MIRISSA TO TISSA

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Day 4: MIRISSA - DONDRA - WEWURUKANNALA - BOW HOLE - TANGALLE - GOYAMBOKKA - TISSA

Monday, June 24, 2013

This morning the alarm sounds again at a "holiday" time: 6 in the morning! As we like to say, when we travel is to burst, we will rest when we are at home! Today we will go Mirissa to Tissa stopping at different sites that we have found interesting to visit along the way.
The trip will be more or less than 3 hours, but we have to add the time of the visits at the intermediate points, so we have to reach Tissamaharama, also know as Tissa First thing in the afternoon.
As soon as we go out to the breakfast room of the Riverside Cabanas, we realize again the unreliable weather forecasts on the internet. Although it is true that we have to clarify that this is the first time this happens to us ... In the rest of the trips, the forecasts have always coincided with the real time we had.

Today we have a very sunny day that reminds us that we should put on protection so as not to end up like conguitos!
After breakfast and the staff help us lower our backpacks, we begin to think that putting two backpacks in a tuk tuk with us and the driver may be a bit of a difficult task, but just tell the boys, they tell us that let's forget that, they sure fit ... If they say so ... it will be.
Our tuk tuk arrives and we say goodbye to the guys from the RiverSide Cabanas who made our stay the first few days in Sri Lanka Very comfortable and very cozy.

Our tuk tuk that will take us from Mirissa to Tissa

The first stop we make on the way to Mirissa to Tissa It is on the local beaches of Polhena to see if we have the opportunity to see the wading fishermen, but in view it is that we are not in luck with this issue and we already intuit that if we have not been able to see them here, we will leave Sri Lanka Without being able to see the image that we have seen so many times in photos.
We follow the road, always following the coast line and crossing small towns, until we reach Dondra, which will be our next stop.
Dondra is about 5 kilometers from Matara and is the southernmost town of Sri Lanka.
The reason for our stop here is the lighthouse that is located just over a kilometer south of the general A2.
Upon arrival and parking, we cross a fence and we find the famous lighthouse in front.

The famous Dondra Lighthouse on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

We understand that it is not an essential visit, but it is true that if you make the journey of Mirissa to Tissa In private transport, whether car or tuk tuk, there are some visits that are worth doing. This is one of them.

Beaches surrounding the famous Dondra Lighthouse on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

Seeing the impressive beaches that surround the Dondra Lighthouse, we see that many of the “great things” that are there are not always reflected in the guides and we are obliged to emphasize them on the web, so that future travelers can take them as a reference to visit them or as possible accommodations ...
We continue our way, once Matara passed, towards what will be our next stop of the day, the Wewurukannala Temple.

Wewurukannala Temple Road on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

After passing Dikwella, on our way to Mirissa to Tissa, which is 22 kilometers from Matara, we continue a kilometer and a half more until we reach the Wewurukannala Temple.
We leave the tuk tuk and before we start we see a sign that indicates something that makes us excited: we have to take off our shoes. Yes, it is true, even if it sounds strange, for us, barefoot in a temple becomes something fundamental to “understand it.” It is something like a connection, something perhaps impossible to explain in words.
Something we feel firsthand on our trip to India.
And with our bare feet, we climb the steps of what will be our first temple in Sri Lanka.

More practical information to prepare your trip to Sri Lanka
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We pay the 200 rupees per person that costs the entrance and as soon as we reach the highest part, we remain with our mouths open ...

Wewurukannala Temple on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

We had read in the guide and in many places that this Temple was too “kitch”, we do not intend to take the opposite to these sources, but we have to say, that despite not being the kind of art that we like most, this first shot of contact with the temples of Sri Lanka we loved it.

Wewurukannala Temple on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

In the highest part of the Temple we find a huge figure of a seated Buddha, fifty meters high, built in the seventies.

Buddha of the Wewurukannala Temple

Views from the Wewurukannala Temple on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

Wewurukannala Temple

We have to say that we have visited it the other way around what is logical, starting at the top of the Temple, visiting the part where the Buddha is, so going down the second stairs we find, we enter one of the rooms where we find life-size statues of demons and their victims in hell.

In hell at the Wewurukannala Temple

Images of Hell in the Wewurukannala Temple

After this tour of the sculptures, we reach a section where we cross a corridor with different paintings, also staging landscapes of hell.

Paintings from Hell in the Wewurukannala Temple

After this visit "to hell" of the Wewurukannala Temple and thinking that our visit was already finished, one of the men selling tickets, tells us another room that we should visit.
Upon entering, we intuit that this is the one that will really be recorded in our retina as the image of Wewurukannala.

