Sri Lanka Travel Guide by Lonely Planet

Author:Lonely Planet
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lonely Planet Pty, Ltd

Haputale

057 / POP 5238 / ELEV 1580M

Perched at the southern edge of the Hill Country, the largely Tamil town of Haputale clings to a long, narrow mountain ridge with the land falling away steeply on both sides. On a clear day you can view the south coast from this ridge, and at night the Hambantota lighthouse pulses in the distance. On a not-so-clear day, great swaths of mist cling magnetically to the hillsides. Either way, it’s a spectacular part of the country.

The town centre itself is a dusty ribbon of traffic, three-wheelers and small-scale commerce. But take a short walk and you’ll be rewarded with extraordinary views. The railway hugs one side of the ridge in a minor victory for 19th-century engineering.

Haputale now mainly shows the influence of the Sinhalese and Tamil cultures, but the legacy of the British tea planters also lives on. Tea estates blanket the hillsides, punctuated by graceful planters’ bungalows, all enveloped in a damp and heavy climate that must have made the British settlers feel right at home. The pretty Anglican church (St Andrew’s) on the Bandarawela road has a graveyard filled with poignant memories of earlier times.

In recent years Haputale’s popularity with tourists seems to have mysteriously diminished, but the town has an array of good, cheap accommodation and makes an excellent base for visiting Horton Plains National Park, exploring other places in the area or just taking pleasant walks in cool mountain air. Guesthouses arrange vans and 4WDs to Horton Plains for Rs 3500.

See the privately run website www.haputale.de for more information.

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