Travel Eat Drink Like a Local

We booked a hotel in Tissamaharama for 2 nights. Hotel Safari overlooking Tisa Wewa. The stay was fantastic. It's one of the most clean hotels I have ever been to in Sri Lanka. Consider I'm comparing the cleanliness to American standards. After living in the United States for a very long time, no matter how much I love Sri Lanka, I battle with cleanliness and hygienic standards when I'm there. Day 1 On the way from Matara to Tissamaharama you pass the coastal area along the Indian Ocean as well as grand paddy fields. This hotel in Tangalle is built like a cruise ship A farmer plowing with a hand held machine  Paddy Field in its early stage   Here's our hotel in Tissamaharamay: Hotel Safari.  We reach here late afternoon and plan to drive around and proceed to Kiriwehera and Kataragama Skanda-Murukan Temple for the evening puja. View from Hotel Safari Lobby  Few feet off our room next to a thousand year old Nuga Tree  Entr...

Traveling along the southern coastline, en route to Thissamaharama, Yala National Wildlife Park or Kataragama,  you can take a detour to a major town named Hambantota. In the past, 30 years ago, we would always break journey here and spend overnight at the Hambantota Rest House before proceeding on to the next leg of the road trip. Hambantota Rest House is on a hill top, overlooking the natural Hambantota Bay and it had a long open veranda outside the rooms. Early in the morning you could watch the fishermen pulling in their catch ashore and in the night you could watch the hustle-bustle of fishermen heading out to the sea. All lit with hand held torches then. The place is in existence even today. To my great dismay it's an unkempt shady drinking hole now. The town that went through major destruction in 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, currently has been tuned in-out, upside-down and has gone through very serious developmental changes. It's home to a new sea port, an international a...