There is a reason why tourist don’t go to Kalutara… because
there’s barely anything to do! Travelling up from Hikkaduwa to Colombo, we made
the decision to stop off in Kalutara to break up the journey and check out
somewhere that wasn’t a well-trodden route. The lure of a new place to explore
was strong and as we jumped off the train we initiated our usual strategy of
heading straight to the beach to find a room.
Our usual method brings us to the heart of the action where
accommodation is in abundance and shops, restaurants and bars are in walking
distance. However, this time the beach was like a ghost town. A dozen
guesthouses stood empty and lifeless as we trawled past looking for somewhere
to stay. We were called in to have a look at the available rooms by several of
the owners, but it was clear no one else was staying there.
As we peered onto the beach it became even more obvious that
this wasn’t a place we wanted to spend a lot of time in as it was vacant aside
from three local men. The stares from these men and from the children playing
in the streets reaffirmed that this wasn’t a town used to foreigners. As it
began to get dark, there was a sudden down pour and so we climbed into the only
tuk tuk we passed and headed for somewhere to eat.
Wet, tired and fed up, we tucked into rice and curry and
made a plan to check into one of the faceless guesthouses we originally passed
and leave early in the morning for Colombo.
By the time we’d eaten and got back to the beach, the
streets were dark and the only life to be found was that of the cattle who were
silently roaming the streets. We quickly ran into a guesthouse and booked in
for the night. We paid LK 1,000 (£5) for the night so it was the cheapest place
we’d stayed so far, and as we signed in I noticed the last tourist to stay was
in 2006!
Needless to say, when morning came we were glad to get out
of there. It’s not somewhere I would recommend going to as the beach isn’t a
patch on the others Sri Lanka has to offer and there is nothing else worth
staying for.
Saying that, I later found out that Kalutara is home to the
largest hollow Stupa in the world, which I would have liked to see considering
we were so close. Though for me, it’s definitely not worthy of an overnight
stay. If you’re inclined to see the Stupa, the trains regularly run through
Kalutara station back and forth along the west - south coast so I’d suggest a
quick stop off in Kalutara to see it and then get back to main tourist route.
There’s a reason some places are more popular than others and in this case, straying from the beaten track did us no favours.
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