ceylon - OutboundHolidays

Elephants, acrobats enliven ancient Sri Lankan Buddhist festival

Nearly 100 caparisoned elephants, dancers and torchbearers walked down the streets of this central city decorated with colourful lights and flags as the annual Buddhist festival of Kandy Perahera (pageant) was celebrated with great enthusiasm.

The colourful parade began Saturday night from the sacred Buddhist shrine of Dalada Maligawa, showcasing the temple custodians known as Nilames, who were dressed up like ancient kings. The festivities also included traditional Kandyan dancers, fire-juggling acrobats, palanquins, musicians and torchbearers, who followed the elephants through the streets.

Kandy Perahera is celebrated annually ever since the sacred tooth relic of Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka during the reign of King Kirthi Sri Meghavanna during 300 A.D.

Similar festivals take place in other parts of the country, including capital Colombo, but on a smaller scale.

The grand finale of the 10-day celebrations in Kandy, known as Randoli Perahera, began at an auspicious time at 8 p.m. Saturday. Thousands of Sri Lankans and hundreds of foreigners, including the Colombo-based diplomatic corps, attended the night of pageantry.

According to organisers, over 3,000 police personnel and hundreds of military personnel, were on guard to ensure that the event remained trouble-free.

Dalada Maligawa was also hit by the decades-long ethnic war when a suicide cadre of the Tamil Tiger rebels blew up an explosive-laden truck right in front of the temple, causing damage to the shrine in April 1998.

But the temple faced the first attack during the insurrection of the radical Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in the 1980’s.

The highlight of Saturday’s parade was the brightly festooned Maligawa Tusker called Raja, the biggest elephant in the procession, proudly carrying the Perahera Karanduwa, the replica of the casket in which the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha is kept.

The actual relic is kept inside seven caskets in the inner sanctum of the Dalada Maligawa.

On the directions of the mahouts, Raja and other elephants walked in measured steps and seemed as though they were moving to the beats of the traditional drummers.

In Sri Lanka, the lives of elephants are interwoven with those of humans. They are a part of the history, culture, religion and tradition of the island nation, which has 20 million people and nearly 4,000 elephants.

The procession was flanked by torch-bearers, who steadfastly carried long, flaming wooden poles.

Although the country has been suffering from one of the bloodiest ethnic conflicts, this colourful pageant in Kandy symbolises the religious harmony and ethnic unity among the two main communities – the Sinhala-Buddhist and the Tamil Hindus.

Anuradha Seneviratne, a professor of the Peradeniya University, said that apart from its religious significance, the event provides a platform to traditional folk artistes to exhibit their reverence and devotion to the enlightened one – the Buddha – and to gods and goddesses such as Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama (lord Muruga) and Pattini.

In one of his books on the Kandy Perahera, Seneviratne writes says that the characteristic of the annual Kandy pageant has gone through a transformation over the years.

‘The Perahera of yesteryears reflected the spirit, the socio-cultural milieu and the political and administrative structure of the times (feudal and monarch elements). (But) The Peraheras today, though portraying semblance of its past grandeur, has transformed into a mere folk pageant,’ he writes.

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Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: More than just golden beaches

Sri Lanka is an island famed for its golden sandy beaches stretching for hundreds of miles, shaded by palm trees and cool crystal-clear waters.

But scratch underneath the surface, and there’s a wealth of treasures to be found on the interior of the island, making this a hot destination in more ways than one.

The island is home to the relaxing wellness techniques of Ayurveda, and there are plenty of ways to spoil yourself after a hard day searching for ancient treasures. Ayurveda spas are easily found in most hotels, and provide a holistic approach derived from 3,000 years of natural treatments.

You’ll be steam-cleaned, rubbed with herbal oils and receive spine-tingling head massages after which you can pick your spot on the miles of empty beach and simply watch the sun disappear into the ocean.

