This activity will need about ½ a day. The walk will be held in the village adjacent to the hotel, with visits to about 5 family homes. Guests may even visit homes of some of the hotel staff, as the hotel offers employment to the neighborhood residents, in order to contribute towards Corporate Social Responsibility.

Our open restaurant creates the right ambiance to offer our valuable guests a bit of culinary tourism. We may even invite our guests to cook a dish or meal at our wattle and daub hall, which gives the feeling of a typical rural kitchen of a humble abode in a village. Recipes will be shared at the demonstration. Guests can join our Chefs in preparing the dishes.

As a special offer, guests are welcome to walk around our own vegetable plots at Oruthota Chalets (seasonal) and pick a vegetable of their choice and learn how to prepare it. The culmination of this activity is to enjoy the dish/meal immediately, or at their next meal – ideally dinner.

Fishing:

Our rural families, especially those who live beside a river or any water facility, most often than not will go down to get a catch of fish for an evening meal. It is a common site in rural Sri Lanka. Little children, after school will do a trek to the river to help the home with some fish for a meal.

Their rods are made by hand with the available resources in the garden. Just the hook, which is not costly might be purchased.

This activity will initially teach our visitors on how a basic fishing rod is made. Staff will assist the visitors to make their own rod. Thereafter the visitors will do a small trek to the river and try a hand at some fishing.

Oruthota Chalets has convenient access to an interesting bathing location at the Hulu Ganga, in a village called Naranpanawa. This location is scenic, surrounded by lush greenery, shrubs and trees on either side of the river. Here is a moment for our foreign visitors to see a typical rural setting around this location. The clear, cool waters of the Hulu Ganga invite the visitor to enjoy a bath of a difference in the warm sunshine. The guests can take a break and bask in the sunshine on the “comfortable” rock stones. An interesting substitute for sun loungers!!

Doing a small trek along the river amongst the rock stones and the river bund is very exciting and adventurous. This is the typical way the youth of the village enjoy their leisure time – a much more inspiring past time than playing games in front of a TV monitor.

Oruthota Chalets would suggest the visitors to have a “tuk tuk” ride to the location. Since the roads are not accessible by any other larger vehicle, the best mode of transport will be a “tuk tuk” which makes the trip more interesting. Even though it is just a 15 minute ride from the hotel, the views of the mountain ranges, stretches of paddy fields, village temples and way­side shops will definitely interest our visitors to capture these moments on camera.

A day excursion can be arranged with advance notice.

The 2^nd option will be to bring a group of veddhas to Oruthota Chalets. They will demonstrate certain rituals, how they live, how they haunt and they are open for discussions too with interpretations.

The Veddha community makes a variety of hand-made goods from produce found in the jungles. After the visit, they display their handicraft for sale which is a much needed income for them.

With a comfortable overnight stay at Oruthota Chalets, an early wake-up, breakfast and early start will be ideal to enjoy the scenic views on the drive to the Knuckles Mountain Range which is about 1.5 – 2 hours. The early start is ideal, to accommodate stops to savour the views and to make those memorable clicks.

The drive will be wnding through lush greenery, passing by a number of little villages and small towns, and through the tea plantations of Sri Lanka. As the drive proceeds higher into the mountains, one can feel the change of weather and see how greener and lush the countryside turns out. The views are amazing as the drive progresses through the mountains. Even though some parts would be similar to a rutty, narrow country road, the beautiful scenery overshadows the uneasiness.  On request of the visitors, with an extra little trek, the hike can include a visit to one or two beautiful waterfalls.  A small break beside one such place is always rejuvenating.

At a certain point the drive will end and the trek will begin. Through the trek one would see the beautiful mountain ranges and the views are incredible. Visitors will always have with them a professional guide who will take them through the right paths to the viewpoints.

Lunch can have two options:

• Visitors can carry with them a picnic lunch from Oruthota Chalets and enjoy it on the mountains of Knuckles.
• An alternative will be to enjoy a freshly made, hot meal of an authentic vegetarian rice and curry. This will be pre-organised and prepared in a local village home. Visitors will have an opportunity to experience the typical culture of a rural village family of Sri Lanka and their way of life, and enjoy a simple vegetarian meal. The family will be proud to show their methods of cooking this meal as well.

Visitors who wish to camp overnight at the Knuckles Mountain Range, will need to give Oruthota Chalets prior notice so that arrangements can be made. All requirements such as tented accommodation, lighting, meals etc. will be provided for the camp. Once bookings are made more information will be given to the visitors. The camping experience in one of Sri Lanka’s famous mountain ranges will be an amazing memory.

Depending on the option the visitor chooses, whether it is a day trip or an overnight camp all relevant information will be shared once reservations are confirmed.

A visit to Madaram Nuwara is one such location. It is also known as the “Misty City” as it is shadowed by high mountain ranges and has limited sunshine.

The little village takes pride in being home to a number of attractive waterfalls. An adventure conscious visitor will always enjoy a visit to these waterfalls. A day trip, with a drive through scenic locations will take visitors to this little hamlet, and short trails through plantations and forests will take you to these beautiful waterfalls.

On a special request by this local school, we at Oruthota Chalets offered to give an opportunity to perform an Evening of Dance for our visitors. Our visitors will be told about their contribution towards this special cause.

The dance will include various segments. An introduction will be given before each performance. The dances will be more interesting as there will be interaction with the visitors.