📍 Unawatuna Sri Lanka, CARPE DIEM BEACH HOSTEL

Finally, I continued my journey and reached the coast of Sri Lanka 2018. Actually, I planned a retreat in Sam's Ashram. But suddenly everything changed through an encounter. 

From Colombo to Unawatuna, I traveled by train and bus, spending a few days in Unawatuna before visiting the ashram in the jungle. I noticed the many crows that made the coast lively but somewhat oppressive. The sea was loud and almost gloomy. Or perhaps it was me. I like places where nature takes up a lot of space and rhythm. Sri Lanka was naturally very vibrant and colorful. 

I borrowed a bicycle with a colorful plastic flower basket. The roads were gravelly. Rocks crumbled from the cliffs at the roadside. Buses thundered past me at high speed. Hesitant, I eventually joined the traffic, constantly stopping, letting others pass. I didn‘t come far.

Then I tought: „if I die, I'll die smiling with my flower basket". So, I decided to embrace the flow of traffic and suddenly found myself involved in the chaotic flow of traffic, realizing how important it is to trust. A magic took over me.

 

 

When Suranga approached me in a side street where I had left my bicycle, he seemed surprisingly familiar, and offered me a wall to paint a mural on his friends hostel CARPE DIEM BEACH HOSTEL. My dream of large paintings came true.

 

Tourists do influence culture and nature. What do we do. Now?

The most beautiful thing during the painting process for me was the many people gathering around me, having a good time at the Hostel Carpe Diem.

I painted a second mural - the mermaid. The uncle provided me with food and Singhalese tea. During the day, he sat under the pavilion, read the newspaper and wondered what the mermaid felt. 

 

They made a great fire with coconut shells, for a barbecue and I was full of gratitude. Everything is already there and enough. Das All es ist. Alles ist. Alex.

The uncle and I shed a few tears as we said goodbye at the gate.

I skipped the ashram. I had found my peace at this place.