The Suburbanization Of The South
Unawatuna, back in the day.
Colombo slowly but surely spreads south. First people flocked to Hikkaduwa, making it uncool. Now Unawatuna is effectively a suburb. Next it will be Mirissa, and the meh will spread on to Hambantota before it turns around and starts affecting Kalpitiya, then round Yala to Arugam Bay.
When I first visited Hikkaduwa I was like ‘what is this awesomeness’, but over time more and more people went there. It got so that on holidays everything was booked, more expensive, and walking down the street was like walking into White Horse. So I don’t really go to Hikkaduwa anymore. Not that the gentrification is necessary bad, it’s just bad for me. Instead, I used to go down to Unawatuna which had greater beaches and a greater sensation of being out of Colombo. Lately (especially with the Southern Expressway making it one hour from Battaramulla) Una has gone Hikka way. Packed and pedestrian.
So this year I’m heading down towards Matara, which should be sufficiently enough away. For now.
BTW, Happy New Year. Please be safe to enjoy the whole thing!
I agree. I remember visiting my relatives in Hikka during early eightees and enjoying those serene beaches, going in search of tiny crabs in the night and just chilling out. I was there during the last weekend and it has become a boiling pot of visitors. Tried to go snorkling but ended up on a beach with a sea of heads. Remarkably we could still see a decent amount of fish, perhaps they are now used to the crowds too.
In a starge way, Hikka seem to have transformed into a completely different attraction these days; one of carnival and party.
What the fuck is wrong with you sri lankan people? Don’t you lot know you are seriously uncool?
Do indi, his bros, his hos (and yourselves) a favour and shut the fuck up, stay the fuck home and don’t go to these places. Leave them to indi and his lot.
Otherwise he’s going to have to head to Antarctica for his “down south fix” and we’ll all be reading about how his holiday was spoilt by hordes of emperor penguins.
Hah hah ha.. @dude .. you are awesome!
Dude’s initials are SH, if I’m not mistaken.
Errr…. my initial is “D”
How the hell did you manage to miss that?
Sri Lanka is developing, things are going to be expensive!
Hehehe… Ah yes, happy new year to y’all too.
Indi..it seems the highway has been a bit of a godsend for the fly by night una/hikka revelers. Saw it first hand on 31st when una got a little too packed up. Also saw you trying to get lucky with a middle aged suddi at Lucky Tuna. Hope it all went well…Cheers to 2012.
middle aged suddis are generally claimed by beach boys. Not me.
Una wasn’t that packed. Seen it worse when they had a perehera
[...] from the sea. Went down south, and boy things have changed. Firstly, Mirissa is the new Unawatuna, Unawatuna is the new Hikkaduwa, and Hikkaduwa is, like, Mount Lavinia. There is also a thick and [...]
Though southern highway seems like a great thing from a very private and a personal point-of-view, it’s a colossal waste of money that we can’t afford!
Please see simulations of transport expenditure savings from expressways Figure 3.7 and related discussion from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SRILANKAEXTN/Resources/233046-1267051087828/6811989-1280954099212/Full_Text_CPP_August_2010.pdf.
The expressway to Kandy will yield the most savings (LKR 26.1 million per day) but the Southern Highway is not bad at LKR 19.7 million per day. If you have concerns about the methodology (which assumed traffic volumes etc.) take 50%. That is still significant at around LKR 10m/day.