Kalkudah, Sri Lanka: Beauty and the beach

Business Times

3 days ago

THE STORY OF SRI LANKA'S Kalkudah Beach House begins as almost all home-buying stories do: with someone falling in love with a place and imagining a forever life in it.
And, as too many such tales go, purchase was quickly pursued by a stalled renovation. But unlike your standard contractor issues, these problems were more challenging than most. To wit: a civil war that lasted 26 years, and a devastating tsunami that wiped much of the estate out.
Owner Jon Stonham's love affair with the house never waned, though, and for four-plus decades, he continued shaping it into his dream home.
Kalkudah Beach House, managed by boutique luxury hotel group Teardrop Hotels, opened on Jun 1. PHOTO: TEARDROP HOTELS
But with time inevitably came life changes that brought Stonham, a Briton who founded the villa rentals company Elite Havens, back to Europe. To make sure the house would be cared for, he invited Sri Lankan boutique luxury hotel group Teardrop Hotels to manage the property – on the condition that the contract included booking blocks for him to visit every year.
This is how Kalkudah Beach House, which opened on Jun 1, was born.
Kalkuda Beach House is a six-hour drive from Colombo, on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. PHOTO: TEARDROP HOTELS
Paradise found
Kalkudah is located on Sri Lanka's remote eastern coast, a melting pot of diversity that was also once known for some of the country's most beautiful beaches.
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In this largely Tamil-speaking region, Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist cultures intertwine, their dominions marked by ancient kovils, mosques and monasteries. But the war years and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami – both of which hit the east especially hard – have long erased it from the tourist radar.
A Hindu temple in Kalkudah, a diverse region where numerous cultures intertwine. PHOTO: AUDREY PHOON
Having Teardrop run what is essentially the area's first luxury boutique hotel by a hospitality group is significant, because it puts this under-visited region on travellers' maps once again.
'We were drawn to Kalkudah Beach House because it offers something rare – a sense of place on a truly pristine stretch of coastline in a region that's long been overlooked,' says Teardrop Hotels CEO Henry Fitch.
To experience the hotel for ourselves, we take a six-hour drive from Colombo, fresh from an overnight stay at Teardrop's charming Wallawwa property near the airport.
The bucolic Kalkudah estate is set amid 25 acres of coconut trees – a theme that continues with our welcome drink: a fresh coconut from the plantation, served with a warning not to linger under the trees' gently swaying branches. 'You need to watch out for falling coconuts!' resident manager Azhar Mohamed says, only half-joking.
The estate is surrounded by 25 acres of coconut trees. PHOTO: TEARDROP HOTELS
What stands out for us is how private the place is. Granted, we're its very first guests, but with only five suites (from US$350 a night), you're guaranteed an almost-exclusive stay even if it's fully booked – a rare privilege these days, not to mention at this price point.
The suites – three in the dignified historic Main House with its Dutch-style arched doorways and windows that survived both the war and tsunami, and two in a modern new annexe called the Palm Villa – are bright and contemporary, with relaxed vibes and views that take in the verdant lawn in front of the property and picture-perfect Kalkudah Beach beyond.
Although there's a tempting pool between the Main House and Palm Villa, we plump for a post-arrival stroll along the 15 km crescent-shaped beach, the fine golden sand and sun-toasted waters warming our toes.
Pre-war, this would have been dotted with beginner surfers riding the small waves that break, like firecrackers going off, against the shore. But these days, the only sign of human presence is a few colourful oruwa – twin-hulled local fishing vessels – drawn up on the sand, and tiny, thatch-roofed shacks used by fishermen as shelters. Incredibly, after nearly an hour of exploration, we don't meet a soul.
The subsequent days follow a similar rhythm: rise, eat, chill, beach, sleep.
Meals here – crab and prawns fresh from the market, beef and butter from local cows – are tasty, hearty affairs, the work of Teardrop's group executive chef Sumudu Kadawata, previously of One&Only Reethi Rah in the Maldives. Meanwhile, a petanque court, a pool table and croquet on the lawn provide welcome ways to work off these feasts.
Meals in the hotel, such as this Sri Lankan crab curry feast, are tasty, hearty affairs. PHOTO: AUDREY PHOON
A 15 km crescent-shaped beach surrounds Kalkudah Beach Hotel. PHOTO: TEARDROP HOTELS
Genuine charm
If you don't feel like languid days in, the surrounding neighbourhoods are full of rich local experiences that the hotel will organise for you.
One afternoon, we visit the fishery harbour at the nearby town of Valaichchenai, one of Sri Lanka's main fishing hubs, where deep-sea fishermen dock and distribute their catch.
A fisherman with his catch at Valaichchenai fishery harbour. PHOTO: AUDREY PHOON
Under the eaves of its open-air market, we watch goggle-eyed – the only non-locals around – as man after man hauls in barrel-like yellowfin tuna, hoisting them onto massive weighing scales. The cheery workers seem unbothered by our ogling, grinning merrily whenever a particularly large catch comes in.
Another morning is spent at a produce market, observing meatmen skinning cows hanging from ceiling hooks, and bantering with stallholders over dried fish and gleaming fruit and vegetables grown in their own gardens.
A meatman at the local market. PHOTO: AUDREY PHOON
Here, coconuts take centre stage, too – so plentiful are the local food staple that they're categorised and sold by size and weight across one whole side of the market.
Although agriculture is the main economic activity in the east coast, the production of textiles – Sri Lanka's top export, along with apparel – is also a major income stream for the region.
One day, Azhar takes us to Palamunai, a small village filled with families of home weavers, where we pile into the corrugated-iron home of Rubia, a self-taught artisan. As the sprightly 68-year-old clacks away with hands and feet on her wooden loom, thread turns into fine-woven fabric, and we see the beginnings of a sarong emerge.
Rubia, a self-taught artisan, turns thread into fine-woven fabric at her home in Palamunai. PHOTO: AUDREY PHOON
Finishing one will take an hour of non-stop weaving and bring in 330 rupees – hard work, but Rubia waves it off good-spiritedly and with a cackle. 'This is nothing. I'm getting exercise free of charge!'
The way ahead
Sri Lanka's surging popularity means that our intimate east-coast experience will almost certainly morph in future. Post-pandemic international tourist arrivals have already climbed to more than 75 per cent of what they were before, with more than a few celebs – from Eminem to Ronaldo – visiting in recent years.
But there's hope that change will be positive for all involved, with the government's Tourism Vision 2025 plan to support high-value, sustainable tourism that will benefit local communities.
On our last day, we swap the road back to Colombo for an hour-long domestic Cinnamon Air flight that gives us a spectacular bird's eye view of the coast's clear waters and forested islets. The landscape is full of such brilliant blues and greens, it feels like we're looking at a painted map.
The domestic flight back to Colombo gives a bird's eye view of the coast's clear waters and forested islets. PHOTO: AUDREY PHOON
As the Cessna's propellers carve their way through azure skies and plump clouds, we think about how rare it is, in these travel-mad, social media-obsessed times, to visit a region as unselfconscious as Kalkudah, and what a privilege our stay has been.
For now, at least, a fairytale awaits those lucky enough to spend time in this paradise.
The writer was a guest of Teardrop Hotels