasting salty taste on your lips beckoning you to return.

Sea Horse Divers, Ganahena, Unawatuna, www.seahorsedivinglanka.com +94 77 6277 622, +94 91 2283 733

Unawatuna Diving Centre, Matara Road, Peellagoda, Unawatuna, Galle, +94 (0) 91 22 44 693 (English), +94 (0) 777 90 34 30 (German and English) www.unawatunadiving.com

For a daily surfing report go to http://magicseaweed.com/Unawatuna-Bay-Surf-Report/654/

Traprobane Island, Weligama, +94 91 43 80 275, www.traprobaneisland.com

Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project, Galle Road, Mahapelena, Kosgoda, +94 91 22 64 567, +94 77 60 07 302 www.kosgodaseaturtle.org

Turtle Conservation Project www.tcpsrilanka.org

Dickwella Resort, Dickwella, +94 41 22 55 271 www.dickwella.net

Jetliner Nautical Enterprise, jetlinersln@gmail.com, +94 113 134 774, www.jetliner.navy.lk

Jetwing Eco Holidays, Jetwing House, 46/26 Navam Mawatha, Colombo 2, +94 11 238 1201 or +94 11 234 5700, www.jetwingeco.com

Eco Team Pvt Ltd, No. 20/43 Fairfield Gardens, Colombo 8, +94 (0) 11 58 30 833, +94 (0) 11 58 35 893, www.srilankaecotourism.com

Published in part in Asian Geographic Passport No. 13 Issue 2/2011 Get Wet in Asia!