Unawatuna: Awesome

I stayed for several days in Unawatuna (don't know how to say it) and used it as a staging ground for a series of explorations of the area and of nearby sites.  The town is in and of itself worth staying at, at least during low season--it's touristy so you can get a lot of Western food and other luxuries, but quiet enough that it's not obnoxious.

It's located on a peninsula with a number of very walkable points of interest.  It's a very nice place just to chill out and relax.

There's a mangrove preserve within about 2 km of the guesthouse area--so I walked there to see the mangroves.

What is a mangrove, you ask?  Actually, I didn't really know before I went.  Having been educated, I think it's a kind of tree with lots of roots that lives near the water and has it's own unique ecosystem.

A tree with lots of roots.

The mangrove swamp.

More mangroviness.

And more.

AND YET MORE!

Apparently, the roots form these unique holes in the surrounding terrain.

An observation hut.

Giant snails that live in the swamp

Cypress knees?

My so-called tourguide.

More tangly roots.

It's cool, right?

Then I walked around the beach.  It sort of forms a natural blue-green lagoon, and you can check out the temple at one end.  There's also a rocky point where you can watch the waves crash on shore (which I unsuccessfully tried to capture on film, lol).

The Beach Lagoon

 

Giant Buddha at the temple on the hill

This string is a blessing given to me by a monk.

Views of the waves and rocks.

Waves crashing onto shore.

Last, there's Jungle Beach, a small but idyllic perfect beach far away from the tourist center.  Going there was almost another lost quest, because it's on an off-road trail that I somehow overlooked.  But, I managed to find it on another day.  You access it by walking down a magnificent jungle trail, over boulders and streams and stuff.  It's a great walk, and a great beach.

Some shots of the Jungle Trail (apologize for the shitty photo quality due to the clouds)

Is this not The Perfect Beach??

I rewarded my efforts with a bottle of Ginger Beer.  It was the first time since childhood a beverage has made me feel like sneezing..

 

You can also walk around the peninsula a bit and look at all the wildlife and monkeys and trees and sea rocks and stuff:

Awesome trees

Rocky shores

Apart from that, there's a temple with a reclining Buddha you can visit in the nearby village and a wildlife preserve (which I didn't really have the desire to go to at that time of the day).

There's also the Peace Pagoda, apparently donated by a Japanese monk after the 2004 Tsunami.  This was the part of my time in Unawatuna that I like the very best.  It's one of those places you go, and you can tell that God really did touch it with his presence.

A memorial to the tsunami victims.

Unawatuna was definitely a great place to hang out.