Traveling by bus from Colombo to Arugambay.
If you are a low budget traveler, the best method of traveling across Sri Lanka is either by Bus or Train. In Sri Lanka the road network is very good. It connects most of the major towns with good condition roads. As a local traveler I have experienced a lot of long distance bus journeys across the country.
Traveling to Arugambay by bus is quite a long journey. But it is absolutely, time and money saving method. I have given my traveling schedule below. It will be somewhat helpful for you to have a good traveling plan from Colombo to Arugambay.
1. I Went to Pettah CTB (Ceylon Transport Board) bus station. I went there around 7.30PM. There are two bus stations in Pettah. One is for private buses and other one (CTB) is for government buses. Go to the CTB one. Find out the place for Ampara/Akkaraipattu and Pothuwila buses. It is next to Badulla bus stand. Balangoda, Monaragala buses also in the same block. In this block you will find out a counter for Inquiries. Ask them where is the ‘Booking Counter’ . They will guide you to the third block. Go there and book a seat for ‘8.30PM – Akkaraipattu Bus’. The ticket cost is just Sri Lankan Rs.320/- (Around $3.00). In my case I was bit late and there was only one seat in the rare. So go early and book your seat.
2. The bus will come to the stand around 8.00PM and get in to the bus. The conductor will ask the booking sheet/Ticket. So keep the tickets/booking sheet with you every time. Keep your bags and other luggage with you every time. Buy some water bottles (one liter bottle is enough) and some packets of biscuits as it is 8-9 hours journey in night time.
(If you have any local friends who is enjoying in long distance traveling, collect one or two with you. So they will help you, when you are moving with other local people. And also you will not get bored)
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3. Then the journey will start 8.30PM. The first part of the journey is to traveling Colombo to Kuruwita. Kuruwita is in between Ehaliyagoda and Ratnapura. And the time may be around 11.00PM. Then the bus will stop near a small shop for a tea break. Some days, they stop the bus in some place around Ehaliyagoda. Anyway don’t leave your money or cameras inside the bus, unless you haven’t any friends with you.
4. Then the second half of the journey will be starting around 11.20PM. It is from Eheliyagoda to Wellawaya. They will stop the bus in another small Tea-room at Wellawaya around 2.30AM.
5. The third half will be starting around 2.50AM. It is from Wellawaya to Pothuwila. You can reach there around 5.00AM. Please note that this bus is going to Akkaraipattu. So you have to get down from Pothuwila town. Once you get down in Pothuwila, there will be so many Three wheelers (Tuk Tuk). The drivers will come to you and ask the place to drop. Go to one of them and tell the place where you need to go. The place name is ‘Ulla- Arugambay’. Definitely they will ask whether the place is ‘Sinna-Ulla’ or ‘Periya-Ulla’. Tell them it is NOT ‘Periya-Ulla’, it is ‘Sinna-Ulla’. It is about 4 kms away from the Pothuwila town. Ask them the charges. It should not be more than Rs.300. ($3.00).
6. They will drop you near a small ‘Buddha Statue’ in a junction. Please note, still its early morning. It will be around 5.30AM. Take care of all your luggage/baggage cameras and money. Please remember early in the morning you cannot find out any good place to stay. But you are now in the best and proper place. You can find out good –low cost room with double bed and attached bathroom here. It will range from $20 to $30 per day. But if you can go there by pre-arranging every thing through one of your local friends that will be really helpful to you. As a low budget traveler and as a 'fan of Arugambay' I used to stay in a nice place. It was just opposite to the Buddha Statue. I called it as 'Kurulu's place'. Their prices are very fair and they give good quality food and accommodation with a nice care and hospitality.
Arugambay is the east coast of Sri Lanka. You can enjoy the sun rising, golden sandy beaches, Sapphire like ocean and surfing there. Be close with one of the local friends, they will guide you to find out good places to watch birds/ Animals (Herds of Elephants/ Crocodiles/ Wild Bores/ Herd of deers etc). If you are a nature lover you can arrange some travelings for very low cost. Always try to connect with a local guider who can understand English and Sinhala well. And also the important thing is your guider should have the knowledge in the area. That is the important thing. Some of the guiders don't know the places very well. So always try to find out a guider from Arugambay itself.
Have a safe Happy Journey….!
For any queries please use the email id in contacts section. I can help you to find out more details for you.
Note:-
If you travel by your own vehicle such as car or a van, the traveling time may be 7 hours (maximum) in the same root.
If you are not comfortable in traveling night time, there is another bus early in the morning. It is leaving from Pettah by 5.15AM
If you use A4 root it will reduce another one hour and you have to travel through a mountain area. (Pelmadulla-Balangoda-Bearagala-Koslanda-Wellawaya)
If you hire a vehicle it may cost around $175-200.
Having connected with a local guy/guider will always helpful you to go to good places and arrange low budget traveling plan. Just tell them what you are interesting on....
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