Ahangama, before Ahangama.


Before the surfers came with their longboards, before influencers found the light angles, before cappuccinos cost more than a bullock ride, there was just this road that connected far end of the southern coast and Colombo. The sea breathing slow next to you, and ahead, a cart groaning under woven cane, pulled by a creature older than your grandpa’s stories.



You didn’t come here to escape. There was nothing to escape. Just men in sarongs, sitting outside thatched shops, sipping tea too sweet, too hot, too perfect with a game of carrom. Coconut husks drying in the sun. Women with salt on their skin and eyes that didn’t flinch.



This is Ahangama before Ahangama. The kind of place where time doesn’t move forward. It loops, like the tide. Where Hotel De Uncle’s isn’t a hotel, it’s a memory. A postcard from an old Ceylon that never cared to modernise.

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Before the hills turned green with tea, this island’s heartbeat was coffee. Not the polite kind you sip with scones - but thick, bold brews that punched you awake and smelled like earth after rain. In the mid-1800s, Ceylon’s beans were the stuff of legend, sent across oceans and poured into royal cups. Then came the curse - coffee rust. A disease that swept through the plantations, rotted the leaves, and buried an industry. The planters switched sides, planted tea, and the rest is history. Coffee was left behind, a ghost story whispered in the hills.



At Hotel de Uncle’s, we like ghosts. So we brought one back - with vodka. Uncle’s Kopi is our resurrection drink: fresh espresso shaken hard till it froths, cut with a clean shot of vodka, and kissed with cinnamon bark. No milk. No sugar. None of the fluff. Just the dark roast of what once was, bottled rebellion in a coupe glass.

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Along the southern coast, only a few Walawwas still standing, untouched by the tourist wave that’s turned most into resorts with infinity pools and piña coladas. These sun-braced, salt-dusted relics still wear their Sinhala Ulu tiles like burnt umber crowns. Wadimbu borders fringe the eaves like the tassels of a wedding gown, while Warichchi walls of kabok stone breathe the scent of earth and sea.



No one remembers the original owners if they ever really left at all. Today the deeds belong to a gang of sun-lazy stray dogs, stretched out on verandas as though born to the place. Like an old uncle sitting by the shore, watching the tide roll in, these houses wait for their time to come again. That same quiet defiance drifts through Hotel De Uncle’s in Ahangama where the sea hums, the walls remember, and nothing’s in a hurry.

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Down here at Hotel De Uncle’s Ahangama, where the sea’s loud and politics louder, we serve a cocktail called “Dudley Please.” Not just another beachside gimmick - this one’s got history soaked in it.



Named after Dudley Senanayake. Yeah, that Dudley - the last of the gentleman statesmen. No black-tinted convoys. No bullshit. Just a quiet guy with backbone, rice and curry in hand, and a country on his shoulders. A politician who didn’t need to shout to be heard. Rare breed.



The drink? Aged arrack, pineapple, local spice, a flick of dark chocolate, and orange peel for that subtle kick - like a good comeback. It goes down smooth but leaves a bit of fire behind. You don’t chug this. You sip, and nod.



So if you’re passing through Ahangama looking for something real, not just another coconut mojito or influencer fantasy - order a Dudley Please. It won’t fix the system, but damn, it helps you forget it for a while.

#cocktailbar #srilankanfood #bites #asia50best #localingredients #ahangamabeach #ahangama #hoteldeuncles #unclesahangama #srilankanfood #srilanka #thegoodbuggers ...

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