Ah, Trincomalee. One of the most beautiful places in Sri Lanka. It is exactly what we needed after all the travelling and adventures in Dambulla the day after we landed.
On our way to where we were staying, we stopped in the city of Trincomalee and walked around the market towards the Hindu temple, Koneswaram, which has brightly coloured statues and architecture. You'll find the well-known 'Lover's leap' which is self-explanatory I think. As with most Asian temples, you will be expected to take off your shoes and for women to wear long skirts or trousers when inside and walking around the area of the temple.
The market is on a straight street leading up to the temple and it's filled with lots and lots of goodies - a great time to try local snacks including fresh coconut to drink. Below is a stall with a lot of sweets, including palm jaggery (the dark brown semi circles), a natural sweetener used for various dishes and desserts.
We wanted to indulge ourselves a bit after all that travelling, so we made sure we booked a luxury hotel for a couple of days. We stayed at Jungle Beach Resort which is just outside of Trincomalee and it certainly did the trick. It was the most relaxing and rejuvenating time we had. It's a little hard to find at first as the entrance is hidden off a small, sandy road so it's very secluded.
Jungle Beach reception area.
The restaurant below
The rooms are divided into separate huts, where you can either go for the jungle, the lagoon or the beach huts (we went for the latter). The beach huts had their own sandy path down to the beach - it lives up to its name. The 'rooms' are all large with bathrooms just as wide, which included an outside shower surrounded by nature, if you preferred.
To the beach from the beach hut
The Indian Ocean was literally a stone's throw away from our hut. The resort had created man-made sand platforms that go straight out from your hut and lead out to deck chairs. The beach then dips down to the water. Where we were placed, we managed to get our own, private, group of deck chairs each time. When we got hungry, we transitioned nicely to the pool while waiting for the food (we were rarely dry), where the odd monkey would be in the trees above.
At this time of year and this far north, the water was not too rough. Despite the island being very small, the monsoon seasons vary depending on what part of the island you are.
The Indian Ocean
The pool at Jungle Beach
The food in Sri Lanka is delicious and in this luxury resort, it's certainly no different. As with most countries, having the local cuisine will always be the best. Bear in mind, one of the differences between Sri Lankan curry and Indian, is that the former tend to be a lot hotter (chilli) and with this, there are many things that may have chilli in that you wouldn't expect, like jam! If this isn't for you, you can of course ask for it to be milder or they do have Western alternatives, but again, don't expect to order an Italian dish and be blown away compared to getting what the country is best at.
The breakfast was amazing at this place! They started you off with a type of 'first course' platter of varied breakfast dishes and then brought out the main dishes you ordered. I highly recommend!
Yes, they are mini doughnuts, pain au chocolat and croissants, along with (cold) porridge, smoothie shots, chilli jam, fresh pineapple, watermelon and papaya, fresh bread and yoghurt.
The lunch was equally delicious and all fresh - watch out for the chilli in the bread too!
We had originally planned to hop over to Pigeon Island during our stay here (it's just a small boat ride) for some snorkelling, but we just couldn't tolerate getting up super early and start moving more than we had to just yet. I do recommend it though. It's supposed to have great snorkelling opportunities but be aware that in peak travel seasons, it can get quite crowded.
Finally, to finish this rejuvenating trip to Trincomalee - and post - we managed to catch a stunning sunrise on the beach.
Join me in the final stops to Kandy and Galle in the next post!