Sri Lanka- Where to stay? What to eat?

I am standing on the train from Colombo to Galle (no seats!). Finally in the 6th hour of the trip, a man offers me his seat. Slithering in next to me was a young Sri Lankan man who asked way too many questions "where is your husband? why are you here alone? what is your contact number? do you want to come with me?" A kind police officer in plain clothes asked me if this man was bothering me and led me to another car. Then the police officer proceeded to ask me where I was going and where I was staying... Oh here we go again, I thought. Then he said, "You should stay at the Garagala Village Hotel in Mirissa. Nice place, friendly management." I thought, "ok- this guy wants to send me to his friend's place so he can make a commission..." I looked at my Lonely Planet and that was actually the place I had planned on staying. The officer then said, "Follow me, I will get you safely into a taxi for a good price (no meters on taxis or tuk tuks- bargaining skills needed!)." That guy was so helpful and 25 minutes later I arrived at my tropical beach paradise hotel, as seen in picture #1. I had Christmas dinner there with some teachers from Dubai and I had my daily tea on the patio, looking out onto Parrot Rock and the Indian Ocean! That hotel was $9USD a night. Sri Lankan breakfast included!! Sri Lankan breakfast is a few items- mango, papaya, finger banana slices (sweeter than regular 'nanas), and pineapple with curd/yogurt was one option. Eggs and hoppers was another option. Hoppers are like French crepes molded into the form of a bowl and an egg fried right into it!! String hoppers with coconut sambol were my favorite breakfast, however. String hoppers are little piles of angel hair pasta (made of rice flour) that are kind of sticky. You put curry on top of it and shredded coconut with chili peppers and mix it all up with your fingers. Absolutely delicious.
Second photo shows my tip top hill top guest house in Kandy, in the central part of the island. $17USD a night that I bargained down to $15 a night, breakfast included! This is the patio that monkeys climbed onto to join me for tea!! However, after many many days of tea, I needed some caffeine. I read in my guidebook that you could get a "proper" coffee at this eccentric hotel called Helga's Folly. I meandered up to another hilltop and found this WACKO decorated hotel where I was served homegrown coffee in a silver tea set service. Her place is the Salvador Dali- inspired-wacky murals on the ceilings type place written up in Conde Nast Traveller magazine. The owner is a 70 year old red head, on her 6th husband, whose dad helped Sri Lanka get their Independence years and years ago. WORTH a visit. I had a seven course meal there on New Year's Eve for $13USD that was one of the best meals of my life. Coconut soup served in a coconut, 7 types of curry, creme brulee, a roof top patio under the stars, white glove service, and an arrack cocktail. Arrack is the Sri Lankan poison of choice for those who can't afford whiskey. They add soda water and lime juice and wow! does it ever go down smooth!
Third photo shows a typical roadside snack shop. You point to the mango/pineapple/banana/papaya/coconut that you want and the machete-armed owner will peel and hack it up for you. My driver Raju is on the right in this picture. He and I shared many many pieces of pineapple over the four days he drove me around!
Last photo shows my breakfast table at the Nilmini Garden Guesthouse. I paid $5USD a night for that place, Sri Lankan breakfast included. Because of the civil war going on in Sri Lanka, there were hardly any travellers on the island. Many countries have told their citizens not to travel there. The entire time I was in country I felt safe (except from harassment from the 20 something crowd of young men) and protected. The targets are terrorist bombing attacks in the north and tourists are not even in the picture. Many Sri Lankans thanked me for coming and tourism has almost grinded to a halt. At the Nilmini Garden I was the only person in the guest house and was the first person in five days to stay there. When I inquired about room prices they replied, "whatever you want to pay." I convinced some Italian people to stay there too and we had a blast. The guesthouse concept is really ingenious. You stay in a room in a family's house- usually attached to the side or upstairs. As a single traveller it was advantageous because I had the opportunity to talk to so many Sri Lankans and get the inside scoop on politics, the war, the tourism industry, pointers on places to stay, explanations of Sri Lankan culture, and post-tsunami life.