Katamagara

Hi All,

As part of our travels we were intending to visit Katamagara for 1 night/2 days. Is it OK to visit here as it is near to Yala, I was thinking from an insurance point of view. If so does anybody know a good,clean guest house in Katamagara as we do not want to commute to Tiss.

Thank you

Chris

Katamagara

Hi Chris,

Kataragama is east of the A2 and south of the A4, in an area that UK FCO advises against visiting.

Hans

Katamagara

Hi Chris

Have just come back from our travels and as usual, spent 2 nights at Kataragama, one of our favourite places in Sri Lanka. Do not miss it.

We stayed in a real cheapie, chosen for its proximity to the temple complex because we wanted to be able to walk to it. Most of the guesthouses are sited a little way out of town but are an easy tuk-tuk ride away, and the more up-market Mandara Rosen Hotel is the nicest place in town if you want to stretch to that.

If you want to have a budget stay, I can highly recommend the Ceylon Tourist Board Resthouse. A double room here cost us Rs1900 for a double room half board .. and the vegetarian food was some of the best we had throughout our 20 night stay (unless you stay in a place like Mandara Rosen, all the food you will be offered in Kataragama will be vegetarian.) Be prepared for a pretty basic en-suite room with cold water showers and you will be the only westerners staying there, so it is sometimes a bit difficult to communicate with the staff as no one speaks much English. But I would definitely stay here again. The temples are five mins walk away.

I did not have any safety fears at all. The only bit you should avoid is the road which runs from Buttala to Kataragama which is remote and runs through part of Yala. Drivers will take the slighly longer parallel route from Wellawaya via Tissa to Kataragama, or cut across to Kataragama part way down this road. Kataragama itself is perfectly safe.

I can e-mail you some pics of our guesthouse if you%26#39;re curious!

Sue

Hi Sue,

Welcome back from your holidays.

I visited Kataragama last April and found it totally safe, BUT it%26#39;s still in the UK FCO off limits area so travel insurance will invalid.

Hans

Hi there Hans!

Lucky you, being able to go back again in March! I will have to wait a few months longer than that I fear ... but can%26#39;t wait to return. Now I envy Rod, about to take off .... hmmmmm, I am envious.

Will get my adventures written down and posted on here very soon. If I can%26#39;t be in Sri Lanka, then I will just talk about it instead ....!

Sue

Hiya Chris,

Why not check with your insurer 鈥?mine told me I was still insured here (but not against terrorist action). I was here two weeks ago, don鈥檛 miss it coz it鈥檚 a great place and there is much less hassle than at more tourist-orientated places.

Kataragama is important to both Hindus and Buddhist (there鈥檚 also Mosque in the complex) and my Sinhalese friends suggest that because of this the LTTE is unlikely to target Kataragama (and because they would probably kill as many Tamil people as Sinhalese).

Most of the accommodation in down-town Kataragama is not geared towards foreigners (lots of sleeping halls for groups of pilgrims) and lots of tourists stay down towards Tissa.

On this trip we headed north via Buttala to Haputale and stayed there (which I can thoroughly recommend) but I鈥檝e stayed in Kataragama in the past for the morning purga and it鈥檚 been interesting.

There is no meat or alcohol in Kataragama proper by the way and you will need a mozzy net.

For a reasonable guest house try the Bank of Ceylon Hotel on Main St (which does good food) I read that you are supposed to book this place in advance, we didn鈥檛 and we got a decent room.

I have also stayed at the Kataragama Rest House, which was also fine so if you have a problem with the Bank of Ceylon Hotel, try here.

A little outside the town is the more upmarket Rosen Renaissance Hotel and Sri Lankan friends recommend the Jayasinghe Holiday Resort but I have never tried either.

We originally booked by telephone into Sunil鈥檚 Rest (recommended in Lonely Planet) but when we arrived they had given our rooms away, which was a bit of a nuisance because it was already dark so I won鈥檛 recommend there.

Regards

Mark

Sue,

You are so right about the road which runs from Kataragama to Buttala, it鈥檚 quite heavy. The bush is cut back on either side of the road to prevent vehicles being ambushed, we went this way to give a lift to a solider friend who was going back on duty.

The army (and the occasional elephant) were spread right along the route either side of the road, the numerous check points were a bit of a nuisance but the road is in good condition and we made not bad time.

Maybe best not to do it at night but it saves time.

Mark

Hi Mark

It sounds as if we were there at about the same time. Pity we didn%26#39;t meet up! Didn%26#39;t see any elephants on that lonely road from Buttala when we used it .. just a couple of jackals and a huge monitor lizard. Could have been worse!!!

Sue

Indeed, you could have met some %26#39;Tigers%26#39; I was there Poya Day, how about you?

3 days later. We were in Kandy for the poya day .. then Kataragama for the Hindu harvest festival Thai Pongal.

Ah 鈥?I saw one other Suddha and it was a woman, so I thought maybe it was you.

I love Kataragama, got to be one of the best places to visit on the Island.

Budusarani.

Mark