Tangalle
On the bus to Tangalle (via Matara, from Weligama) I begun to worry that there might not be enough to do other than laze on the beach and read our books. I had only ever heard people mention that they stayed in the town on their way to, or from, the hills inland - oh, and that you can find the best tuna steak of your life on the beach there. We arrived at Tangalle bus station, around 20 minutes from our accommodation - we stayed here, which I couldn’t recommend more, but be aware that their location is only correct on their listing page!
However, all my fears disappeared after our walk; we were greeted by the sweetest family and the most amazing abode! Fully under construction, there is no false pretence that it is any fancier or finished than it really is - yet they have made it into a beautiful oasis of plants, mood lighting, a chill area separate for the guests and the most amazing bedroom with private bathroom - all for £9 per night. We couldn’t have been happier! Eranda came upstairs with two chilled coconuts for us to sip on, and gave us plenty of space to settle in and feel at home. When I asked what we could do in the surrounding area, he told us at least 9 activities (in his amazing English, by the way) and what he would recommend the most.
We had seen on booking.com that we could have a free cooking class with our reservation… In fact, this is exactly why Fab wanted to stay here, the little foodie! So we asked about it, and his wife Priyani was more than happy to cook with us, anything that we wanted from their menu. So of course, we chose veggie curry and rice.
Fab has the recipes written down for the whole class: jackfruit, green beans, lentil dal, waterspinach, rice, poppadum and battered mushrooms. We spent around 2 hours preparing and learning about all the ingredients and spices that went into the dishes that were made with love. I’ll be sure to post them soon! They set up the table upstairs for us to have a little date night, and even gifted us free ginger beer incase the curry was too spicy (although we secretly looove the spice,) which was such a lovely touch.
The next morning, we borrowed their scooter for only 1000, and with some bananas from their garden, we headed on the road towards the Blowhole in Dickwella. When we arrived, we were told by the ticket office that the hole wasn’t actually blowing, and so we shouldn’t bother going in - which I actually thought was pretty decent, as they could have just taken our money. So with that, we headed onto our next destination: the Big Buddha temple. Obviously on route we had to make a quick pit stop for more curry, so pulled into a sweet local eatery for the biggest buffet of dreams. Would highly recommend! We paid 330 and they even let Fab go up for seconds, which is complete madness.
Big Buddha Temple
was very impressive, with the 501 lives of Buddha painted on the walls as the stairs spiral up the huge statue. A man kindly showed us around and told us the story in broken English, but demanded money as soon as we said goodbye - even though we had already offered him money. A lesson learnt: be sure to ask if they are a guide, and if so, how much payment they expect.
Rock Temple -
Mulkirigala Raja Maha Vihara
Onwards, 30 minutes to the Rock Temple. More expensive - 500, as opposed to 250 to the Buddha, this temple shows the extreme dedication of the Buddhists here in southern Sri Lanka. Carved into a small mountain, caves have been created to show their God in all his lives and forms. It began to rain as we were leaving, but soon the soon was shining as we found ourselves back by the shoreline.
We wandered towards the more touristy area of Tangalle Beach, where we found many more restaurants offering happy hour, a more western atmosphere and food offerings - but a man went to buy curd especially for us to enjoy mango lassis for 770, despite it not even being on the menu. We were amazed by the kindness of these people!
That night, we asked our lovely host where we could find tasty local food within the town of Tangalle, and he basically recommended anywhere. So we walked around, finding a feast of roti, dal, sambal and egg hoppers.
Day 2
Upon waking, our host warned us to not leave Tangalle without seeing Silent Beach, and to take his scooter for a couple of hours to explore. Taking his advice, we put on our swimmers and headed straight there - in fact, basically to the beach of Amanwella, which I have read a lot about.
When we arrived, the first words out of our mouth were exactly that: WOW, do not leave Tangalle without seeing Silent Beach. It is stunning! The most tropical and desolate beach I have seen here in SL, despite a huge resort being plopped right behind the palm trees. We headed back, showered and our host even scooted our bags down to the bus stop for us and made sure we got onboard safely. I can fully recommend Tangalle and this particular guest house.
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