Sri Lanka day 35 – Unawatuna day trip

We are planning to move west along the south coast to spend a few days in Unawatuna. After all a place with a name like Unawatuna is surely worth a visit. But we have heard some less than complimentary reports about how the beach has been spoilt by over-development and so we decide to hop on the bus and take a look for ourselves, before making any rash decision to leave the idyllic Mirissa. Unawatuna is about 40 minutes by bus from Mirissa along the coast road. Described in Lonely Planet as ‘a place of dreams…massaged by a gentle sea of moonstone blue’ this is far behind Mirissa in the paradise stakes, and is certainly not massaged by a gentle sea at this time of year. Unfortunately what may once have been a heavenly curve of sand is now spoilt by over-development which breaks the tree-line and spills onto the beach. It’s only saving grace is the little village lanes back from the sea, but even these are packed with hotels and guest houses, restaurants and shops. In season it must be packed to bursting with not an inch of beach to spare. Even today, the far end of the beach is buzzing with Sri Lankans out to celebrate the first day of Poya and the narrow lanes are struggling to cope with the bus and lorry loads of raucous revellers here for a day out. Poya, or full moon day, is a holiday in Sri Lanka which also seems to extend to the day after full moon as well. On these two days every month no alcohol is supposed to be sold on Poya days, although many bars and hotels will provide it discreetly served in teapots with tea cups to drink from. Who this fools I’m not sure, because there is no accompanying milk jug or sugar bowl. Some shops close and other establishment close and buses and trains are even fuller than normal. Preparations for Poya begin at least a week before with red, orange, blue, red, yellow and white banners and flags flying and white laterns with streaming tails, each encapsulated in a plastic bag for protection, hang like bunting across every available space. The time and energy that goes into Poya each month, must be enormous.