[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 8 September 2012. Minor edits have since been made from the original post to update some links and info.]

 

13 March 2012, Monday: Ella – Unawatuna

Morning Call: 6:30am

After a good night’s sleep, we woke up refreshed and ready for our last full day in Sri Lanka. As our accommodation at Ella Holiday Inn didn’t include breakfast, we had to find someplace else for food. We walked around the streets nearby but nothing caught our eye, so I whipped out my iPad for recommendations.

We picked a café from the list, but when we walked over, we found out that it was no longer there and construction was going on in its place. It looked like they were building a relatively big scale, high end resort.  I can’t blame my e-Lonely Planet because it was the outdated 2006 edition, but at least the maps were still very useful. As an alternative, we decided to go to another guest house called Ambiente for breakfast. Actually, Ambiente was my first choice for accommodation at Ella while I was planning the trip, but we didn’t manage to book a room there and we settled for Hilltop Guest House instead (which eventually turned out to be Ella Holiday Inn).

Ambiente is about 1km away from Holiday Inn, and the way Lonely Planet described the journey there is quite funny: “Don’t even think about walking; it’s very steep.” But it was a very fine morning so we decided not to heed Lonely Planet’s advice and took the 1km walk. It was a good decision because we got to see more of Ella on foot. It really is a small, quaint town with a rustic charm and laid-back feel. There aren’t many shops or major establishments; it doesn’t feel touristy at all. But as we walked around, we could already see traces of commercial activity kicking in, like the aforementioned resort construction, so I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before developers descend on Ella and transform the sleepy town into another tourist hub.

After walking for about 20 minutes, we reached the foot of the hill where Ambiente is located. The hill is covered with tea plantations and very pretty. We climbed up the hill via a road that zig-zagged through the plantations. Indeed, Lonely Planet wasn’t lying this time – the road is steep! If you’re a backpacker carrying your full load, it’s definitely advisable to hire a tuk tuk to send you up there.

At 7:35am, we spotted the small Ambiente signboard at the driveway and walked in. The restaurant is housed in a single-storey building and as we entered, we saw many travellers who were already enjoying their breakfasts and aromatic coffee. We asked one of the staff if we could dine there even though we were not guests at Ambiente, and thankfully he said yes. If he had said “no”, we would have to make our way down the slope again to find another place for breakfast! And we were already starving after the 1km walk and climb.

Most of the indoor seats were already taken. I spied a nice table set in the garden outside, with sunshine aplenty and an unobstructed view of Ella Gap. I asked if we could sit there, and the staff said “go ahead’, so we did. We placed our orders for a breakfast set each, consisting of the usual pot of coffee/tea, toast with jam and butter, a platter of fresh fruits and poached/sunny side eggs. The bill came up to Rs 1,210 (S$13.70), less than S$7 per person. It was damn worth it, for such a delicious spread and unbeatable scenery of the spectacular Ella Gap. You can never get such a good deal anywhere in Singapore!

While waiting for the food to arrive, we walked around the pretty garden, which was filled with colourful plants and flowers like bougainvillea and hydrangeas. There were a couple of resident dogs, one of them was bounding around energetically while the other was contentedly snoozing in the sun. Even I wouldn’t mind being them for a day and living the life! I remember thinking at that time: not all dogs are born equal… All in all, it was a perfect breakfast, with the great scenery, food, warm sunshine and mountain breeze. I would highly recommend anyone visiting Ella to book a room at Ambiente.

At 8:30am, we left Ambiente and headed back to Ella Holiday Inn to pack up. We checked out at 9:30am and paid for the room and previous night’s dinner at the restaurant – Rs 4,708 (S$53.20). We then walked five minutes to a “bus stop” nearby to catch a bus to our next destination. It was literally just a bus stop, a spot where buses stopped to pick up passengers. There was no shelter, seats or any signboard indicating the buses that called there. If you didn’t know, you would simply walk past it.

At 10am, a bright red bus (service number 31) pulled up, and after checking with the bus conductor, we hopped on and paid the fare of Rs 300 (S$3.39) each. As the bus originated from Nuwara Eliya, it was already full by the time it reached Ella, so once again we had to stand near the front door. The ride from Ella to the seaside town of Unawatuna, on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, took around 5.5 hours, of which we stood for 3.5 hours.  As we descended from the high elevation of Ella towards the seaside, the journey down was winding and jerky, a test of our balancing skills and workout for our biceps.

