How frequent are the buses from Kataragama to the hillcountry? We need to get from Kataragama to Haputale. Would a bus go direct, or would we need to change at, say Wellawaya? Last time we got a bus south from Kataragama, no one could speak any English and the bus signs were all in Sinhala too, so I think I'd better do my homework on this one before we go ...!
Alternatively, we have been offered a taxi for 7000 rupees. Is this a fair price?
Hi Suzie,
How are you this fine morning ?. Well , I hope.
Kataragama I'm not sure of. Not too long ago, just about everything that came down ( or went up to ) the hill country needed a change at Wellawaya.. As you've experienced, trying to find the right bus, especially one with room inside it, from Wellawaya isn't always easy.
Last trip I came down through that route from Ella and found the bus service greatly improved. Evidently, there are now several straght through buses that come from Bandarawella and run to Matara.
I was told that the bus passing through Ella came from Bandarawella. I reckon, thats a strange place to start from and I think it actually started at Haputale.
We caught the bus , that came from Bandarawella as it came through Ella. and it dropped us right at the end of the little lane that leads down to the Kadolana at Nilwella. Perfect for us.
But, thats slightly.. off your route isn't it..
The point I'm getting to, in my usual roundabout way, is, ,, that bus goes through Hambantota then turns inland heading for Wellawaya and so on up to Bandarawella, ( and Haputale ) passing quite close to Tissa which is near Kataragama.
So, I reckon that there's a point just along that section of road where you could get this bus.
But,, I think you'll need more local knowledge than I have to find out where and at what times.
This sounds like it gets back to the old joke, ,,,, " How do I get to Haputale ?".. answer is, "well, if I were you, I wouldn't start from here "
Now, if you'd been starting from Matara, that would be easy.
So,, thas probably not much use to you but it's always good to say hello to a friend anyway.
Have a nice day,
Rod.
Hello Rod!!
Lovely to hear from you again my friend! As you can see, I am starting to plan the August trip a bit now, despite telling you a few weeks back that I was going to be totally laid back about it this time ... like you ... and make it all up as I go along!!
Picking up a bus from Kataragama is easy. There's a good sized bus station and when we left there last time, we were heading for your favourite place, Kadolana at Nilwella. We caught the Colombo bus from Kataragama, which takes the route through Tissa, along the south coast to Matara and on from there. The bus started from Kataragama so it was empty when we boarded .. thank goodness with all the rubbish that we carried around with us (we'll do it better next time..!) The driver was able to stop right by the lane leading down to Kadolana so it was an easy trip for us. Even that confused us a bit though ... we weren't expecting to get the Colombo bound bus to go south from Kataragama ...
Going north from Kataragama will be a new one on us. I am wondering if buses will now use the route directly north from Kataragama to Buttala, rather than avoiding it for fear of LTTE attack a while back .. when drivers tended to take the more circuitous route via Tissa. Well, we'll see. Can't wait to be back there anyway. The area around Buttala/Maligawila is one of my favourite places in Sri Lanka ... hard to choose, I know, but it's glorious there.
Many thanks for the advice Rod ... look forward to having another chat with you soon.
Sue