Trouble in Paradise

The tone of the following words aren't going to match the photos, but that's life sometimes.
I got up about 7 on Christmas day, showered, packed a rucksack with 3 T-shirts, a camera, sun-tan lotion, insect repellant and that's about all. I left the house at 8.15, hailed a tuk (3-wheeler), stopped at the backery to grab a bit of breakfast and headed to Fort Railway Station to catch the 9 am train to Hikkaduwa. I'd been warned about the trains so I wasn't expecting a seat, just a cheap ride to the coast. Ticket was 90 Rs, which isn't bad for a 2 hour, 90km train journey. Between Colombo and the first stop I was in what I'll call the meat slicer or scythe spot. Where 2 carriages meet there are 2 metal plates, 1 protruding from each carriage, which you can walk on and that stop you dropping down between the carriages. The gaps at the sides and top are filled with rolls of rubber that compress and expand as the train turns. As the rubber had stopped fully expanding over time, if the bumps in the track knocked you off balance you could get at least an arm through the gap, although I don't know how much you'd get back.
Back to the scythes of death. The metal plates that had started with 5 to 10 mm square edges had been worn into sharp blades, which looked like they could slice the soles of your feet off at any moment. No one else seemed bothered and I kept my feet 6 inches from where the metal was worn to a shine and gripped the side wall of the carriage until my fingers went white. After the first stop I pushed my way to the middle of a packed carriage, so the worst I had to worry about was ending up on someone's lap.

Up until now all was as expected, a bit of ghetto tourism is all good when you know you don't actually have to put up with any of it if you don't want to. Slightly dubious morally, but what you gonna do? They need the cash, slumming adds a little spice. I think all you can do is try and spend your money in the right places but as you'll see, it wasn't to be.
A Sri Lankan approaches me on the train and starts chatting. Apparently he'd studied French in Jersey and knew Weymouth as he had travelled to Jersey from there . He advised getting off at the stop before Hikkaduwa, his home town of Ambalangoda, and checking out The Reclining Budda, Turtle Farm, Gem Mine, the Lagoon and getting a free massage at the Herb Garden. It all seemed so easy and I just needed to relax after a month in Colombo. I'd actually read about the place already so I thought why not. He then proceeded to tell me what the fair price was for the local attractions, which is where it started going pear shaped. The hotel would cost about 6 pounds, the lagoon boat trip 50 pounds, turtles 3 pounds, budda 1 pound, transport 4 pounds an hour and the massage was free. The 2 things that were over priced were the lagoon boat trip and the transport. I only had about 36 quid on me anyway, so I didn't intend to do the boat trip this time. I thought I'd settle in, find a hotel and go from there. I got off the train still thinking, "Boy, aren't Sri Lankan people friendly and Buddhists are such selfless people". After my new acquaintance pretends to barter the tuk driver down for me, his mate in the tuk then proceeds to take me straight to the Lagoon (where I thought I could get some food and a drink) and tries to persuade me into taking the wild life lagoon boat trip straight away. Feeling harassed, my mood turns super sullen and I sulk until the driver takes me back to town. At this point I'm not smiling and just want to be left alone. I've hit full moodymowlam mode and nothing is going to bring me out of it. I gave the driver the 400 Rs for 40 minutes (half a days hire in Colombo) and sat in the hotel glaring at anyone that came up to ask me where I'm from (it wears thin when you get asked it every 10 minutes, especially when I'm not the biggest fan of small talk normally). I walked down onto the beach and realised there's nothing to do on a beach, especially when your skin feels like it's turning into Pork Scratchings every second you're exposed to the sun. I walked back to the train station thinking maybe Hikkaduwa will be different.
Hikkaduwa is more touristy and I now get people asking me where I'm from every 1 or 2 minutes as I walk along the beach.
It looks beautiful, but I'm feeling like a lobster being boiled alive. I'm actually not burning as I have factor 50 sun-cream on, but it doesn't stop me feeling like I am. I walked into a restaurant and ordered a curry and a drink. One thing I am getting used to is eating curry every day. My mood is still dark and nothing shifts one of my dark moods except time and that's hours, not minutes.
Blow it, I'm out of here as well and start walking back along the main street towards the station and the train back to Colombo. People are still coming up to me and asking where I'm from and it really isn't helping me out. The place is built around tourism and that's the main source of local income so it's understandable. (Quick aside: Photo of house under construction for Dad as he is fascinated by the variations in building methods all over the world. The shuttering for the ceiling is supported by an untold number of wooden supports. I couldn't see but I'm guessing there are woven metal bars creating the reinforcing metal mesh for the ceiling / floor. You can also see the metal bars protruding upwards to provide the supports for the first floor ceiling. I think the support pillars on the ground floor are already boxed in with shuttering, but it's hard to see.) Back at Hikkaduwa train station are 3 carriages of a train that was swept off the track during the Tsunami and on which hundreds of people must have died. It was the first year anniversary of the Tsunami the next day but for some reason it seemed like an ancient relic.I was back in Colombo with a beer watching a DVD by 9.00 pm as if I'd never left. Writing this a couple days afterwards I'm planning to head back, but I know what to expect this time. Having a harder attitude at the start saves a lot of hassle down the line. I've also just found some photos of the first skate ramp in Sri Lanka, which is in one of 2 places, one of them being Hikkaduwa. I'll wait and see what happens and I still intend on visiting the Reclining Budda as it's the biggest in Sri Lanka. I understand why the people are like they are, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with if you're tired and not in the mood for it. Live and learn.