The true story of Isolated village in Sri Lanka / Meemure 2021

 The Meemure is definitely one to add to your bucket list in Sri Lanka. it is the perfect place to delve into Sri Lankan's rich history, heritage, and culture.  It is located in a corner in the Matale district covered by Knuckles mount range and LakeGala mountain.  Actually, it is a rural village with 100 families. 

Meemure 

Before 2021, the village did not have electricity or network coverage. Meemure was famous among locals after 2004. It was the location of the film "Sooriya Arana". 

How to arrive at Meemure?

It is an isolated village in the central province. The only way to go to the village is to pass Hunnasgiriya. The main town before Meemure is "Mada Mahanuwara". It has the last fuel station and supermarket before Meemure village.  However, It is 50km away from the Kandy. Wewathanna is very close to Meemure. If you are like camping this is the place for that. 

Ranwala

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We started our journey from the Hunnasgiriya Rangala road. it was a bumpy road across the Knuckles mountain range. We went there by bike and the road was not supposed to be vehicles besides bikes and 4 wheel vehicles. I should mention wild elephants can be met in the middle of the jungle. Fortunately, we didn't surprise by them. We took more than 2 hours to a ride rather than other roads. 

Knuckles Mountain range

Meemure 

 Don't worry, You can miss this road and can use upper Meemure road in Mahiyanganaya road. That road is in good condition and has an amazing view.  We used that road to come back to the Mada Mahanuwara. If you have curious about new adventures like us try the previous road. That experience was super adventurous. In Sri Lanka, you can collect different types of adventure experiences. 

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meemure

Visiting Meemure is like going back along the time tunnel. The village is far away from modern-day civilization. There are plenty of places to stay in Meemure. Lots of them look like traditional homes which are made of clay and iluk ( dry leaves). If you are interested in champing there is a facility for that. 

meemure 

Knuckles Mountain range

What to do in Meemure?

This place was rich with glittering water sources which amazingly refreshing to swim or bathe in after a dusty journey. We took a proper bath in the "Hin river" which is a tributary of the Dimigolla and kaikawala rivers. There is a super cool natural sport for water activities.  We spent more than 4 hours there. 

Meemure village

We hired a guide who is a villager of the Meemure village. He has good knowledge about places which are safe and not. Hiring a guide is not necessary you can find places but it take some time. 

Meemure 

Meemure

Besides the stunning Scenery, it is home to lots of wildlife. The village is covered by a jungle. you can enjoy the biodiversity including 25 species of fish, 130 species of birds, 20 species of mammals, and hundreds of trees and plants.  The area went around 700 acres.

The Lakegala mountain is a unique icon of the Meemure village. It was a cliff which has a pyramid shape. This mountain is a challenging hike even for the experienced hikes because it has a steep slope. If you have an idea to cross it hire a guide. It may be useful to find the correct path. You need to keep one day for that hike. We didn't do it because we hadn't enough time. 

Lakegala Mountain

Lakegala Mountain

In addition, there is an incredible waterfall called " Jodu Ella". Save time to visit it. 

Meemure is very famous for fresh "todday"( Traditional alcohol). If you are interested in alcohol, try it. 

Where did we stay?

Visiting Meemure is like going back to a long-time tunnel. The village is far away from modern-day civilization. There are plenty of places to stay in Meemure. Lots of them look like traditional homes which are made of clay and iluk ( dry leaves). If you are interested in champing there is a facility for that. 

Meemure village

We booked a place called " Gami Gedara". It was a traditional home. They provide a mattress, pillows, and bedsheets. Don't expect too much. those are only in acceptable condition. But we took a very traditional home experience. The place was owned by a villager and his home was very close to us. They were very kind and innocent people. 

The place we stayed

The stay home location was perfect. When we came out from the door, my eyes were lost in an amazing lush green paddy field with the mountain range. The environment was soo calm, we could only hear the sound of swaying leaves from gusty wind, birds screaming, and the sound of flowing water of the river. Pretty cool right? 

The stunning Morning view of Meemure village

What about foods?

The main income of the peasants is farming. They grow rice, corn, different kinds of vegetables, and fruits. Because of that, you can taste fresh and delicious village foods. A lot of those recipes are very unique to them. Don't miss the chance to taste roasted corn. 

If you are don't prefer to taste village foods, bring your food packs. There are no big shops to buy those things. But you can buy some groceries and drinks from the village shops.

You can find best-been honey from the village. The price of it can be Rs 1500-2500 per bottle. 

What's about the village lifestyle?

The villagers have a very simple lifestyle.  Other than farming, some of them run stay homes targeting tourists like us. The price of those places is very fair. we spent Rs 1500/= per person for stay( with 3 meals). That price range can be very around Rs 1000-3000. 

Glimpse, We see the village life is soo peaceful. But it is skeptical. They don't have very good facilities to live in. They only have one school. It only has classrooms till grade 5. If someone needs to do further education, they have to go to town spending more than 4 hours per traveling. another big difficulty is they don't have an ATM machine and a fully functional hospital. 

Meemure

Because of those problems, a Lot of young crowds leave the village and come to the town. Lots of them weren't very good educations. Therefore they may be lost in the busy urban cities. 

 However, I urge people to visit this beautiful place and support it to enhance their lives better. 

This place is seriously incredible. Unfortunately, whenever a destination became a tourism hot spot, the litter in that space increases. If you are caring any plastic items with you, Make an effort to dispose of them responsibly. Learn how to reduce plastic in travel.

In Sri Lanka, there are a lot of places to visit. 

If you like to share our experience, join with  the video below,

Do you love to visit places like this? Let's talk in the comment section.....