mirissa

last night, walking through hikkaduwa, we passed a few tuk-tuk drivers and enquired about prices to Mirissa, our next destination. the one Ruta started bargaining with was a bit of a creep, so we decided we’d pick one in the morning when we were ready to go. then, the quiet one of the bunch piped up, and matter-of-factly pointed at Ruta and stated, “i know you from funky’s. i made you your fish”, and then turned to me and added “and you—pumpkin curry. how was it?”. a man of many trades, not only was he a tuk-tuk cabbie, but a chef and hotel concierge as well—he spent years working in switzerland—and Ruta and i had to have him. he picked us up at 11am SHARP (as we’d agreed the night before—we loved him already), and started our long and leisurely drive down the coast. he took us on detours to show us Galle market (which we’d missed), the tourist town Unawatuna, and a local shop where we stopped to eat vegetable rolls and he recounted his experience of the tsunami. he said the water rose and flooded the shore by a few meters inland, which was rare but had happened before, but then sucked itself back out far far far to sea—and he knew it was time to run. he found himself 20 feet up in a tree, and after he had collected himself (and various freaked out people around him), set about tirelessly working to help his fellow victims. 6 months, day and night, collecting and delivering food packages, helping children find parents and parents find children, rebuilding schools and houses—and only spending aid money on fueling his tuk-tuk, so he could get all his jobs done—he was already our hero before, but he blew himself out of the water with these stories. he dropped us off at the bungalow/guest house Ruta had booked online in advance (nestled in the jungle, 10 minutes away from the purported noisy beach filled with tourists at christmastime), and we dumped our bags and rushed to the bathroom—only to run back out again, shrieking (well, Ruta anyway). the bathroom had apparently already been claimed by a giant, leggy spider the size of my outstretched hand…and its offspring. i chased it around with a frying pan (i wanted to relocate it, not smash it), but it was too fast, and when i had it (for a second!) in the pan, it came dangerously close to crawling up my arm and i reflexively freaked out and flung it (pan and all) across the bathroom, directly into the toilet! we couldn’t find it after that—it might’ve been flushed, or might’ve narrowly escaped—mind you, we didn’t stay long enough to find out. we grabbed our bags and hit the beach, determined to find a reasonably-priced guest house. after having appraised the entire property value of Mirissa beachfront, we realized they were all about the same (and there were hardly any tourists around), and settled on a place right off the beach with an oceanfront view and very temperamental amenities. i was too tired to complain; the owners were friendly, and the mosquito net kept the bugs out, so i unpacked.