Wewurukannala Temple

Details of the Wewurukannala Temple

Walking through this room alone, we realize that no matter how “kitch” you want to type in a Temple, if you look well, you will always find a place with which you will feel identified.
For us it has been this room ... maybe it was because of that smell of incense that has accompanied us throughout the visit and we like it so much ... or maybe it was because it had to be ... without further explanation than that.
And crossing it we have met a group of women, with whom, without understanding or speaking English, we have had a most enjoyable conversation for a few minutes ... these things are what really mark a trip ...

Can you take a picture please? Wewurukannala Temple on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

Practicing the universal language in the Wewurukannala Temple on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

After a good time in this room and when we are about to leave, we see the boy in our tuk tuk waiting for us on the stairs. He recommends us to climb to a kind of tower, where we see some paintings of the zodiac and we have a conversation with the man who is there in the universal language of the signs ...

Zodiac Hall in the Wewurukannala Temple

And after a good while on this visit, we have to get back on track with our journey of Mirissa to Tissa and get to what will be the last stop today: Blow Hole or Ho or Maniya.
Blow Hole is six kilometers northeast of Dikwella. It is a cleft in the rock, which during the monsoon season, especially in June, the sea water reaches up to 25 meters high.
From the place where you can leave the tuk tuk to Blow Hole we have to climb a path, with some natural stairs, until we reach a building, where we pay 500 rupees per person to be able to continue on the path that will take us to Blow Hole .

Landscapes going up to Blow Hole on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

As soon as we reached the cleft we were a little surprised to see nothing, even the tuk tuk boy, who wanted to accompany us, helps us understand the “process” and tells us when the water will start to sprout… starting From here, you just have to enjoy the show!

Blow Hole on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

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Impressed in front of Blow Hole on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

We are here for a long time, hoping that this phenomenon of nature will be repeated several times to be able to enjoy it and we will go back down the same road that we have climbed to return to resume our journey Mirissa to Tissa.
We bought a couple of soft drinks at one of the stalls we found on the road and a few minutes after returning to the road, we found ourselves in a traffic jam.
The best jam of our whole life! Today a Buddhist holiday is celebrated in the town and we will be lucky to be able to witness it in the front line!
It is clear that the tuk tuk boy is not very funny to be here standing more than half an hour, but we enjoy it as the most, finding ourselves in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of a privileged place.

Enjoying the party! On the way from Mirissa to Tissa

Details of the Buddhist Feast on the journey from Mirissa to Tissa

Buddhist holiday. On the way from Mirissa to Tissa

Who is the tallest?

Although the boy of the tuk tuk several times tries to make some overtaking, the amount of people, floats and motorcycles in front of us prevent him, so we tell him to take it easy, that we are not in a hurry and that we are enjoying Everything we see
And after telling him this, we can only shoot our cameras again!

Details we see on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

Flowers and colorful

Costumes

Trees-Bicycles

The elephant that opens the entourage ...

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Enjoying a Buddhist Celebration in Sri Lanka

When we get out of the traffic jam and return to the road where we will continue our path that leads us from Mirissa to Tissa, we met a few rows of people waiting for the parade that makes us want to get stuck again to continue watching and enjoying this.

We move away from the celebration ...

But can not be. We have to continue our journey, which this time will take us a little further from Tangalla, to Goyambokka in about 30 minutes or so.
We leave the tuk tuk and follow a path that leaves us on one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen.

Goyambokka Beach road on the way from Mirissa to Tissa

Goyambokka beach. On the way from Mirissa to Tissa

If we can find something wrong with this beautiful sand is to find more dogs than usual since we arrived at Sri Lanka and the truth is that I am not too friendly with them, not because of anything special, but because they scare me, a fear of those inexplicable that no matter how hard I try to overcome it, it is impossible.

Enjoying the Goyambokka Beach. Journey from Mirissa to Tissa

Goyambokka beach. Journey from Mirissa to Tissa

We walked along the beach for a long time, until the presence of the dogs made me lose my peace and we preferred to return to the tuk tuk.

Goyambokka beach. Journey from Mirissa to Tissa

This is supposed to have been the last stop on our journey from Mirissa to Tissa and the next time we stop it will be in about 1 hour and a half and it will be in the place where we will stay tonight, in Tissa.
We make this part of the journey already quiet and accommodated in the tuk tuk. This section is already more road and we leave behind the landscapes of the south coast of Sri Lanka, to start seeing some rice field, staining the landscape green.

