Community-based guesthouse experience, where the surrounding village contributes and profits from tourism. Short and long walks can be made around the house and the garden and in the area. Suitable for elderly guests as well. Food can be prepared by the neighbors or by yourself. You can book a room or book the whole house. Please contact us for more details.
A quiet place with a beautiful view, surrounded by nature. Not far from Knuckles Range.
The space
Comfortable, long beds, simple sleeping rooms, clean and quiet. A nice living room to relax. A kitchen with all facilities and very kind neighbors who like to help you with whatever you need.
Guest access
The Pepper Cottage has a spacious living room / pantry and a wide kitchen, 3 double bedrooms, 1 single room, 2 bathrooms and some extra sleeping possibilities if necessary. Two extra rooms with bathroom, suitable for 3 guests, are available for rent in the neighbor house and managed by The Pepper Cottage. The front of the building has a small veranda with a lovely bench and on the east side is a spacious terrace overlooking the surroundings, with a clear view of the Victoria Lake.
The house is surrounded by a lush green garden and a small estate where mainly pepper and other small crops are growing, with some very beautiful ponds with waterlilies and a calm relaxing small stream of water, which offers nice opportunities for calm walks along its borders and to sit, relax, meditate or practice yoga. The garden is made accessible for those who have difficulties walking.
The Pepper Cottage is connected to the public drinking water supply and also has its own well with clean water. Hot showers are made possible by solar heating. WiFi is available throughout the property and the surrounding garden.
The front garden of The Pepper Cottage is partly covered with flowers and fruit trees. Large parts of the rest of the land are covered with pepper trees, some coffee trees as well as various trees such as Jackfruit, Kittul, Areca, Banana, Gliricidia, Mahogany, Bulu and Ambarella. In the lower part of the land water loving plants are grown such as: Rampe/Pandan, Ginger, Jams and Ayurveda plants and spices. A foothpath in the land makes it possible to discover the area.
A small stream (officially called Pita Ella) divides the land into two by a small gauge. On the slope of the land a small seating arrangement allow for relaxation in a cool and pleasant green environment. We have developed short walking tracks on the land.
Early morning but also throughout the day, the most beautiful birds can be spotted. At least 60 different species can be observed! In the house is a bird information available book for your reference.
In the trees next to the house a family of giant squirrels lives. You can see them running, playing and eating at eye sight. Also troops of monkeys visit the property from time to time. And in the evening and night you could hear a barking deer or the wild boars, though they do not come too close to the house.
In quiet corner of the land, on the old threshing floor (the so-called Kamata) we created a small area for meditation / yoga / relaxation. This is a great place to sit and enjoy without being disturbed. Only the sounds of bird, frogs, crickets and sometimes the temple calls can be heard and a little sound from the road in the distance.
During your stay
The neighbors, who live in the house next door are available at all times to help you with whatever you need. A guided tour in our “private” estate, village walks in the area, tracks to the Knuckles Range, visit the waterfall for a swim, they can organize Ayurvedic massages and much much more!
Other things to note
The setting up and running of The Pepper Cottage is completely done by involving the neighbouring community in Wepathana. The house has been set-up as a community based guesthouse, as tourism is a growing market in Sri Lanka we feel that sharing the profits from this with the local people is no more than normal.
The whole house has been renovated with the help of the village. All small and large renovations, as well as the maintenance in and around the property, is taken care of by contracted people from the village.
Assisted by local neighboring farmers, we manage the land and all the crops growing on it. Sharing a large parts (+60%) of the profits with them, in this way we boost their income and help them sustain in their livelihood so they can support their families even more.
Our food is often prepared by our next door neighbors and whenever we need a tuk-tuk we call one of the young guys from the area who will be at the house in minutes.
By incorporating the local community this much in the operational aspects of the guesthouse, you really have a feeling you are part of the Wepathana village. A small glimpse into the live of the inhabitants we could say :)
To reduce the environmental impact of running this guesthouse, we decided to have hot water through solar energy and only to serve water from a good water filter instead of bottled water. Our farming activities are organic and we do not use fertilizer or pesticides. We separate our waste: we bury our organic waste and we bring soda bottles and other leftover waste to a collecting point in Digana for recycling.