At 11:10am, we stopped for a short 12-minute break somewhere between Wellawaya and Tanamalvila. Nearly everyone got off the bus to stretch their legs and grab a snack and drink. It turned out to be the only stopover. After that, the bus ploughed on southwards, stopping only to pick and drop people at various points along the way.

For the last two hours of the journey, we managed to get seats. After a while, a salty smell wafted through the windows and we caught our first sight of the sea. We were near the coast at last. At 3:20pm, the bus conductor told us that we had arrived at Unawatuna and we grabbed our backpacks and alighted. We were so happy to get off the bus, not to mention starved!

We didn’t have to walk very far to reach our guest house, Unawatuna Beach Bungalow. From the corridor outside our room, we could see the beach and sea just 50m away. There are other guest houses even closer to the sea, literally with the waves at their doorsteps. Considering that Unawatuna was where the tsunami struck in 2006, it was good that our guest house was not located directly beside the shoreline, and that our room was on the second level.

Unawatuna Beach Bungalow
www.unawatunabeachbungalow.com
Address: Parangiyawatta, Peellagoda, Unawatuna, Sri Lanka

I really liked the room at Unawatuna Beach Bungalow. It was very bright and airy. The bedsheets seemed whiter and cleaner than anywhere else. Right outside our room, there were two chairs and a small table where you could just sit and read a book or chat with your friend, while listening to the waves lapping the shore nearby. And there were the bougainvillea trees that grew up to our level, with their pretty pink leaves and flowers flanking the corridor. Some guest houses just give you a good feeling naturally, and this was one of them.

After enduring the long bus ride, we were anxious to hit the beach so we quickly unloaded our stuff, grabbed our gear and headed to the beach at 4pm. There were plenty of guest houses and restaurants strung along the beach, and we picked one with available sun decks. We were starving by then, so we ordered some fries, cheese & tomato sandwich, and ice cold Coke and banana milkshake for our overdue lunch.

It was bliss to just relax, lie down and look out to the vast stretch of open sea in front of us – with no floating ships like those at East Coast Park or Sentosa in Singapore. The past five days had been quite tiring in terms of the distance we travelled and the amount of walking and climbing we did, so it was great to just unwind and chill. After downing the food, we took a dip in the sea and hung around till evening. Dark clouds suddenly appeared and threatened to rain, but the weather held up and we managed to witness a beautiful sunset. As we were leaving, the staff were already busy removing the sundecks and setting up tables and chairs in their place, getting ready for the dinner business.

After our shower, we headed back to the beach for dinner. There were so many choices to pick from. Walking down the stretch of beach with all the guest houses and restaurants, you could easily tell how expensive or luxurious a restaurant/accommodation was by the amount of beach between the shoreline and the building. The longer the stretch of beach, the more expensive the food at the restaurant/room rate is. The cheapest ones literally had the sea at their doorsteps, like the one we patronised earlier.

At 7:15pm, we made our choice and picked an outdoor table right on the beach at Tartaruga Hotel & Beach Restaurant. We ordered our food and a bottle each of the local Lion Beer. It was a nice setting with candlelight and a gentle sea breeze, perfect for honeymooning couples. Will make a mental note to return in future.

After our Lion Beer arrived, we only managed to take two sips before the rain clouds that had threatened to pour earlier finally gave up their resistance. We grabbed our beer and scurried indoors with the other diners. Such a spoilsport! Thankfully they had a nice indoor seating area where we continued our meal, but it would have been much better to dine on the beach.

By the time we finished dinner, the rain had stopped, so we made our way back to our guest house. As usual, we packed our stuff and got ready for our journey the next day, which will see us make our way north towards the capital city of Colombo before heading to the airport and catching a flight to Bangalore, where YS currently resides.

Unawatuna is a lovely beach resort and I like it for its laid-back feel. The beach itself is ok – the waters aren’t crystal clear, but it’s a great place to hang out and relax because it is not commercialised like the other beach resorts in Thailand (Phuket) or Malaysia. One day/night is definitely not enough. Hopefully I can return next time for at least three days to do it justice.