Buses
The bus from Ella was around 4 hours. We had choices, The Galle bus is direct and goes through Mirissa, or there is the Matara bus which requires a 2nd bus or tuk tuk ride to Mirissa (20min by tuk tuk and 45 on bus). Be warned the tourist information centre does not always have the correct bus times!!! We wanted the direct bus, but as we arrived at the bus stop were told it had left 15 mins earlier and that the next bus was the Matara bus and it was over an hours wait! Not what you want to hear when you've dragged yourself out of bed at 6.30am for it!
Once in Matara we went for a tuk tuk as we were hot and wanted to get there. He also offered to help us find a room near the beach (possibly looking to make some money..but we were OK with this).
The bus from Ella was around 4 hours. We had choices, The Galle bus is direct and goes through Mirissa, or there is the Matara bus which requires a 2nd bus or tuk tuk ride to Mirissa (20min by tuk tuk and 45 on bus). Be warned the tourist information centre does not always have the correct bus times!!! We wanted the direct bus, but as we arrived at the bus stop were told it had left 15 mins earlier and that the next bus was the Matara bus and it was over an hours wait! Not what you want to hear when you've dragged yourself out of bed at 6.30am for it!
Once in Matara we went for a tuk tuk as we were hot and wanted to get there. He also offered to help us find a room near the beach (possibly looking to make some money..but we were OK with this).
Where we stayed
We found a room about 100yds from the beach, simple but a base for 1,800lkr. Ayodya resort was family run and they have hot water and wifi...although both of which broke after our first day!
It was OK although the bathroom certainly needed a clean..my first job! And one of the members of staff was a little bit weird....
We found a room about 100yds from the beach, simple but a base for 1,800lkr. Ayodya resort was family run and they have hot water and wifi...although both of which broke after our first day!
It was OK although the bathroom certainly needed a clean..my first job! And one of the members of staff was a little bit weird....
The beach
The beach was beautiful - small but perfectly formed. There were plenty of bars along the beach - all of which offered happy hour (usually 5-10pm so much longer than an hour!) So we could get cocktails and large beers for only 250LKR each!
The beach was beautiful - small but perfectly formed. There were plenty of bars along the beach - all of which offered happy hour (usually 5-10pm so much longer than an hour!) So we could get cocktails and large beers for only 250LKR each!
Needless to say on our first night we ended up hanging around on the beach right through to dinner, eating fresh fish & drinking happily before heading back!
The one problem was that neither of us had any bug repellent on so the next morning we had been eaten alive and Gary had an allergic reaction!
The one problem was that neither of us had any bug repellent on so the next morning we had been eaten alive and Gary had an allergic reaction!
The Bites...
So the next day we chilled, tried to stay out of the sun as it made Gary itch like crazy, he was covered! Once we got to the doctors he informed us it was likely sand fleas - that come out after its rained on the beach. Or bed bugs...the latter of which filled us with dread! So needless to say our following 2 nights were not particularly restful!
The no. 1 Rotti Shop
We had our second nights Dinner here after seeing it was rated no.1 on trip advisor...we were not disappointed, the food was amazing...especially the sweet pudding rotti's. We ended up pre-ordering for the following night to have their rice and curry that looked amazing...which indeed it was! Probably our first spicy curry in Sri Lanka! We would definitely recommend it here, and the prices are cheap in comparison the the beach side restaurants (we spent about 1,400 both nights - although still not cheap in comparison to local restaurants)
The Rain
It seems that the south coast (which is now in low season) has different weather to most of the places so far, there is glorious sunshine a lot of the time and then short incredibly intense rainfall! But the rain seems to do nothing to help clear the air and make things cooler!
The Whales
So we did the whale trip, it was an early start at 6.30am, expensive at 2,500LKR each, but we think worth it. It includes a breakfast of an omelette roll and a sandwich with coffee, water & Juice and finishes around 10am. You are given sea sickness tablets on arrival...TAKE THEM...even if you do not usually suffer, it is a very bumpy ride and we saw soooo many people being sick!! Anyway we got to see Dolphins, Killer whales as well as another unknown whale (it moved to quick for us to identify!)
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