Meemure

Meemure sits in a bowl in the Knuckles with the Lakegala rock rising above it, and until recently the only way in was on foot. A road exists now but it is bad enough that the journey still takes hours from Kandy. The village of a few hundred people farms terraced paddy and kitul, has no bank and until the 2000s had no electricity, and it appears in Sri Lankan writing as the standard example of the country's remote interior.

Background

About 420 people live in the village, which lies close to where Kandy District meets Matale District and counts among the least populated villages in Sri Lanka. Mobile phone coverage does not reach it, though a CDMA telephone service works. Post is not delivered directly: each day a villager travels to Thapal Junction to hand over and collect mail with a postman. Pepper, cardamom, paddy and ginger are the staple crops. Colombo is about 175 km away, approximately a 7-hour drive in an off-road vehicle. The usual way runs through Kandy and along the A26 toward Mahiyangana, turning off at Hunnasgiriya Junction for Loolwatte, from where a 14 km trail leads in.

Source: Wikipedia, "Meemure"

What you'll find

• Lakegala rock - the sheer peak rising directly above the village.
• The terraced paddy - rice grown on the valley floor and slopes.
• The kitul tapping - palm sap tapped for treacle and jaggery in the village.
• The road in - a journey that is half the experience, through the Knuckles.

When to go

January to April is the driest and the road at its best. The monsoons make the track difficult and sometimes impassable. Nights in the valley are cool.

Before you go

The road is genuinely rough and takes three hours or more from Kandy; ordinary cars struggle. Accommodation is homestays with basic facilities. The village is small and there is little to do but walk.

Nearby

The Knuckles range surrounds it, and Riverston is north.

Key facts