I’ve said this before, and this wouldn’t be
the last time; I love being in the tourism industry because I get to travel and
experience a variety of things all the time. A few weeks ago, I had to check
out some hotels down south and on the East Coast. So I planned a four day
weekend where I would travel along the south coast, cut across to the east
coast and end up in the jungle.
Ever since the Southern Expressway opened
up, I haven’t been taking the coastal route down south because it takes 3 times
as long to get to Galle. But I do miss the old road, which is much more scenic
and interesting. Day one on my four day weekend wasn’t too exciting because I
had a lot of hotels, villas and bungalows to inspect along the way. Some were
horrible, some were mediocre and some were very interesting because of their great
locations, unusual architecture and unique interior. I find that most of the
beach hotels and villas that I visit have a very similar design and theme. That
is why I love it when I find ones that are a complete contrast to the norm. I also got to see some nice private beaches
that day. One of those that stood out was the beach in front of Villa Maggona
[a very comfortable and private villa with great staff]. It was a wide stretch
of beach and there were no other people to be seen. It was the kind of beach
you see pictures of in glossy travel magazines.
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| The Beach front at Villa Maggona |
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| The poolside at Roman Lake |
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| Roman Beach poolside in Hikkaduwa |
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| The bar at Roman Beach |
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| The living area at Tamarind Hill |
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| The bar at Tamarind Hill |
Day two of my 4 day weekend was far more
interesting. We drove from Tissamaharama to Arugambay via Monaragala. The road
was amazing. It’s one of my favourite drives in Sri Lanka. There were hardly any
other vehicles on the road and the lush jungle on either side made us feel as
if we were on safari! We even got to stop and watch an elephant that was
peacefully having his breakfast on the side of the road. Although it had been a
rainy couple of days the sky was a bright blue with fluffy white clouds
scattered across it.
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| The empty road and the crisp blue sky |
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| The elephant we saw on the way |
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| A very scenic route |
Another interesting feature on this stretch
of road is the migration of butterflies towards Adam’s Peak. This occurs at the
start of the Adam’s Peak pilgrimage season which goes on from December to May.
This mountain, the tallest in Sri Lanka is also known as Samanala Kanda [Butterfly Mountain] because of the thousands of
butterflies that make their way towards it during the season. On our drive to
Arugambay, we saw hundreds of butterflies crossing the road and flitting
towards the hill country as well as dozens of small birds waiting on the other
side of the road to swoop down and grab a quick and easy butterfly snack.
We got to Arugambay in time for lunch at
one of the small restaurants on the ‘A-bay Stretch’, a small surfing village
version of the Vegas Stretch! It is a little known fact that Arugambay is one
of the world’s top 10 surf spots. It is a gem, hidden away from the spotlight
with an amazing beach and great surf vibe. The surf season starts at around
June and goes on till around the end of September. This is the best time to be
there as the small town is alive and buzzing with surfing enthusiasts from all
over the world. Alternatively, if you visit during the off-season, you would
find a quiet town that waits with baited breath, counting down the days till
the season comes around again. There would still be plenty to see however
because the area is also popular for wildlife and bird watching. Unfortunately
our afternoon on the beach was dampened because of the rain and we couldn’t
even take a dip in the sea.
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| A-bay Beach |
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| A surf shop and our lunch spot on the stretch |
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| A few surfers were still around even though the season was over |
The next day, we had delicious hot paratas for breakfast and a tea made with
condensed milk at a small restaurant on the side of the road called Makkal
Hotel [not really a hotel!] in Pottuvil and made our way back towards Tissa.
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| The guy who made our tea and the parata guy at Makkal Hotel |
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| The front view of our breakfast stop and our yummy breakfast |
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| Which way to Monaragala again?! |
After checking out a few more hotels in the
area, we made our way towards Yala National Park and got into the Kulu Safaris
Jeep that took us to our luxury campsite inside the park. The weather wasn’t
that great when we were on safari that afternoon and even though we got
thoroughly soaked, we didn’t give up and head back to camp. Instead we
soldiered on; keeping an eye out for whatever animal that would cross our path.
I was hoping to see a sloth bear, because I have not encountered one in years.
But we seemed to be out of luck as all we saw that day were a few elephants, wild
boars, buffalo, some birds and leopard pad marks.
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| The pool at Chaaya Wild, Yala |
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| The view from a cabin at Chaaya Wild |
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| Our Kulu Safaris camp site |
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| Lunch, luxury camping style! |
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| Leopard pad marks |
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| Baby, it's a wild world |
I wasn’t disappointed though, because the
campsite, the food and being in the wild made up for what I missed out on while
on safari. Just being outdoors is enough to get me excited and think about how
it really is a wild world out there….
