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8 Getting There & Away
BUS
The Matara bus station (New Tangalla Rd) is a
vast multilevel place. look for tiny destination
signs over the queuing pens. As Matara is a re-
gional transport hub, services are frequent in all
directions. At the time of research there were no
services using the new expressway to Colombo
but this may change. Major destinations include
the following:
Colombo regular/air-con Rs 200/395, five hours
Galle Rs 67, two hours
Ratnapura Rs 215, 4½ hours
Tangalla Rs 60, 1½ to two hoursCAR
The section of the Southern expressway linking
Matara to Galle (30 minutes) and Colombo’s
suburbs (1¾ hours) opened in 2014. it follows a
pretty route inland through rice fields and tea
plantations. The entrance is 5km northwest of
the centre.TRAIN
Matara’s train station is the present terminus of
the coastal railway, although work is progressing
on an extension as far as Kataragama which may
open later in the decade. Destinations include
the following:
Colombo 2nd/3rd class Rs 230/130, four
hours
Galle Rs 80/40, one to 1½ hours
Kandy Rs 360/195, seven hoursDondra
About 5km southeast of Matara you come to
the town of Dondra, which is dominated by
the important Tanaveram Buddhist tem-
ple, which was one of the island’s prima-
ry places of worship until a previous – and
grander – incarnation was destroyed in 1587.
Travel south from the centre for 1.2km and
you’ll reach the southernmost point of Sri
Lanka. The landmark Dondra Head Light-
house (admission Rs 600; hhours vary) provides
an exclamation mark to the setting and you
can climb the interior for fabulous views.Talalla
% 041
Squirreled away down muddy dirt tracks,
this is one of those near-pristine beaches that
really does define all the tropical-beach post-
card clichés. This 1km-long curve of sand is
mostly unspoiled by tourism development;
the major man-made feature here is small
fishing boats.
You can reach Talalla’s narrow access road
from two points on the main road; the best is
at the 171 Km marker.4 leeping & EatingS
There are several simple guesthouses back
off the beach. There are just a couple ofMULKIRIGALA
Dangling off a rocky crag 16km northwest of Tangalla and nestled away among a green for-
est of coconut trees are the peaceful rock temples of Mulkirigala (Mulkirigala Rd; admission
Rs 200; hdawn-dusk). Clamber in a sweat up the many steps and you’ll encounter a series
of seven cleft-like caves on five different terraced levels. You’ll discover a number of large
reclining Buddha statues interspersed with smaller sitting and standing figures.
Vying with these for your attention are some fantastical wall paintings depicting sinners
pleasuring themselves with forbidden fruit on Earth and then paying for it with an afterlife
of eternal torture – apparently it was worth it! Further on up, and perched on top of the rock
some 206m from the base, is a small dagoba with fine views over the surrounding country.
Temples, in some form or another, have been located here for over 2000 years but the
current incarnation, and their paintings, date from the 18th century. Nearby is a Buddhist
school for young monks.
Pali manuscripts found in the monastic library here by a British official in 1826 were
used for the first translation of the Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle), which unlocked Sri Lan-
ka’s early history for Europeans. For much more info on the site, see the website
http://www.srilankaview.com/mulkirigala_temple.htm.
Mulkirigala can be reached by bus from Tangalla via either Beliatta or Wiraketiya.
(Depending on the departures, it might be quicker to go via Wiraketiya than to wait for the
Beliatta bus.) A three-wheeler from Tangalla costs about Rs 2000 for a return trip.