Sri Lanka
Kalpitiya

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    • Day 24

      Immer besser

      September 4, 2019 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

      Es gibt gute Nachrichten, erstens wir haben uns noch nicht verletzt wie fast alle andern hier und zweitens wir machen richtig grosse Fortschritte im Kiten. Oke, ich gebe es zu, Alex macht richtig gute und ich mache einfach Fortschritte. Alex kann nicht nur Wenden und Kurven fahren, sondern hat auch schon angefangen die ersten Jumps zu machen. Ich hingegen bin schon super stolz, dass ich jetzt mehrere Meter fahren kann und dass ich bestimme wann ich stoppe und nicht mehr der Kite.

      Diese grossen Fortschritte verdanken wir nicht nur dem viel konstanteren Wind in der Kappaladi Lagune und dass es dort zurzeit auch fast keine anderen Kiter hat, sondern auch meinem Instructor Mawfeer. Er war einst Sri Lankas Nummer 1 im Kiten und hat mir mit viel Witz und Geduld geholfen mein Vertrauen in den Sport zu finden und langsam habe ich sogar richtig Spass daran übers Wasser zu gleiten. Am besten gefallen hat mir ganz klar, als ich mich wie ein Äffchen an Mawfeer geklammert habe und wir huckepack über die Lagune gebraust sind und einen Transition Jump und auch eine Backroll gemacht hatten. Das Kiten hinterlässt jedoch ganz klar seine Spuren und so sieht Alex oft nicht nur aus wie vom Bären umarmt, sondern fühlt sich auch so und vom Muskelkater in den Oberschenkeln und im Nacken fangen wir jetzt gar nicht erst an. Das Schöne an dem Kite Spot dort ist auch das lustige beisammen sitzen nach dem Kiten, wo wir jeweils noch ein Kartenspiel machen oder uns über die verschieden Sehenswürdigkeiten in Sri Lanka austauschen. Die Anreise mit dem Tuk Tuk zu der Kappaladi Lagune ist auch jedes Mal aufs Neue ein lustiges Abenteuer. Der Fahrer Shifan liebt es uns von seinem Land und Leuten zu erzählen und wenn er nicht spricht trällert er immer ein Singhalesisches Liedchen vor sich her.

      Schlafen tuen wir aber immer noch im De Silva Wind Resort, speziell da wir ein Upgrade in ein eigenes Surf Cabana bekommen haben gibt es für uns keinerlei Grund die Unterkunft zu wechseln. Außerdem sind in Zwischenzeit auch noch weitere Gäste eingetroffen, so dass wir uns nicht mehr so alleine fühlen. Frank hat sich zwar am ersten Tag beim Kiten einen Bandscheibenvorfall zugezogen aber Robert und Alexa haben auch noch eingecheckt so dass wir nun 7 Gäste im Resort sind. Dazwischen waren auch der Besitzer des Resorts und seine Familie zu Besuch. In der Zeit haben sich natürlich alle von ihrer Schoggiseite gezeigt und am Abend habe ich zusammen mit den Mädchen und Frauen ein lustiges Spiel gespielt. Es wurde Musik abgespielt und es wurde ein grosses Wasserglas von einer Hand zur anderen gereicht und bei der Person wo die Musik stoppte, die musste das ganze Glas leer trinken. Was für ein Gelächter und Gegacker und als ich vorgeschlagen habe das Ganze mit Glace zu spielen war ich die Heldin des Abends. Alex hat in der Zwischenzeit mit Upul (dem Besitzer) und Frank das gleiche einfach mit dem Cocos Rum (Arak) gespielt.
      Gestern haben wir uns auch beide von Sheriff im Resort Spa massieren lassen. Er hatte vom Vorabend noch eine ziemlich strenge Alkohol Fahne, aber die Massage war so gut, dass ich währenddessen für eine Stunde eingeschlafen bin. Als Alex schauen kam wo ich so lange bleibe, lag ich auf dem Schragen und schlief und der Masseur sass einfach auf dem Stuhl daneben und hat gewartet bis ich wieder wach wurde.

