Negombo - Fish, birds and even a snake! Our guide to visiting Negombo, Sri Lanka
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Negombo has the dubious advantage of being the seaside town closest to Sri Lanka’s international airport. Due to its proximity to the airport, it hosts a number of large international hotels, and a strip of shops, bars and restaurants along the seafront. In normal times Negombo seems to be used as a stopping off point either at the start or end of a holiday to Sri Lanka. These however, were not normal times for Sri Lanka.
Why we came to Negombo
Bags packed and ready to go
The reason we had decamped from Colombo and headed for Negombo was that the results of the parliamentary election were imminently due, and following the flight and resignation of the former President, we were wary that the Capital may see further civil unrest. So cowardly (but probably sensibly), we moved from our lovely hostel in Colombo to a cheap little hotel in Negombo. This move involved our first Sri Lankan train journey and no little amount of stress.
Getting to Negombo from Colombo
Bundling into a tuk tuk we set off for Colombo Fort railway station. An undignified exit from the tuk tuk later (somehow managing to drop one of our bags in a puddle of oil… yes it was Ellie’s and yes she was delighted) we entered the madness that was the train station. Numbered ticket counters stretched off in all directions. Initially overwhelmed by the people and counter choices, we quickly realised that the destinations were neatly listed above each counter window, as well as the class of tickets available. We also found later that there is a dedicated office in the station to help bewildered tourists. Leaving John with the bags, an intrepid Ellie joined a snaking queue for tickets. Using a combination of mime, sign language and Google maps, two tickets were purchased for the station one stop after Negombo town, Kattuwa. These cost us the heady sum of 80 LKR (£0.18p or $0.22).
Next was the matter of the platforms. We asked four different guards which platform we needed, and each of them were very sure of their answer. Unfortunately, their answers contradicted each other. With an even two to two split amongst the guards. We now knew it was either platform 1 or platform 2. As the first one told us platform 1, we opted to stand there with an option of a high speed, bag laden waddle if we were wrong. The train pulled in and the chaos began. We had brought third class tickets (we’re not sure if there were any other classes available) and as the train arrived and before it had even stopped moving, people began to leap aboard, piling on coconuts, bicycles, children, elderly relatives and possibly the kitchen sink. Fighting our British urge to stand in an orderly queue (and definitely miss the train) we deployed our elbows and managed to stuff ourselves and our bags into a carriage. Once aboard, the mood changed entirely, everyone was super friendly and very polite. Rearranging themselves and their goods in the carriage so that everyone had a little space. When a family with a baby couldn’t get to a seat, the baby was passed over our heads and was made comfortable on a stranger's lap. The train departed Colombo and trundled through its long commuter route to Kattuwa. An hour and half later and with a much emptier train, we arrived.
If the above isnt appealing to you and you want to pre arrange a bus from either Colombo or the Airport, you can do this in advance with 12GO.
Negombo - Out of Season
Arriving in Negombo we could tell this was not the normal tourist season. Out of season, the sea on the western coast is very rough so the beach had no swimmers. At the best of times Negombo would have been out of season, but with the ongoing financial crisis, civil unrest and governments advising against travel, Negombo was eerily quiet.
Our cosy little hotel
Our hotel was small but with a nice swimming pool and a lovely family running it. Initially we thought we had the whole place just to ourselves, but mid afternoon on our first day we were joined by a fellow traveller from the Netherlands.
There may have beer one or two of these too many
Sometimes on a trip you need an external force to push you into action, and our new companion was definitely that. We all quickly signed up for a tour of Negombo’s famous fish market and lagoons for the next day. Decision made, we all decided it was high time for a beer and so headed for the Rodeo bar in town. Many beers later, we stumbled home well past midnight. Arriving back, the owner advised we would need to switch rooms, as a colony of ants had taken over our bathroom. It dawned on us now, even through our beer-addled brains, that our 5am alarm would sound in a distressingly short amount of time.
Negombo Fish Market
Like a bad dream, it seemed we had only just laid our heads down when the alarm started playing. Groggily and with slightly sore heads, we emerged from our room, collected our fellow traveller and met our tour guide. John has often maintained that 5am is a silly time and should not be allowed to exist, but the reason for our early morning wake up was simple: the fish market is only active in the very early hours. As our little minivan (there were only three of us and the guide) pulled into the market all thoughts of hangovers evaporated. Our senses were flooded by the sights and smells of a fish market in full swing. We realise that this is hard to make sound attractive but it was actually amazing. Our guide walked us round the market, passing by sharks, enormous tuna and machete wielding fishmongers. He weaved us about, pointing out interesting sights without us ever feeling like we were in anyone's way. Watching ships come in and the frenzied bidding over catches whilst the sun was only just starting to rise is a memory we will keep forever. It's hard to make a fish market sound cool, but we do urge any travellers no matter the hangover, no matter the early wake up, to go and see this.
