Solo Trip to Sri Lanka After 5 Years - Day 8: From Galle to Mirissa by Public Bus

Today, I decided to try going to Mirissa.
You can ride public buses in Sri Lanka without much trouble by making good use of Google Maps.

First, ask the conductor or driver if the bus goes to where you want to go.
Tell them your destination once on board and pay the bus fare in cash to the conductor.
The fare from Galle to Mirissa is 140 rupees (about 76 yen).
It's incredibly cheap for a ride that takes about an hour and a half.

There are no announcements on the bus, so you should check your location on Google Maps and get ready to get off when you get close.
In my case, someone nearby heard me tell the conductor 'Mirissa' and pay, so when we arrived in Mirissa, they told me, 'It's Mirissa!' Sri Lankans are truly kind!

Since I have a bad back, I unfortunately can't go surfing or diving, and I came to Mirissa on a whim, so I hadn't decided at all what to do.

When I went out to the beach, I was immediately caught by an old man soliciting customers.

It seems you swim in a different place, not here, but he said I could swim for as long as I like. The round-trip tuk-tuk is also included for 3700 rupees (about 2000 yen). He said there are no other additional charges, and since swimming doesn't hurt my back, I thought it would be fine and agreed.

And so, I moved off in a tuk-tuk with an old man I had just met.

Hey, me!
Didn't you get ripped off for about 10,000 yen on your second day in Sri Lanka by riding in a tuk-tuk with a stranger?

Are you okay? Hey!

While questioning myself, I decided to just let things take their course.

The place we eventually arrived at was in front of a hotel pool.
It seems to be a base for a diving service.
The old man left me there.

Young men and women were chatting happily while looking at their smartphones.
When I asked what I should do, I was told to wait a little longer because another guy would be coming.

After staring at the sea and zoning out for about 15 minutes, another guy with long hair arrived.
He asked me if I was a good swimmer, and I answered 'Yes'.
I was handed fins and a mask, and we headed for the beach entry.

The guide had something that looked like a dried leaf or a fruit that looked like a long string of pine cones tucked into his swimsuit pocket.

As I was drifting aimlessly in the sea with the guide, there were other guides and guests nearby.
Those guests were wearing life jackets, so perhaps they don't give life jackets to guests who say they can swim.

Before long, two sea turtles, one medium and one fairly large, appeared. It seems they are being fed.
Other guides were giving them green seaweed.
When I also held the brown, hard fruit or leaf from the guide toward the turtle's mouth, it even chomped on my finger.
I pulled it back immediately, but the biting force was quite strong, and it hurt a little.

Divers who had just exited were also absorbed in taking pictures of the turtle feeding.
It's a bit of a shame that I didn't bring an underwater camera because my back hurts and I can't go diving during the monsoon season.

I eventually got tired of the sea turtles, and the guide took me to some rocks that were acting as an artificial reef, so I dove under the rocks to see the fish.
He let me swim to my heart's content for about an hour, so I was satisfied.

When I put my clothes on over my wet swimsuit and waited for the tuk-tuk to pick me up, a scooter arrived instead.
I was handed a helmet, so I figured it was fine, and we rode double on the bike back to the beach where I had arrived.

I stopped by to greet the old man who was soliciting customers, but he seemed to want to talk to a Japanese person and urged me to sit next to him.

I wasn't really in the mood, so I told him I was hungry and asked him to show me a cheap, local eatery, and he went out of his way to walk me across the road to a restaurant.

I didn't want to go back to the old man and talk after I finished eating, so I just took the bus back to Galle.
Sorry, old man.
I'm not very good at chatting with strangers.