On my way back from the Maldives, I had planned a one day stopover in Sri Lanka before catching the flight back to Amsterdam. To be honest, this was complete nonsense planning on my side and I had been over-cautious (since I was going to connect to separate flight bookings). Also, after an amazing week on the boat in the Maldives, I did not feel like going back to all the hustle and bustle, honking and chaos of Sri Lanka. But… it was booked, so I made the best of it and headed to Negombo for a night.

Negombo is a beach place that is rather close to the airport – closer in fact than Colombo itself – so many tourists spend a night there after their arrival in Sri Lanka or before departing again. The area I stayed in was at the Northern end of Negombo though and did not feel too touristy for me. On contrary, when I went to the beach on Sunday it was full with locals and almost no other tourists! I had expected something different and although it is always nice to meet locals, it can get a bit exhausting at times – especially when you are a woman travelling on your own. The beach was quite nice, but I did not go swimming nor stay there for very long. The constant attention from too many locals, especially guys, was just a bit exhausting for me on that day. Also, I did not feel like tanning in my bikini next to all the fully clothed Sri Lankans! So I went for a walk down the beach, took some photos and then spent most of the day relaxing at my hostel…