After several years of listening to stories about the beauty of Sri Lanka for kiteboarding and exploring we finally got on a plane and arrived.
We flew Heathrow – Delhi – Colombo with Air India who appalled us by asking 150 GBP per kite bag. We told them it was water ski equipment. It then flew for free!!!
Curry was the inflight meal and a sign of good things to come. Cathy and I could happily live on curry alone, this as it turns out is a really good thing.
Cathy had an airbnb place booked for a few days stay in Negombo after which we planned to go to Kappalady in search of wind and water for a spot of Kite surfing.
We were greeted by our host Asha from Leisure Villa and we were impressed by the accommodation. Simple but perfect. Clean, cool and quiet. She had beautiful flowers and chillies growing outside.
I wasn’t expecting much from Negombo but was actually nicely surprised. The Dutch canals made for a nice walk that eventually led us to the tail end of a fish market. We caught glimpses of what could be a spectacular event.
Seeing the fish market in full swing was a must so plans were made to return at first light the following day.
Asher offered to cook dinner for us, which we of course accepted. Arranging the best time for dinner was tricky given our inability to read the head waggle properly. I decided that until further experience was gained, the head waggle would mean yes… Can I take your photo please? Head waggle – yes. I hope I’m correct.
Asher’s cooking was phenomenal. She prepared five different curry dishes to accompany the string hoppers. Lightly spiced devilled potatoes, dahl, sweet fried aubergine, coconut sambal and a fiery cinnamon chicken . String hoppers we were to find out are a kind of vermicelli rice noodles and a great alternative to rice.
This was all accompanied by gallons of tea 🙂
6am saw a tuktuk whisking us back to the fish market.
What met us was a world apart from what we’d seen the day before. The streets were full of tuktuks, people, bikes and most of all fish stalls.
In one area tuna were spread across the floor. Some nearly five feet long.
Nearby were the chopping blocks where several men were hacking the tuna into more manageable chunks. Machete – saw – machete achieved this in seconds.
Another building was for smaller fish of all shapes and sizes. Most of which I didn’t recognise except for some jacks and groupers.
Prawns were arranged in size order from tinthumbnaily sized shrimps upto tiger prawns that could nearly be classed as lobsters.
I was in camera heaven. Even if every now and then the lens needed a good wipe. Water and fish have a habit of splashing about.
The atmosphere at the market was frantic. Fish would hit the deck only to be heaved away seconds later by its new owner.
We came across one area where three women were selling their fish. Their outfits seemed to help the sales.
Two things saddened me. One, was to see a truck of shark carcass’s missing their fins. A true waste. The other was what we suspect were three dolphin carcasses. Nearly impossible to distinguish from the other big fish than the angle of the tail fluke. All other identifiable parts had been removed. Unfortunate bi-catch I presume.
Once the excitement died down we wandered over to the smaller fish market where we saw the smaller fish being salted, dried and processed. The pace was a little slower there and more relaxed.
Hessian mats were covered with drying fish as far as the eye could see. Spanish mackerel, sardines, jacks and baby barracudas were all in the line up. The aroma of the drying fish is unique and intense but to me not disagreeable.
The people were very welcoming and so polite, with genuine smiles and questions about family and work. At first I was a little suspicious of these questions and the motives behind them. It became quickly apparent that I was completely wrong.
What an amazing start to our trip.
Next stop Kapalady – Kitekuda for some much anticipated wind.
