19/04/2017 : ARUGAMBAY

Arugambay or one of our favourite place in Sri Lanka is probably the best place to have some good surf session. Sunrise and sunset surf session in Main Point spot are just amazing and make us feel as a privileged human.
And we cannot stop thinking that only 13years ago a 20meters wave hit the coast and destroyed everything! More than 30.000 deaths people in Sri Lanka.
 

Sri Lanka was one of the countries struck by the tsunami resulting from the Indian Ocean earthquake on December 26, 2004. Sri Lankan authorities reported 30,196 deaths... The south and east coasts were worst hit. One and a half million people were displaced from their homes. 

The agricultural sector was affected seriously. 259 km² of paddy land was destroyed in the northern, eastern, southern and western coastal belts. In addition, the extensive salinization of paddy lands rendered them unsuitable for paddy cultivation. 

Last time, while waiting for our train, we met that survivor guy with a totally destroyed leg. When he saw the wave he climbed on a tree which fell and a huge stone hit his leg. He was laying on the floor almost unconscious when he heard some monks trying to find alive people. They finally rescued him and he was the only alive person among 306 dead people in the same area... He spent more than a year at the hospital cause he did not have money to pay the operation. He said that many countries gave money to sri lanka but all the money was used to build new accomodations and not to help locals. But that guy is definitly a Survivor and he told me that he is the luckiest guy ever. His family was actually on holidays in Kandy and when the wave hit the coast he just felt blessed for them being secured. Now, he thanks god everyday and keep smiling to the life he has. Such an inspiration !

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To speak about surf, Arugambay get many different spot to enjoy. Main point as we already mentioned, easy access with scooter or tuk-tuk but be careful with the reef ! For beginners, I reckon Whiskey Point or Peanut farm. No reef, nice wave.. The easier way to go is to go by tuk-tuk. It should cost you a 1000 rp to go and come back and the tuk-tuk will wait for you. You can get one at ANY TIME. They are every where on the road or in front of your hostel from 5am to midnight. You can also rent a scooter for an average of 800rp a day, but you have to know that racks are seriously prohibited. They say this law is linked with a former accident a few years ago but we are still convinced that they want to increase tuk-tuk business.

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Arugambay is good for surfing but also a really nice place to hang out. You can find many cool places to have breakfast, lunch or dinner. Food Garden is probably one of our favourite. We always had a slice of the amazing cake they make. The taste depends on the day, but most of the time you have the choice between banana, passion fruit or chocolate cake. And I swear, it's amazingly good !

If you want a cheap and chill place to stay, book straight away to Beach Hut. You will enjoy a stay in tree house and a super chill atmospher every night. It's also one of the only place you can have a beer. We are not sure but we think that it's hard to find some place to have a beer cause Arugambay is a muslim city. But nothing sure about that. 

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