We enjoyed our time in Galle, however the literally non-stop watching of the kids running out into the road was starting to take its toll. We were excited at the prospect of having a whole house to cook and hang out in what we thought was a closed in garden. When we arrived at our house in Weligama, we were soon saddened to realise that the owners had decided to build an unfinished apartment on top of the house. We discovered that, in-fact, the outside area led to a precarious, unfinished staircase which was extremely dangerous. Within minutes we had blinked and Nate was up it. We had to play slowly-slowly-catchy-monkey and edge towards him to get him down. It was terrifying.
When we tried the internet here it wasn’t working, or barely. It was an overcast day and we had been travelling so we were really tired. We decided to go to the beach for lunch, ordered some very over-priced pizza for the kids which they didn’t eat (are you getting the picture?) I would probably say that this was our most challenging day so far.
But it is funny how a few things can really get you down when you are tired and have been travelling. The first night in that house I just thought, “we can’t stay here, it’s dangerous, there is no internet and I hate it. We have to move!”
Over the next few days things started to improve. We realised that we didn’t really need to hang out in the outside space (which was actually just concrete). We had a lovely, big house and it was very cheap, keeping us well within our budget. There was a huge kitchen to cook in and the kids had their own room. The internet however was very patchy.
Luckily, we discovered that the Weligama Bay Marriott hotel, right on the beachfront, had excellent internet so we went to work there when needed (not too much of a hardship for the price of a coffee). A couple of times we also treated ourselves to a buffet breakfast there. For 2,500 LKR / £10 / $14 (plus kids ate free!) we found a selection of the most beautiful food and could fill up for the day. A good money saving tip. Although very hard to not have a 10-course breakfast!
The thing that Weligama beach is most famous for is surfing lessons. This was the thing that we learnt to love about the area. I got up on a surfboard for the first time ever which I was thrilled about and Andrew and Matilda bonded over daddy-daughter surfing lessons (apart from daddy getting stung by a jelly fish on one). Even Nate was having a go.
The town centre is a big junction with lots of unusual shops to look around and the beach front is lined with places to eat. The only thing that wasn’t so great for us was that these are on the road so keeping the kids from running out was bit stressful sometimes.
Unfortunately just before we left we discovered the train station, which had trains to Kandy and Colombo—too late for us to make a trip.
We also visited a tea plantation while we were there which was excellent and took day trips to Madiha and Mirissa beaches which were both stunning.
Madiha is paradise and the water is so calm to swim with the kids. Over the road from the beach is the Doctors House which is an amazing restaurant, mostly outside. Beautiful food and space for the kids to run about. If we went back I’d like to stay in and explore this area more.
Our conclusion to Weligama was that we actually loved it and looking back Andrew says it was his favourite so far. I’m still sticking with Hikkaduwa as mine.