After the fish market we were driven to a beach on the coast. This was not a beach for sunbathing or rather it was, but only if you were a dead fish. Tarpaulins were laid out across the sand and seemed to stretch for miles. We had arrived at the fish drying beach. The smell was… intense! We wandered along past seemingly abandoned huts to the seafront where a group of men were bloodily, but efficiently gutting fish in preparation for drying. Our Dutch friend displaying a confidence we can only dream of, wandered up to the lead guy and asked if she could have a go with his knife. After gutting a few fish and washing her hands very thoroughly we moved on.
The Dutch Fort at Negombo
Close to the fish drying beach, the nearby Dutch fort had been repurposed into a prison. Again taking a path we would not have dared without our guide, we clambered up onto the old clock tower looking over the fort/prison. Granite and coral stone seem as effective at keeping prisoners in as they had keeping invaders out in the past. With the sun now up, and the wild flowers open around us we made our way to our next destination.
Angurukaramulla Temple
We pulled into a beautiful and ornate Buddhist temple. Entering through a sculptured open mouth of a lion, we wandered through the temple admiring towering statues and colourful murals. This was when Ellie spotted the snake.
Ellie: “What’s that?”
John: “Just a bit of rope”
Ellie: “Ropes don’t normally move”
Intrepid Dutch traveller: “SNAKE!”
We quickly shifted route to avoid “snake corner”, John’s confidence that it was more scared of us than we were of it, not translating into any desire to get any closer to our slithery friend. Outside our guide was mildly surprised but reassured us that it was almost certainly a rat snake and was absolutely no danger to us.
Danger Noodle
Birdwatching on the Dutch Canals
Our final stop of the morning was the Dutch canal and lagoons. Pulling up into a sleepy canalside village, we all hopped into a little green boat and set off.
The canal and neighbouring lagoon have an abundance of wildlife. Within moments of leaving dry land our guide pointed out an enormous monitor lizard lounging on the shoreline. Birds including herons, storks, cormorants and at least three different types of kingfishers, flitted by whilst our boat put putted along. We passed riverside homes with people tending to livestock or washing in the lagoon, seemingly abandoned hotels, and children cycling and waving along the canal's edge. It was a wonderful experience, and it may just be the hangover speaking but it was very chilled out and relaxing. We are not natural bird watchers (as you can see here) but would definitely recommend a journey around the canal and lagoons. Tour complete and having seen more kingfishers in two hours than we had seen in our entire lives, we returned back to our hotel.
Exploring Negombo on Foot
As we mentioned we were in Negombo out of season and in the midst of a financial crisis. Lots of things in the town were closed and after our tour, we were unsure what else was on offer. Because of this, we resorted to our default pastime. We picked a direction (in this case right along the main coast road) and wandered off. We appreciate there are probably places where aimless wandering could be unwise or unsafe, but for us it has always been our favourite way to get to know a place (other than maybe food). We quickly left behind the strip of bars, hotels and restaurants catered for tourists and found ourselves in what may as well have been a different country. It's always a danger when you’re at a “tourist zone” that you forget that it is set up and run pretty much exclusively for your own needs. A place like Negombo’s tourist strip therefore might not be truly reflective of the country. As we left the resorts, we passed roadside fish sellers, selling this morning's catch sourced from the market we’d been at hours before. Local fruit vendors with more types of bananas than we’ve ever seen lined the road, children greeted us and waved from bicycles, whilst goats wandered on by. Passing a large mosque we turned inland and doubled back along a backstreet. This article has been full of things that are hard to make sound cool, but a wander along a sleepy town's backstreets really is worth it. If not for your own experience of a place, then just for the look of surprise from an old man selling samosas when they look up and see the pasty brigade ordering from him.
Where to Stay Hotels in Negombo
We stayed at the lovely St Claire’s Green to the north of Negombo. Negombo offers a plethora of Hotel options from the High end to the ultra budget. Check out our handy map below that shows all the accommodation choices in Negombo:
Negombo makes for a sensible place to start or end a Sri Lankan holiday. If it is the correct season at least! Even though we were backpacking, even though we visited in exactly the wrong season, even though we were running away from a possible bubble of political trouble in Colombo, we loved Negombo. The natural beauty and wildlife of the canals were amazing and the fish marked was an unforgettable experience!
Thanks for reading.
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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