Most guesthouses offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some basic local restaurants you can find near the busstop.

1. Risara Bakery, Behind New Busstand, 6°46'8.12"N - 80°57'37.58"E

2. Anietha Cafe - No. 8, Dambetanne Road

3. Chandanie Bakers, Main Road, near new Bus Stand

4. Lanka Tea Center, Colombo Road, Welimada Bus Stand

5. Madushanka Hotel - No. 134, Colombo Road (old mosque/closed for rent)

6. Saman Hotel, Welimada Temple Road, behind police station

7. Shaneli Little Hut, Colombo Road, Main Street

8. Sri Vani Vilas Hotel, East Corner Main Junction, opp. Wheeler Stand

9. Thaj Hotel & Bakery, No. 13, Main Road, opp. post agency

10. Hotel De Paradise, Main Road, opp. post agency

C. Warning

Any problems or complains about bad touts/drivers/guides/comission? Help us to stop it!
Send the name, photo, vehicle number, date and further details to

Urban Council Chairman Upul Dissanayake ua.disanayake@gmail.com
Urban Council Office in Haputale Station Road, right behind the town hall.

I have read several guestbooks and internet stories about some bad touts (guides & drivers) who are trying to make big money with overprized tea, rooms, comission and tours. Myself I´ve been whitness of some cheats and stopped it whenever possible. I spoke to all guesthouse and some shop owners. Nobody like to pay comission. Everybody like to offer best service to all guests. They asked me to help them. So I do! And you can help them too!

Please make advanced bookings for rooms. Don´t follow touts! Some take up to 100 % comission!!! Most guesthouses offer FREE pickup service from bus and railway station. Some by taxi service, some by local bus. Please arrage your pickup service some hours in advance. Loga´s Internet and Communication Cafe in the Station Road can help you with calls and trustful drivers. A taxi must be paid only if you come for visit but don´t like to stay.

Tuctuc, 3wheeler. A 3wheeler tuctuc costs approx. 0,40-0,50 €/km (0,20-0,25 €/km roundtrip). Lower prices in day time. Higher prices at night. Vans, AC taxies and luxery vehicles have higher prices.

Don´t believe any stories about full, closed, dirty or burned-down guesthouses. It means only that this places don´t like to pay any comissions to guides and drivers. Please call the guesthouses to verify the true situation. It´s also possible that some drivers prefer guesthouses from friends and relatives. I´m in touch with YOU and all guesthouses. Any changes reported to me will be actualized here after check.

All guesthouses have WGS 84-GPS coordinates: Copy them in a map program (e.g. Google Maps), print out a map and find your way by yourself. Some GPS devices and mobile phones have own maps where you can save the coordinates of your interest. So you don´t need to follow any tout to find your way.

Don´t follow guides to buy tea or other needs. Loga´s Website Internet Cafe in the Haputale Station Road has high quality tea and herbal products with reasonable listed prices. Please visit my Internet page. There is also an Ayurvedic herbal shop in the Dambatenne Road. All guesthouse owners have good knowledge about POIs and local prices. Ask them first. Save your money!

On tour: Be always carefully with your valuables (money, passport, camera). Guesthouses are not responsible for any losts.

Be carefully with invitations. Myself I made several trekking tours around Sri Lanka. Most families were friendly and welcoming. They did not espect anything from me. Just friendship, conversation and some photos. If you visit a party, a small gift is welcome. I would recommend a gift in worth of 100-300 Rs only. Leave the place if you think somebody is playing a game with you. You can ask your guesthouse owner or Tourist Police Colombo for help if needed (Tel. 011-2376941).

Beggers ... the unemplyment rate around Haputale is much less than other places in Sri Lanka. Many people work in the estates but salary is less. An estate worker earns 40-80 Euro monthly. Sometimes even not enough to feed a family. If you realy think there is somebody worth to get your help, please ask your guesthouse owner how to verify the true situation. Giving money is easy but knowing the background story makes it much easier to decide if help is realy necessary. This is the way how I did it passed 6 years. Me and friends are supporting www.trainmybrain.de projects around Haputale, mainly schools and students. My good friend W.S.M. Dias from the "White Monkey Dias Rest" in Thotulagalla guesthouse has good knowledge about the local problems.

... and children: Whenever I walk around estates and schools, there are begging children asking for school pen, toffeys and money. Friendly smiling, shining eyes, some words in english but I know: Lot of this children come from good households. Sometimes I stop, speak to the family, just to find out the situation. Some just laugh, some feel shame but no change. It´s still going on, listen the voices of the elders: "A foreigner, go run, ask money, toffey, school pen".

Keep in mind: Giving gifts to begging children is not good. They have to learn in school how to mangage their lifes. Every simple gift, even a 1 rupee toffey, will change a childs mind and character in a wrong way. They learn to beg more and more every day and miss the school education. If children don´t learn to handle their lifes, same mistakes will come to the next generation. Please help us to stop them begging. Don´t give any gifts. E. Oliver (2. March 2012)