Ayubowan

The Bird House is a beautiful guesthouse set back from the Unawatuna beach offering a warm welcome from a friendly Sri Lankan family.

The Bird House offers

• Clean Rooms
• Delicious Foods
• Tourist Guiding
• Transport
• Tailoring

Located 3 minutes walk from the beach. It is the perfect place to relax and un wind from every day life. The rooms are spacious and clean with an attached bath room, a balcony to sit and watch the world go by.

The rooms have good air conditioning and comfortable beds to fall asleep with the jungle sound in the background.This is a Tourist Board approved B&B Home stay.

Unawatuna

Unawatuna is a small beach resort village in Southern Sri Lanka.

Get In

The real live Unawatuna lies inside of Route A2 Galle Matara main road. The original village where it all started, Yaddehimulla, you turn off the main road just before 123 km Post. The motorable, tarred road, a kilometer in length brings you to the best area of Unawatuna with all the Guest houses, homestays, Resturants, Hotels, Internet cafes, tuk-tuk stands, boutique hotels etc.

Most of them are on the World Wide Web with their own Websites. If you search on any major search Engine with keywords like Unawatuna, Unawatuna homestays, guesthouses etc. you will find a host of sites offering varied style of accommodation.

Unawatuna is 150 kms from Colombo‘s Bandaranayaka International Airport in Katunayaka. The journey through busy Colombo roads take over 3 hours by private vehicles. Most hotels and guesthouses offer Airport pick up for hassel free quick get-away.

Public transport from BIA to Colombo is available just outside the airport. Unawatuna can be reached by Trains, Air-con buses and CTB State run buses plying regularly to Galle and Matara.

Get around

Easiest way to get around is by TUK TUK or Three Wheelers. Day trips to Dutch Fortress in Galle, Martin Wickremasinghe Museum in Koggala, Hikkaduwa, Mirrissa, Ahangama can be fun on a “Tuk-Tuk”. Deal with the driver, make sure there are NO hangers on, or you will be taken for a ride. They can be hired for the whole day, just the trip or to be dropped off some destination. Most of them can be contacted by Mobile phone. Get an idea of their charges before hand.

Longer Trips and round tours can be arranged with car or vans. Sunrise Tours near the Wella Devalaya got well maintained Car and Van

Public Transport Trains and Air-con buses are the cheapest mode of transport.

See

Jungle Beach, (4 km from Unawatuna). Small beach lost in the the jungle. Acces by boat or by Tuk-Tuk from Unawatuna

• Turtle Hatchery, Matara Road, Habaraduwa (About 3kms from Unawatuna). Day time. A Hatchery run by individuals just off the Beach to conserve Turtle eggs laid on the wide long beach stretching all the way to the Hotels in Koggala. Hawksbill, Loggerhead and Green Turtles nestle here. Donations accepted.

• Yatagala Raja Maha Viharaya, Yatagala Unawatuna (Turn off at Eramudugaha Junction), ☎ 091 2222199. Day&Night. Ancient Buddhist Temple built by Sri Lankan Royalty dating back to 2300 years when a sapling of the Sri Maha Bo Tree in Anuradapura was planted here during the reign of His Majesty Devanam Piyatissa. Donations accepted

Festivals and Events

Festivals and Events of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s civilization endows the island with a legacy of impressive festivals relating with a legacy of impressive festivals relating to the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian religions. Furthermore, these festivals are commemorated with the flair of the people with genius for pageantry and ritual.

Every full moon day is a public holiday known as poya. The most important is in May-Vesak-which marks the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing away. Worth seeing are the illuminated pandals (bamboo frameworks), hung with pictures depicting events in the Buddha’s life.

Sri Lanka’s most tourist-oriented festival is the Kandy Esala Perahera, held in Kandy over 10 days in late July to early August and climaxing on Esala poya. Perahera means “procession” and that’s exactly what occurs-a magic passing by of drummers, dancers, whip-crackers and robed elephants. A caparisoned tusker carries the reason for festival, the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha, for the people to venerate.

Beaches

Beaches and undersea

Sri Lanka is blessed with a 1300km coastline comprised of beaches- arrow straight or curved within rocky bays – characterized by silvery-white sand and seaward-leaning, shade-giving coconut palms. On the west Negombo, Mount Lavinia, Bentota and Hikkaduwa, on the south cost Unawatuna, voted one of the 10 best beaches in the world by the Discovery Channel, Weligama, Mirissa and Tangalle, on the north-west coast Nilaveli, Passekudah, Kalkudha and Arugam Bay, listed as one of the top10surf sports in the world, are a dozen of the island’s finest beach destinations. A bonus is that climate-wise Sri Lanka is a convenient year-round destination as it experiences two monsoons that occur in opposite halves of the island at different times.

The tranquil, sapphire-blue waters (non monsoon period) of the Indian Ocean have a perfect average temperature of 27c. Diving and snorkeling are popular as coral reefs encircle the island. Many spectacular fish species can be encountered-groupers, barracuda, manta rays, stingrays, sharks– and five species of turtle. As the island was an ancient trade center there are many shipwrecks to explore, including two historically-important modern examples, the first oil tanker, the Shell-owned SS conch, sunk in 1903, and the first purpose-build aircraft carrier, HMS Hermes, sunk by Japanese planes in 1942 as it sailed for Trincomalee, the fifth largest harbor in the world.

Galle Fort

The 17^th c. Dutch Fort at Galle, close to the island’s southern most point, 173km from Colombo, has the distinction of being the best-preserved sea fort in South Asia. Enter through the imposing stone bastions that encircle the sea-facing promontory and step back in time. Inside the Fort you will find that is exudes old-world charm. The narrow streets are dotted with Dutch colonial villas and there’s a welcome absence of vehicular traffic. There are several museums and antique shops that display curiosities from the island’s colonial era. Of the many colonial buildings, perhaps the most absorbing is the Dutch Reformed Church, containing ornately carved memorials to the city’s Dutch settlers. The Fort also hosts some of the islands most exclusive boutique-style accommodation in former villas to the colonial glory.

The Portuguese established the first fort in Galle. This was captured by the Dutch in 1640, after which the fortifications were expanded and the grid system established. Further extensions were during the British period. The passenger port gained importance, but the construction of a breakwater at Colombo, Galle slipped into maritime decline.

Stroll along the massive ramparts at dusk. Experience the tranquil ambience of a bygone era yet see life as it proceeds: children flying kites, games of softball cricket, and couples canoodling behind the privacy of umbrellas. They all seem to enhance the magic of the Fort.