Mirissa Bay, Sri Lanka

I got dumped by Mirissa!

It all started on one fine day whilst standing waist deep in the picture perfect waters of Mirissa Bay in southern Sri Lanka. I was declaring my love for Niki, looking romantically into her eyes as she stood on the beach. In hindsight I should have realised how hurt Mirissa would be with me for showing my affection to another women. Yet as I stood with the waves lapping past me, with Niki’s eyes gazing back intently into mine, her mouth dropped into an ‘o’ shape (like the moment in the movies when the actor realises the seriousness of the situation) and shouted something back to me. Which I could only imagine at the time was “I love you too baby and I’m so glad I married you, you’re my Mr Perfect”.

Little did he know he was about to be Dumped by Mirrissa

So as I turned to face the water behind me to swim happily away, content with the love of my wife and the big headedness that I could actually think she would ever say that to me, I came face to face with a wave twice the size of me. The last words I remember coming out of my mouth was something along the lines of “Oh Shit” and thinking Niki shouldn’t be saying “I love you” when she should of been warning me of my impending doom….then my mouth dropped into a ‘o’ shape with the realisation of what she was really saying – it was about this time I was hit by the wall of water.

Our lounging spot

Apparently from the beach, it had looked liked I had decided to try a synchronized jump above the wave before realizing that it was never going to work and tried to rescue my attempt for freedom by making a last minute choice to dive into the wave’s base. I was later told I looked like man with little hope and was the funniest thing Niki had seen all day. Mirissa had slapped me!  I somersaulted three hundred and sixty degrees through the water as her intense wave destroyed me; my arms bent in all directions and washed me ashore like a beached mermaid with the grace of a turtle floundering on its back. This was how I was dumped by Mirissa!

Hundreds of crazy crabs kept us company

I wanted to say that Mirissa and I parted our ways amicably, that our love had lasted long, however it would be a lie. Mirissa had made it clear – it was me, not her and kicked my arse out of her fine blue waters with my tail firmly stuck between my legs! Needless to say I spent the rest of the day under a palm tree nursing my ego, my sore body and asking the question “where did our relationship go wrong?”

A near empty beach - how often does that happen in Asia?

Throughout the day, Mirissa would often take new lovers keen to embrace her waves and her sandy beach bosom – yet time and time again she would reject them with an intensity of a scorned woman. With particular mention to a young man who tried to force his love upon her, before belly flopping onto the break of a wave and being washed back into shore. Sometimes people scuttled in to only scuttle out a few minutes later, afraid of the ultimate smack down of pain that they were about to receive. However these people never having received the love of her rolling waves, the intense blue of her shine and warmth of her water, left feeling dejected.

Can anyone tell me what this is?

I love Mirissa Bay and like an estranged lover, I will be back tomorrow to sip on a coconut under the shade of the infringing palm trees and admire her beauty…at least from a distance. Mirissa has no time for wandering eyes or to share your affection, for with Marissa Bay, it is better to have loved and lost, then to have never have loved at all.

Reflecting upon the Taj Mahal

‘Gobsmacked’. Adjective. To describe one who is taken unawares or to be astonished. The feeling you will experience when standing in the archway overlooking the inspiring Taj Mahal in India.

‘Bitch Slapped’. Adverb. To disrespectfully slap someone in the face with an open hand.  The sensation you’ll feel after you tussle through the insane throngs of people who visit the Taj Mahal every day.

‘Repetitive Strain Injury’. Noun. A condition in which the prolonged performance of repetitive actions causes pain.  The injury you will receive to your finger from clicking hundreds of photos on your camera whilst aiming to get that perfect photo.

‘Love’. Noun.  An emotion of strong affection and  attachment. The reason the Taj Mahal was built.

‘Adjective’. Noun. A word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or grammatically related to a noun to describe it. The words you will use to describe the Wonder, which none of them, not even the f-word or any OMG’s, will be enough to describe its dominance and intense beauty.

‘Delhi Belly’. Noun/Adjective. Ones ailment of diarrhea with frequent discharge of watery faeces from the intestines. The reason you’ll leave the Taj Mahal earlier then you intended. Can sometimes also be related to Repetitive Strain Injury.

‘The Taj Mahal’. Noun. Wonder of the World. The most incredible destination that you may ever visit in your life!

The Taj from the Entrance Hall

The Taj Mahal in Agra, India

Intricate details and immense beauty

The Taj - Wonder of the World

Taj Mahal Entrance

The Taj Mahal's Reflection

This post is part of the India and Sri Lanka: The Search for the Forgotten Tree blog series. If you liked the post, don’t forget to Stumble It or Tweet it below.

Sri Lanka's First Light

Legend would have you believe that this is the place where butterflies come to die. Whilst devout Buddhists believe that this is the site that Buddha himself ventured forth into the afterlife, where as readers of the Bible believe this is where Adam set forth upon the earth. Whatever your view, witnessing a sunrise upon the summit of Sri Pada or Adam’s Peak as it is also known by, will remain with you for a lifetime. Sri Pada is at an achievable height of 2243 metres in the hill country of Sri Lanka and during the pilgrimage season (December to March), thousands of devotees ascend to the small monastery perched upon the summit. The monastery houses the footprint of Buddha and is an important place that many Sri Lankans travel to yearly. The climb is about three hours and passes by raging waterfalls, small tea houses and harrowing views of the deep valleys below.  It all concludes with a juxtaposition of watching the sky turn from millions of stars into the pastel colours of the sun rising over Sri Lanka.

The stunning sunrise over Sri Lanka from Sri Pada

Sri Pada's shadow, a perfect pyramid!

A perfect sunrise over Adam's Peak.....just beautiful

View from Sri Pada Summit

Halfway up Sri Pada

Adam's Peak from Dalhousie, Sri Lanka

This post is part of the India and Sri Lanka: The Search for the Forgotten Tree blog series.