Studio Guide
Welcome
You have arrived and I’d like to give you some important information
to ensure your stay will be a great experience for you.
I’ll start with a few important house rules,
then give you information about check-in and check-out times, AC,
gate lock, staff, breakfast and restaurants, internet, transport, surf lessons,
Yoga lessons and Tallentire House.
At the end I’ll add a little trouble shooting guide 😉
Check-In
after 14:00 pm
Check-Out
before 10:30 am
House Rules
Please throw nothing down the loos!
No loo paper, no tampons, no tissue!
The pipes at Sakara House are too bendy and narrow and get blocked very easily.
PLEASE save me and Uncle from doing a day of digging through your shit 😉
Thanks.
Please make sure EVERYBODY in your party knows this!
No food in the rooms!
Food in the bedroom will be discovered by ants within minutes.
Not a pleasant sight to wake up to.
Please use coasters and No insect repellants on wooden surfaces!
Especially bad are the “natural” ones with Citronella.
They remove the wood stain.
Think about your own skin and rather wear long clothes around 5pm.
No smoking in the bedrooms!
There are plenty of outdoor spaces where we don’t mind if you smoke.
AC
If you want to have AC, you can have it for a
surcharge of USD 10 per night.
We collect the total amount at the end of your stay in cash
(LKR amount according to the current exchange rate).
Please let us know and we’ll give you the remote control.
The manual for the AC is in the small cupboard
in the kitchenette next to the chopping board.
Gate Lock
If you want to lock the front gate for security reasons
in the night, the key to the padlock
is on the same key ring as the key to the Studio.
Please mindful of other guests in the Villa.
Don’t lock the gate, when they are still out for dinner.
Staff
Lalith
is our chef and handy man.
He speaks the most English, so he’ll be your first point of information.
He can help you to organise a TukTuk to get you somewhere
or if there is a problem with the Studio.
Please talk to him and he’ll sort it out for you.
Suresh
is the cleaner who tidies up the place, keeps it clean and sorts out the laundry for you.
He understands a tiny bit of English, but hardly speaks a word.
Uncle
is a lovely smiley old chap to have around.
He looks after the Pool and is the Lord of the Leaves.
He loves to chat, but mostly smiles.
Tips:
If you’re happy with the service the staff delivered, please leave them a tip.
Thank you very much in advance.
Breakfast
If you feel like going out for Breakfast,
there’s The Kip (just around the corner) or
Soul & Surf as well as the Little Bang Kitchen (LBK)
on the main road a mere 5 minute walk from Sakara House.
The Kip only offers Brunch and dinner,
the other two are open from morning through lunch up to dinner.
On Sunday afternoons Soul & Surf hosts the “Soul Sessions”.
If you want to treat yourself to a decent cocktail and have some food with music by the beach,
then you should go.
It usually starts at around 4pm.
Another great breakfast place is the Nomad Cafe in Weligama.
They have people often queuing around the block outside.
Restaurants
New restaurants pop up almost daily.
This season alone we’ve counted 45 new bars/cafes/restaurants in Ahangama alone.
We have not tried them all by any means.
So we encourage you to go and explore.
I just want to highlight a few of the ones we can recommend.
Middle Eastern Food
Citra in Kabalana
(Food can be exceptional…
and sometimes not, but it’s always very expensive 😉
Chambers in Galle Fort.
East in Ahangama/Kabalana offers a great Hummus plate and Falafel Pittas.
In the day they are open in Kabalana,
from 9pm onwards they are open in Ahangama near the bus stand.
Italian food:
Vertigo in Kabalana for the best pizza.
Rise in Weligama.
Aqua Forte, Aqua Pizza and The Pasta Factory in Galle Fort.
Sushi:
Little Bang Kitchen (LBK) in Ahangama.
KAIYŌ in Weligama.
The Tuna & The Crab in Galle Fort
Beach, Bar & Burgers:
Pickled Pelican in Ahangama
for a great Burger & Sunset Cocktail.
Marshmallow’s and Cactus in Ahangama
for beachside coffees & lunches.
Internet
The internet router sits in the Sala behind the TV and the Wifi Network is called ‘Sakara House’.
The password is: 21101974
If you need a fast connection, use the yellow Ethernet cable that comes out
from underneath the TV in the Sala.
Transport
If you need a TukTuk, please talk to Lalith. He will organise it for you.
The same goes for renting a scooter.
We also have two proper mountain bikes that you are welcome to use.
The bikes are inside the storeroom.
The key to the storeroom and to the bike lock is on the key ring of the
entrance door to the Garden Studio.
Surf Lessons
Looking for a good surf teacher and/or board rental?
Use Surf’n Lanka in Weligama. They are at the end of the
bay. The head teacher is Manju. He and his team are the
best you can find around this neck of the woods.
Alternative beach: The Shack in Dewata.
Yoga Lessons
The offerings for Yoga lessons are basically on every corner of the island.
If you’re looking for quality, check out the
The Yoga Shala in Thalpe.
They often have interesting Events that are a bit more of substance.
If you’re interested in activating your third eye and
having a deep mediation experience, like never before,
have a go on Carsten’s Ajna Light.
This is a mind blowing experience!
The effects are instant!
If you’re not happy afterwards,
he’ll give you your money back.
(Never happened;-)
The Ajna Light is a powerful DMT experience with a safety-switch.
The session takes about an hour and costs LKR 23,500.00
For more info check out
http://carstenantoni.com/ajna-light/
or talk to Carsten.
He’s a fully qualified Yoga teacher,
and has been practising Yoga, QiKung, Pranayama
and Meditation for more than 25 years.
Tallentire House
Do you like the textiles and interiors at Sakara House?
Most of them are produced by Lindsay’s company Tallentire House.
As a guest of ours you are entitled to a 10% discount on any purchase.
Just take a Sakara House business card to the Shop and
show it to the sales person.
You find the Business Card next to the metal lion in the courtyard.
The Shop is down by the beach on the main road,
a mere 5 minute walk from Sakara House.
If you’re having trouble finding it,
check out the location on Google maps.
Trouble Shooting Guide
1 – How to take a hot shower in the Garden Studio:
The Garden Studio comes with an electric geyser.
The steps to heat up the water are:
1. Switch on the power socket
2. Turn the temperature wheel to the desired temperature.
3. Open the valve to enjoy your hot shower.
Please don’t tamper with the supply valve.
If you close this by accident, the geyser will not receive any water
and as a result will overheat and break.
Don’t forget:
When you’re finished with the shower,
please turn the power socket off.
2 – No water coming out of the taps or the shower:
Unfortunately with the exponential rise in demand
with the explosive development in the Ahangama area,
the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) provides a grid
that is underpowered during the peak hours on a daily basis.
How to get taps running again:
Fortunately Sakara House has two separate power line connections:
One to the Studio and one to the Villa.
Often the power only fails on one of the two lines.
So moving the pump’s plug top between the two power lines
and restarting the pump, might solve the problem.
You find the respective power sockets labelled inside the little pump house
at the front of the premisses.
If changing to the other power line doesn’t solve the problem,
speak to Lalith or contact Carsten.
To restart the pump press the Restart button on the
pump’s pressure control unit.
Before that, make sure the Over-Heat switch has not popped out.
If it has, press it back in and then press the Restart button.
Pressure pump in little pump house by the gate