AT the edge of the Indian Ocean, where the coconut palms semaphore crazily out over the collapsing surf, two cultures are swept up and irresistibly thrown together.
The milieu is Hikkaduwa, on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, an easily labelled paradise for brochure writers, a stop-off for tourists, a haven for travellers.
And it is these two last ethnic groupings who collide here, under the amused gaze of Sinhalese residents and the few minority Tamils.
But why in Hikkaduwa? The answer lies next to the ubiquitous surf and palms, in the soft sand beaches that girdle much of the island and which are particularly luxuriant here.
And in the fragile coral gardens which blossom just beneath the surface of the lagoons offshore.
Foreigners burdened with a rucksack or those simply locked into a package holiday come to this happy spot, the acme of Sri Lankan seaside resorts, and shed their differences to rejoice in its aura of untroubled ease.
Each group - tourists and travellers - is readily identifiable. The former are older, paler, cleaner, and trot about town like so many tortoises released from hibernation, craning their necks experimentally after long hours confined in a tour bus.
