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Sri-LankaDescription and Is it Worth Visiting
Not far from Hikkaduwa in Sri Lanka is the area of the town Meetiyagoda, whose lands are very rich in gemstones and minerals, the most famous of which is the Moonstone. In this area, there are many mines (Moonstone Mines), some of which open their doors to tourists. You can safely come to such a mine, see how stones are mined and processed, listen to a detailed story about it with a personal guide (including in Russian), and all completely free of charge. But at the end of all this action, you will be taken to a store, from which you will almost certainly not leave without a purchase.
It cannot be said that this is a pure scam, but if you firmly intend to buy nothing, it's better not to come to the mines. If you don't mind spending a few hundred or thousand rupees on buying a semi-precious stone or jewelry with it, then you can visit here. Overall, the tour is quite interesting.
By the way, in the stores you need to bargain. You can reduce the initially quoted prices by several times, and then get a gift for your bargaining skills.
🕐 Opening Hours
During daytime.
💵 Entrance Fee / Ticket Price
Entry is free, but after the tour you will be taken to a store with stones and jewelry, where they will very professionally pressure you to make a purchase.
🚶 How to Get There
Meetiyagoda is located a few kilometers from Hikkaduwa (Hikkaduwa mines on the map). It is most convenient to get there by rented transport or tuk-tuk. There are several tourist mines here, easy to find by signs and boards along the road.
Tuk-tuks in Hikkaduwa also offer tourists free rides to the mines, of course in exchange for a commission for delivering a potential buyer's head. You can hire a tuk-tuk for a trip to several sights at once for 2000 rupees (from 5.98 USD, )see Sri Lankan currency, exchange rate) for 3 hours, or from 5000 rupees (from 14.96 USD) for the whole day.
Personal Review:
As usual during our travels, we decided to explore the surroundings and see the sights of Hikkaduwa on a motorbike. Having rented it in the evening, early in the morning we set off north. One of our goals that day was to visit the moonstone mines. Moonstone is a semi-precious stone, or rather even just a mineral. The Meetiyagoda area near Hikkaduwa is very rich in these stones. But the mines yield not only these minerals but also real semi-precious and precious stones, such as rubies, sapphires, and others.
Anyway, we set off. It wasn't far and was fun to ride. Along the way, we stopped at a couple of well-known local temples, and one completely untrodden by tourists. As we approached the mines, signs to the mines began to appear along the road, sometimes in the form of boards nailed to poles, sometimes huge posters. We decided to follow the large signs, without turning onto the side roads indicated by the wooden signs.
To be honest, even initially discussing the idea of this trip, we came to the conclusion that this is a traditional tourist trap, where people are lured to interesting places and then pressured into buying some junk. Well, that's pretty much how it turned out, though it must be said that we weren't cheated or scammed at this place. The mine we came to, I really liked. And the modest purchase I brought from there now warms my soul and reminds me of wonderful warm days in Hikkaduwa. Oh, let me tell you in order...
When we arrived at the mine, we were immediately met in the parking lot and helpfully assisted with parking the bike. A girl greeted us right away, welcomed us, and invited us to follow her to give us a short tour. Besides us, there were no other tourists here.
First, she took us to the workshop where the stones were processed. On what by modern standards are primitive machines, all by hand, local craftsmen worked wonders. We began to discuss this thought among ourselves in Russian, and then a miracle happened... Our guide began to speak Russian. From then on, all our communication was not in English, but in broken Russian on her part. But even so – it's a miracle for Sri Lanka.
After that, she took us to the actual mines, where stones are extracted from a depth of about 20-30 meters. They showed us the whole process and even offered us to participate, and then as a reward gave us each a small moonstone. Completely free, as a gift. It was all fun.
But what tourist trap would be complete without a visit to the store. After the tour, which lasted about 20 minutes, our guide brought us to a store where she began to "convince" us to buy something as a gift. She was very persuasive, and so was I. So the modest pendant with a stone that she initially offered me for 1200 rupees, I bought for 600. But the most pleasant thing was that after paying for the purchase, she gave me another gift, an already processed small moonstone. She said, this is for you (i.e., us) for good luck. And good luck to her too. I hope I will return there again someday...