Elephant in truck ... Journey from Mirissa to Tissa

We arrived to Tissa at 2.30 noon and before saying goodbye to our tuk tuk driver these last two days, we check-in at what will be our accommodation today, the River Face Inn, and call a friend of yours, Sudu, so that Give us a budget to do a safari in the Yala National Park tomorrow.
As soon as we reach the city, while crossing it to reach our accommodation, we have seen that it is all full of 4 × 4 and although we are in the off season, the atmosphere is visible.
When Sudu arrives, we make some negotiations and reach a pact of 6 hours of safari for Rs 14900 both. We have as reference the price paid by several acquaintances, and since this is similar, we find it fair. To make the "reservation", we leave 4000 rupees in advance and we meet tomorrow at 5 in the morning at the door of the hotel.
In most of the hotels, if not all, they also offer you the 4 × 4 service for the safari and we have done it directly, we observe that Sudu, although he greets the staff of the accommodation and they talk for a while , the negotiations make them apart.
We like that, we see a lot of respect between them.

And after having tied tomorrow, we settled into the room and asked the boys to please prepare a couple of sandwiches to eat.
While we are in the dining room we see a snake on the roof trying to eat some squirrel pups that are sheltered in one of the roof beams ... the scare comes when the snake falls and we do nothing but run away ... while we listen to one of the staff guys shout "no dangerous" !! 😉

Company during the meal ...

Squirrel breeding

Nature in its purest form!
We eat the pair of sandwiches with a couple of waters and a tea and leave the bill to pay at checkout.
Although we see that the sandwiches are about 400 rupees and the waters 90 rupees.
As we have seen that they take a long time to serve, we take the opportunity to choose today's dinner and leave it in charge for 8.30
After eating and resting for a while, we will walk around the hotel that there is a river, a hammock ... this is life!

Our accommodation in Tissa

About 4 and little we decided that it is time to go to Tissa and stroll around the Lake Tewa area for a while.
We leave to the main road, which is less than 5 minutes walk from our accommodation and take and tuk tuk that for 120 rupees leaves us at the end of the lake.

In search of a tuk tuk that takes us to Lake Tissa

Streets of Tissa

One of the first things we saw when we arrived at Sri Lanka is that the prices they give, especially in transport, are quite fair.
We had read in forums and different websites that people bargained a lot and we are verifying that we, almost without haggling, already give us the prices we have read. So we don't haggle too much and more when a 100 rupee ride means haggling 25 or 50 rupees? We believe that it is not necessary ... nor, really, ethical. When for us 50 rupees are about 50 of the old pesetas ...
The people here are still like in the southern part of the country of Sri Lanka, continue to maintain that huge smile that has conquered us.
In the lake area it is great. We have a super nice temperature and a great light to take pictures.

Tissa Images

Surroundings of Lake Tewa in Tissa

In the area of Lake Tewa we meet many people picnicking, bathing ...
It is certainly an environment that invites you to stay here for a few days.
Too bad we only have a few hours to get to know this city.
Tissa It is located inside Sri Lanka, between the parks of Yala and Bundala and is the ideal base to know these parks.
Tissa It is a city with a very ancient history, which was the capital of the Sinhalese kingdom of Ruhuna in the 13th century BC.

Tewa Lake in Tissa

Lake Tewa is actually a swamp built in the era of splendor of Ruhuna.

Tewa Lake in Tissa

Around Lake Tewa in Tissa

Infrastructure of a little shop next to Lake Tewa in Tissa

From Lake Tewa, we go walking to the Dagoba of Tissa.
We arrived surely at the best moment of the day, the sunset. And this gives us some spectacular images of this area of Tissa.

Sunset at the Tissa Dagoba

Before entering the premises, we take off our shoes and cross the bridge that leads to it.
The atmosphere of this city has captivated us since we arrived.

Tissa Dagoba

The Dagoba of Tissa It can have its origins also in the kingdom of Ruhuna, but without a doubt, since then it has been restored several times.

Tissa Dagoba

Tissa Dagoba Enclosure

When it is already after 6 pm, we decide it is time to return to the hotel.
We take another tuk tuk on the same road that for 100 rupees returns us to the hotel.
In the two accommodations we've been to, since we arrived at Sri Lanka, despite being cheap, they are the most recommended of Tripadvisor and we are alone!
We arrived at the hotel and rested for a while in the room and at 8.30 we went out to dinner and above all enjoy our rice and potato curry and chicken with potatoes with 2 waters.
We check again that although the service is very good, it is also very slow ... But we have all the time in the world. Although tomorrow we have to be ready at 5 in the morning ... :)
After dinner you have to relax for a while in the room of the River Face Inn and sleep soon, that tomorrow at 4 o'clock the alarm will sound to discover a new face of Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, we remember some of the best images of the day ...