BREAKFAST ON THE BEACH, RIDING THE SURF OR HARMONISING YOUR AURAS AT THE SPA, GUSTASP IRANI DID IT ALL AT BENTOTA

WE felt under a little a fluttering ridiculous white sitting tent at a flower-bedecked table for two on the golden swathe of Sri Lanka's Bentota beach. But then again the setting was magic and we decided to enjoy every moment of our romantic champagne breakfast on a beach that is a picture postcard vision of a tropical getaway.
A couple of guests from the Taj Exotica where we were staying strolled past and gave our tryst the thumbs up sign and winked conspiratorially. As we sat watching the curling waves, and sipped chilled bubbly from long stemmed glasses, a man stood silhouetted on a distant rock. He cast a crude fishing line into the sea even as a fishing craft bobbed on the waves in the distance. Life on Bentota Beach carried on in its own untramelled way, unheeding of our rendezvous on the sands.
    In the meantime an array of fruit juices, bread basket, and a colourful fruit platter appeared in quick succession followed by crisp omelettes, dosas… Enveloped in a silence that was thick and warm, broken only by the soft rustle of palms and the pounding of the sea, we knew that life couldn't get better than this!
TO PARADISE
The seduction began the moment we left the capital city of Colombo and sped down the southwest coast of the island nation.The road for most part of the journey followed the golden sand coastline washed by an achingly blue sea before we pulled into Bentota.Though the 6 km long beach is very much on the tourist track, the resorts are judiciously spaced out giving it an air of serene seclusion.
    Our days were spent strolling down the powdery sands and relaxing against the ribs of a beached boat and watching the trees grow, so to speak.We stared at the roaring surf and wriggled our toes in the sand; splashed around in the inviting waters… In this quiet backwater one can keep the present and the future at arm's length
    Then for a change of space, we headed out of the resort, checked out the mysterious mask museum; ambled around Dutch fort in Galle at the southern tip of the island and the charming white-washed cobble-stoned village where the concepts of time and pressing schedules diminished and faded.
    Back at the resort we checked into the hotel's signature Jiva Spa where experienced therapists fine tuned our chakras and harmonised our auras.That evening we strolled down the beach for a grandstand view of the sunset.The water gleamed like molten gold under the warm rays of the departing sun. As we waited for the pyrotechnic finale, we resolved to return to this place where one can stop the world and cast off its bonds with impunity.