Hikkaduwa Beach Fest 2008

The hikka beach fest 2008 was crazy!!! Simply put.

Driving there after work on thursday, we got there around 9.30pm, after checking in we decided to take a walk to find a good place to eat. We came across the Beach Market which at that time wasn't yet in full swing, so we decided to walk around a bit more till we came across this place called The Red Lobster, which is supposed to be a well known seafood joint. So we stopped there and got a table and ordered crab and egg rice with deviled pork, which turned out to be i'd say average. The service wasn't that great, considering we had to run behind the sole waiter to get our bill, and the female hostess served the tables while carrying her kid on one arm. Anyways, that was the first dinner in hikka.



Needing to eat fast to make sure we didn't miss too much of the drum festival, we gobbled and took a drive to the main beach entrance, where everything was going down. So we got our hands stamped and entered the craziness. The place wasn't as packed as expected, but the drumming was superb! Groups like Elephant Foot, Hikkaduwa Drummers, Vibrations, Ravi Bandu and so many more kept the crowds moving to every beat. Superb!

The night went on till late into the morning, but we left around 4am to head back to the rooms for much needed sleep. The next day we woke around 9am to get to breakfast in time. Sausages and scrambled eggs with fresh fruit replenished our bodies for the day ahead. The beach market was the next stop. Food stalls to local antiquities and flags and decorations lined the beach, along with a few beach games. Wasn't that much to see, so we strolled back to have a swim. I ended up sunburnt but it was worth it. Then with our stomachs grumbling for food we headed for a walk to a place called Mamas, and i must say the buffet for Rs.500 was AMAZING! We were so stuffed, we had to crawl back to our hotel to sleep it off.



Waking up around 5, which dug into one hour of the kite festival, we got dressed and headed to the beach market again to see what was happening. This time there was more of a crowd and we grabbed a few ice creams and watched the kites flying high while kids made sand castles. We headed back to the hotel to change for dinner and prepare for the rave that night. Dinner was taken at a place called the Blue Shadow, which in my opinion served some really great Devilled Crab and Garlic Prawns. mmmmm reminded me of beach wadiya back in wellawatte.



With a full stomach we left for the Rave. The scene was packed!! Easily over 1000+ colombites and scattered foreigners getting high and moving their bodies to the trance house music played by 7 famous DJ's. But i guess the highlight would be the fact that they brought out 8 HOT european girls wearing almost nothing, to booty shake and gyrate and get the majority of the male attendance really into the thick of things. I don't know what they were on but the girls really did their thing... ahem.



Anyway, i bumped into a couple of school friends and a few other buddies of mine and after about 5 hours of standing on the beach we decided to call it a night.. er morning... Tired and wired we slept, only to wake up the next day around 9 to get ready to check out of the hotel. Grabbed another similar breakfast and paid the bills. We met up with some other friends for lunch which was taken at Mamas again... mmmmm.

And then we left hikka with heavy hearts, heading back to Colombo. Made one stop at Monis for a couple of much wanted biscuits. Made it back to Colombo in two and a half hours, back to reality.... sigh.

Overall the Hikka beach fest was kind of over hyped but i guess considering the events happening in colombo during that week i think it was the best place to be, chill out with friends and just enjoy life for 5 days.

And that was my Hikka experience. I will definitely be heading there again, soon.