Hi there,

As long as you're early enough at the platform you can carry big luggage in trains. And in this case, probably you can use the luggage compartment at the back or front of the train for free; it's guarded hence safe.

Could indeed split the journey in 3 parts: Colombo-Kandy train, Kandy-Eliya (Nanu Oya) and Eliya-Arugam.

For the last part, you'd need train upto Ella or Badulla and then for the rest a private car.

Now this has two challenges:

a) General security at that time near the Bay. As you can read in the recent posts about Yala, it seems to be safe again but it can vary - e.g. due to the current fighting near Batticaloa.

b) Finding a driver (with minivan, due to your boards?) who agrees with you that it's safe. Sinhalese would often not dare to go there, muslims or Tamils would. Maybe an option to book the driver from your AB guesthouse and arrange pickup at Badulla or Ella?

Have a nice time,

<Erik> & [Sandya]

Hi,

Arugam bay is in the eastern part of sri lanka. Well i would not recommend you due to the problems.

Kandy & Nuwara-eliya are safe. You could travel either bus or train. Nuwara-eliya the nearest railway station is Nanu-oya.Good bus service is for Kandy from colombo. Travelling with the surfboards i am not too sure because most of the buses they won't allow heavy baggaes.even in the train very difficult to manage because they are mostly packed.

I would suggest you to choose somewhere like bentota or hikkaduwa for surfing. please contact me if you need further details or any help.

Have a nice journey.

Nishantha

Hi

I think the last post proves my point in a previous thread (Yala) about the perceived problems in Arugam Bay with many locals living in Colombo.

Arugam Bay is perfectly safe but there are problems getting there.

Erik's advice is correct regarding travel to and from Arugam Bay. You can get some tour companies to go there but you need to get this confirmed in advance - even then the driver or the tour company may try to change your itinary at the last minute to somewhere "Safe" for "Security Reasons".

We went with jetwing and we managed to persuade the driver to go eventually, we also met a couple of families there who went with Red Dot.

As Erik said your best bet is to arrange this through your Hotel or B&B in Arugam Bay.

If you take a look at the Stardust Hotel Web site in Arugam Bay they give some good information about AB and also travel arrangements by both Van, car and Train etc. You would need to get the Badulla train and leave at either Ella or Haputale in the Hill country. the web site is http://www.arugambay.com

They normally charge about $80 for a Colombo pickup

Alternatively you could take a tour and if they won't travel directly to Arugam bay you could negotiate to go as far as Siyambalanduwa - they are normally ok going as far as there. Then you could arrange for the Hotel to pick you up from there and arrange withe the tour driver to come back in several days latter. Probably the best bet if you want to see some the hill country.

Don't even think about surfing on the West Coast in May - that's the start of the monsoon with high winds.

Regarding food in Arugam Bay, the Siam View Hotel is by far the best - great and cheap Thai food, also a great bar and fantastic full moon beach paries - Hotel is very basic though - only 4 rooms following the tsunami. The Star Dust is probably the best hotel in AB - clean, good value and with Air Conditioning.

the surf in Arugam Bay is fantastic - quite a few keen surfers from Oz when we were there.

Hope this helps

Hi,

Sounds like you've got some good advice already but thought I'd drop you a note anyway.

We did this trip a year or two ago also with surfboards. Going as far as you can by train is a good idea as it's an amazing trip, super cheap and very easy with boards-as long as the guards let you store the boards. You can book an observation carriage at the front of the train for a little extra and I reckon it's worth it for a guaranteed seat and fantastic views.

Re the boards, not sure how you're planning to get around but it'll almost certainly involve a taxi or tuk tuk at some point. We took a soft rack with us which was great as it meant we could take a car rather than a van and also some string for the tuk tuk's.

The previous posting regarding drivers is true and so it's worth booking something in advance if you can rather than just turning up. Make sure you agree a price in advance and it's usual to give a bit of a tip on arrival.

Have a great time. Aragum Bay is quite an experience!