Gone - Off - Road

People of Sri Lanka now experience what we call "the freedom". Simply speaking we can travel to any pixel in Sri Lanka without any sense of fear. So as one of those lucky civilians, with gratitude to our war heroes, I could travel the entire western province in mind-blowing 4 days up and down between trincomalee and pottuvil.

ROUTE
The route can be arranged in many ways but it is recommended to choose the most built up roads as some areas have wrecked up roads.
Our Itinerary:
Day1: Colombo-Kurunegala-Dambulla-Habarana-Trinco (approx: 6-8 hrs to travel)
Day2: Trinco-Habarana-Polonnaruwa-Valachchenei-Batticaloa (approx: 4-6 hrs to travel)
Alternatively choose direct route from trinco to valachchenei via vakarei, however this route is currently under reconstruction so longer but better route via habarana is a good choice)
Day3: Batticaloa-Kalmunai-Potuvil (approx: 3-4 hrs to travel)
Day3 Second half + Day4: Travelling all along :) Choose two routes,
Route 1: Pottuvil-Batticaloa-Valachchenei-habarana-Dambulla-Kurunegala-Colombo (With brief visits to Polonnaruwa,Sigiriya,Dambulla,Kurunegala)
Route 2: Pottuvil-Monaragala-Buttala-Beragala-Balangoda-Ratnapura-Panadura-Colombo (With brief visits to Diyaluma Falls,Buduruwagala,Ratnapura)
however Route 1 has better roads and can be a good bargain if you can end up in Polonnaruwa by end of day 3.

Marble Beach

Your first destination as you enter the city of Trincomalee would be the crystal clear Marble Beach. Why dyu call it Marble Beach? There are two reasons, first u will notice a part of the beach is covered by small marble stones that glitter in sunlight, and second the water looks marble! (kind of crystal clear). You won't find any waves so expect the water to have more minerals hence better have some goggles on you. The beach resorts are being setup currently (as at may 2010) and this beach is unspoilt cuz its been under army since the old days and even now you will need special permission from the army so get it done in advance to enter the beach. The location is just from a turn before the so called Kinniya bridge that boast to be the longest in Sri Lanka.

Hot Water Wells
These seven wells in Kanniya (different from Kinniya) is one place you should never miss while in Trinco. The existence of these wells go far back as to the times of King Ravanaa. However don't feel bad to have a good bath from each of these seven wells cuz these wells have different temperatures and it never overflow nor drain :) How it happens? Only ravanaa knows ", Anyways, the bottom line is "These wells have the best water you could ever expect for a bath". I so badly desire a water line from these wells to my bathroom.



And so as you move along the city you'll come across the hindu temples, lover's leap(A kind of "Hummanaya"), cold water springs, trinco harbour and lots more. there are things to cover for two or three days but due to the tight agenda we had to skip few spots and move to "Nilaveli" for the evening.

Nilaveli
Arguably The best beach in Sri Lanka that I've been to. This is 100% natural and breathtaking! The sea may look a bit rough towards the evening but don't hesitate to jump in. Evening is the best to stay drowned until you become hungry towards a well satisfied dining day-end. Nilaveli is towards north of trinco and they have many guest houses you can reserve in advance. The beach is long, very long that you can't recognize the ends of it. The sea here has waves, no breakwater, but very charming ones, not that rough. So having a good time here is guaranteed. Don't forget to pay a visit to pigeon Island before you leave Nilaveli.

Pasikudah

Exit Trinco, travel all along towards Batti. you can either travel via Habarana or Vakarei (Its a Pythagoras triangle here. Vakarei route is fast but the roads are under reconstruction as at may 2010, so after a few months you should be able to use this road. Soon as you pass Valachchenei you will reach the very famous Pasikudah Beach. This beach is famous as well as amazing. They water keeps heating and cooling time to time! I came up with a few justifications but any of them weren't reasoned by science. So, it still is a mystery. Anyways, this extraordinary effect added extra spice to the enjoyment we had during the time in pasikudah. So now as you are almost in Batticaloa, it feels like taking the day off in the town. The night draws when we leave Pasikudah and enter Batticaloa. The most of the town is dominated by muslims and we were gracefully welcomed by the nice looking Kallady bridge. The name kallady describes 'Singing Fish', as folklore explains that the harmonies were recorded in 1960's. So don't expect to see any singing fish under the bridge now.

Batticaloa
This fine town presents you with the world's best Mutton! Don't forget to taste mutton from places until you feel like enough. Muslims do the mutton best and the taste will never leave your tongue in the lifetime. Also lagoon will provide some big looking prawns, lobsters and crab. The dinner at a finediner in Batticaloa will bring you a seafood fieasto!
Good night Batticaloa, wake up late morning, we have changed plans. Moving further down the maps to Arugam Bay....

Arugam Bay - The peak of the tour

A 3-4 hour journey down Batticaloa will bring you to Kalmunai, the entry point to world famous Arugam Bay, a top notch surfing point with quality 4 waves. However we couldn't experience the delight of surfing since we weren't ready for the thing. The bay is great to do that "look! a beach! let's run and jump!" thing. Again, a different experience. The sea kind of pulls you back from the shore waves. No big deal. Just stay at safe locations or go a big deeper to feel the thrill. The beach is long and the main surf point is kind of hidden from the public eye although you'll get glimpses of surf boarding riding here and there. Great experience at arugam bay. But miss the surfing, so wanna go back especially for that.

So like I mentioned in my route description, the day 3 ended up in rewinding back to Polonnaruwa and the day 4 carried out with brief visits to Polonnaruwa ancient kingdom, Sigiriya and Dambulla. The one thing to mention is that the Sigiriya museum has been opened in 2009 and its a must see. It has special movie presentations that show you how the castle looked in the times of Kassapa and much more. So wind up the day with a visit to the Dambulla temple in the evening :)

References
The Sigiriya Museum
Arugam Surf