Caravan Park Village in picturesque Kirinda

By Jayampathy Jayasinghe

For the first time in Sri Lanka, a Caravan Park Village consisting several luxurious imported caravans for tourists visiting picturesque Kirinda was launched last week amid music provided by a local group to match the tempo.

The park is located on the Kirinda beach at Gurugoda, Palatupana facing the blue waters of the Indian Ocean. It is indeed a beautiful spot for water skiing, diving, swimming and also for sun worshippers.

The uninhabited lonely sandy beach that stretches for miles is an ideal location for early morning joggers to perform their walkouts before sunrise.

There are ten caravans parked in the village that provides full board accommodation to both local and foreign tourists who wish to spend their vacation in a secluded environment. Peace and tranquillity is the theme of the isolated park bordering the main National Yala Park. It is a travel destination ideally suited for honeymooning couples and for those who seek adventure in the adjacent National Yala Park.

A spokesman for the Caravan Park said they provide amenities such as electricity, gas and water for visitors who check in to the park". Another notable feature is that all caravans are motorable and can be driven around in the Yala Park on safari tours to view wildlife." he said. The other forms of entertainment for relaxation are climbing the Burma bridge, wall climbing, water skiing in motorised boats, beach volleyball, bicycle rides, four wheel Jeeps for hire for riding sand dunes.

"We anticipate both foreign and local tourists to patronise the Caravan Park, the spokesman said.

It is a novel experience for local tourists to live in a caravan and feel the difference, unlike tourists from Western Europe and Australia who are used to living in caravans." The visitors could even drive the caravans in the Yala National Park and get back to the village, he said. Stunt-riding men on motor cycles on sand dunes kept the audience spellbound. There are different types of caravans in the park to accommodate 4-5 persons at affordable prices. Of the total number of caravans three can accommodate five persons.

The caravans are cosily built to provide maximum comfort to guests with television airing all programs. The bedroom and pantry has wooden panels covering its walls. The caravans are air conditioned and the flush toilet and the shower bath is found in another compartment.

The park is located in a three acre land. A spokesman for the Yala Caravan Village Private Limited, the company that owns the Caravan Park said the company has invested a sum of Rs50 million on the project.

A caravan at the Yala Park	The interior of a caravan
Bicycle ride at the Park	A Jeep on sand dunes