      Gestern ging es dann in unserer Siebner Gruppe mit zwei Tuk Tuks in das kleine Städtchen Kalpitiya zum gemeinsamen Abendessen, in dem Restaurant wo wir bereits letztes Jahr waren, und haben hervorragend traditionell gegessen. Später am Abend haben wir dann zusammen noch ein wenig Musik gehört und es wurde das ein oder andere Bier, Arak und Wein getrunken. Deshalb genießen wir den Vormittag ganz entspannt am Pool mit Planschen und Volleyball, bevor wir am Nachmittag wieder aufs Wasser gehen.
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    • Day 3

      Day 2-4: Kalpitiya

      August 30, 2023 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

      Day 2:
      We woke up from our concrete bed feeling somewhat un-refreshed. This was soon improved however by the breakfast spread laid out for us - a Sri Lankan style “English breakfast” complete with a side of Dahl (obviously). We wondered along the coast to get our bearings before hiring a moped and heading to the beach in the hope of having our first kite surfing lesson. The sight of an almost deserted beach quickly made it obvious that this wasn’t going to happen, with two instructors explaining that the wind was ‘no good’ today. With this, we headed into town in the hope of finding some lunch. Cafes/restaurants did not seem to exist so after driving around for 30 minutes covering all roads on the map, we pulled into a very authentic, local street food “cafe”. It only made sense that we witnessed a rat run out of the door of the kitchen just as we were about to walk in. At this point however, they had spotted us and there was no going back, as we were quickly ushered to sit down at the single table in the cafe supplied with a stack of napkins and ketchup. Still to this day it’s a mystery as to what the samosa style item we were served contained. On the positive side, two samosas and a 7up cost only 75p! After some excitement for the day we headed back to the hotel where we spent the afternoon relaxing by/in the pool pretending to be crocodiles. We finished the day with a three course dinner (pumpkin soup, roast chicken, garlic rice, salad and fruit salad and ice cream with “bees nectar” for desert) and an early night.

      Day 3:
      Up early, we had another amazing breakfast spread - today it was waffles which was of course came complete with Dahl and coconut samba. Having managed to sort out a kite surfing lesson we were collected by the boat from the hotel next door and zoomed across to the beach. Today was a very different picture with around 40 kite surfers already out on the water. We met our instructor and learnt the basics of kite control and then progressed onto body dragging in the water. My bum is still recovering from the heavy exfoliation it was given from the sand and sam certainly brought the style to the team - one look at us and there was no doubt we were beginners! I’d like to say it was only how we looked that gave away the fact that we were beginners, but it was also likely very obvious when I catapulted us across that lagoon before crashing the kite! We called it a day after 4 hours out on the water and some very red faces and headed back to grab some lunch. A quick trip into town left us struggling again to find some basic lunch items as the only shops around were so small and full of flys. So today lunch consisted of cheese triangles, biscuits and peanuts! We finished the day with a lovely dinner (Vegetable soup, Grilled fish, veg and cauliflower cheese and passion fruit sponge cake and ice cream for dessert) and an evening of socializing with our neighbors from Germany/France.

      Day 4:
      We were up early today to grab the boat back to the beach for the final day of kite surfing following another bowl of Dahl for breakfast. Annoyingly whilst preparing the kite my back decided to “pop” and spasm (a classic Reagan’s back situation) which left me walking like I had pooped my pants. I tried to continue with the lesson but it was a definite no go so Sam soldiered on alone. Today he managed to do a water start and was up for a solid few seconds before the crash landing came. I took on the role of photographer which also featured many dogs on the beach, so I was happy. Sam returned after 2 hours on the water and we headed back to the hotel to shower and pack. We were collected by our driver and commenced the 2.5 hour journey to Wilpattu national park. On route, our driver wanted to treat us to some of our ‘favorite fruits’ and so he selected the best watermelon, mango and something that was a cross between a grapefruit and an orange with a lemony taste, for us! We arrived at the camp in time for ‘tea and coffee’ which i was very happy with as it was my first English breakfast tea since we arrived! Another 3 course dinner in front of the bonfire (although sadly not quite to the same standards) and an early night to prepare for our safari in the morning.
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    • Day 5

      Jenga!

      December 30, 2017 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      Board rescue reporting for duty! Wojtek is close to being able to ride upwind but for now loses the board every now and then so his supportive brother brings it back to him.
      We've got internet now - installed a local sim card on my brother's phone so I can finally upload pictures with my blogs! 15gb of data for 6 USD. Same amount in roaming fees would have cost us 225'000 USD - it's absolutely not a joke (actually it is, a bad one).
      We played some drinking Jenga game yesterday with Stephane and Bao (2 of the owners) - really makes you careful.
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    • Day 13

      The Downwind without wind and the end

      January 7, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      Yesterday we tried another downwind session and it went like this.
      A. Arrive at the spot and get told by fisherman to gtfo.
      B. Begin the downwind ride with close to no wind.
      C. Continuously move the kite to create enough lift and reach the first checkpoint.
      D. Drink a beer.
      E. Evaluate the situation and decide to keep going, this time in the ocean.
      F. F**k. Bad idea wind also low there.
      G. Give it all to reach the camp before the wind dissapears completely.
      H. Happy ending.

      Then sausages, beers and gratin dauphinois. In Sri Lanka. Ah ah.

      Today low wind, frustration, a nap and some cursing.
      Kite and board cleaned. Tomorrow last day but I am not in the mood to wait for wind and be frustrated by its absence later.

      Overall terrific vacations though!
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    • Day 167

      The magic of the ocean

      December 28, 2016 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

      What a gift to be able to spend this time in, on and around the water.

      Christmas was a tough time for me this year, but besides talking to my family on Skype, experiencing all the ocean's beauties and meeting great people to kite surf with made it such a valuable time nonetheless.

      Oceanic highlights of the week: seeing hundreds of dolphins like these ones https://goo.gl/photos/UVbHi3kCXZggsnxN9 , kite surfing, night swimming in florescent plankton (by far the best I've experienced yet), swimming across the lagoon (800m each way) a few times.
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    • Day 2

      Welcome to Sri Lanka

      December 27, 2017 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      6 hours from ZRH to DXB.
      6 hours in DXB
      5 hours from DXB to CMB (Colombo)
      3 more hours by car to Kalpitiya.

      But finally we arrived. It feels like I never left.
      Lot of wind today and apparently tomorrow as well. Can't wait to be back on my board.

      Many of the staff is still here, nice to see them again!
      Our accomodation is very nice and the bar overlooking the lagoon is amazing.
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    • Day 3

      Not sure I am improving.

      December 28, 2017 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      Tough feeling, with all the time invested I don't see major improvements since last year.
      Jumps are still at the same height and the tricks learned this summer don't seem to have been memorized by the muscles.
      Hopefully that's just because I need to warm up.
      Let's see tomorrow.
      Our bungalow is great, at night quite noisy because of the wind blowing through it and not sure what animals playing around - being surrounded by nature feels good.
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    • Day 5

      Fire!

      December 30, 2017 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

      Local idiot thought it would be a good idea to start burning some wood just next to our camp, just as wind was picking up.
      The team here did crazy "bring water from the lagoon and throw it in the fire" marathon to be sure it doesn't spread.
      The police is underway to arrest the culprit hopefully. Thats how those big fires start, one idiot is enough to lay destruction to entire forests, lands.
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    • Day 7

      Downwind, Jenga and Hi 2018.

      January 1, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

      What a day!
      Started with a small session before lunch, some good air despite light winds. Shortly after we departed with a group of 10 with boats, heading straight north. 45 minutes of a bumpy ride brought us to a wonderful glassy water spot were we enjoyed ourselves for about an hour. Then the fun part started, riding downwind back to the camp.
      The fun part lasted only so long as my kite did not seem very enthusiastic about holding its air and I had to be rescued halfway.
      My 12m Rebel will probably need to undergo some surgery later.

      Since it was the 31st, the team here had a exquisite dinner prepared for us, pig, shrimps, crab, fish, you name it!
      Some drinking Jenga followed and it was the most impressive and tense game played.

      Thank you SriLankaKite! :)
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    • Day 9

      When wind is gone

      January 3, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      The wind took time off the two first days of the year. He is scheduled to come back to work today though.
      A little break is always welcome as it becomes increasingly difficult to align long sessions over consecutive days.
      The kite has been repaired and is now ready for action. Luckily it was a small hole in the smallest bladder which was causing the problems.
      Got some tips from the local pro and will try some small kiteloops today... I am a bit scared and probably rightfully so.
      We are now in the second half of our stay here and it feels like by the end we won't mind going back to our daily lives.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Kalpitiya, DBK

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