For the more active, there are plenty of sights along the coastline including the colonial town of Galle. With its impressive fort and huge bastions, the fascinating glimpse of Ceylon of yesteryear within narrow streets, atmospheric old villas and churches is fascinating.

For wildlife enthusiasts there is no better place to see the Sri Lankan locals: the elephants. These loveable creatures are easy to find. For the closest experience you should visit the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage for an up, close and personal view of the largest land mammal.

Heading inland, there’s an array of UNESCO world heritage sites dotted around the island. The dramatic Sigiriya Rock’s imposing shadow over the plains of the cultural triangle transports you back to the time of ancient kings. After a thigh-burning climb to its 200metre-high summit lie the 1,500 year-old remains of the royal palace of King Kasapa. Pausing halfway to admire the vivid frescoes, the final effort of the climb takes you through the giant lion’s paws protecting the blustery peak as the best vantage point in Sri Lanka unfolds in front of your very eyes.

Close by are the ancient cities of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura, once thriving ancient capitals of Sri Lanka.
Polonnaruwa’s creeper-clad temples are best explored by bike, taking time to discover every corner of the vast complex.

In Anuradhapura you’ll find the island’s oldest stupa, as well as the Sri Maha Bodhi tree – grown from a cutting taken from the famous bodhi tree beneath which Buddha attained enlightenment more than 2,500 years ago.

With the Dambulla Caves a short drive away, you can easily get lost in Sri Lanka’s impressive past.
Carpeted in lush rolling jade hills, a couple of scenic hours south of Kandy lie Sri Lanka’s famous tea estates. The journey to the hill station of Nuwara Eliya can be done either by train or by road, each providing stunning panoramas of the valleys below.

Amid the landscape colonial-era hill stations deliver a glimpse in a bygone era when the British resided here.
Nowadays, the influence is as strong as decades ago, with the area fittingly named ‘Little England’.
With the temperature dropping to a cool 14 degrees, sipping some of the best tea in the world fresh from the gardens is an experience not to be missed.

Manytour operators are currently offering great ‘2 for 1’ deals to the island from £799 for two people, including direct flights and seven nights accommodation on an all-inclusive basis.

As an additional bonus, holidaymakers are also able to visit some of the island’s most popular tourist attractions including the famous Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage and four UNESCO World Heritage sites for half-price.

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Maldives

Sri Lanka and Maldives – The art of doing…

The Colombo airport was much more modern and civilized than we had expected. I had thought that it would be similar to the Caracas airport in Venezuela, and we were all ready to face the hoards of “porters” trying to grab your bags. We were glad to spot a woman holding up a sign with our names on it, after we got our baggage cleared. She was the wife of our agent, and she also happened to be the ground crew for SriLanka Airlines. We followed her outside to the waiting area where we met up with her husband who had just started the Sunflower Tour Agency. We then started on our long 2 hour journey to the Bentota Beach Hotel, about 70 kms from the airport. Boy, was I glad we didn’t decide to get a car ourselves. The Sri Lanka folks are very aggressive drivers, but are also probably the best in the world. Our agent would pass every car in sight, even though we were mainly on two-lane roads. Sometimes, four cars would squeeze by each other! Unbelievable!

When we finally arrived at the Bentota Beach Hotel, I was completely beat and was red-hot with a fever from my cold. The hotel was actually built on an Old Dutch fort and was quite interesting indeed. We felt like we were entering a castle! The hotel lobby had these nice ceiling panels made with batik. That was a nice touch. Our room on the second floor had a fantastic view of the beach. Sri Lankan has lots of tall palm trees everywhere and it was nice to relax in-room with the windows open and feeling the sea breeze through the palm trees. The hotel service was great and room service even better. The tomato and cheese sandwiches were a highlight, as the cheese didn’t taste so funny, like the ones we had in Nepal (Yak cheese!).

After an uneventful and mostly unappetizing (maybe because I was ill) breakfast, we headed outside to check out the two baby elephants who were taking their daily morning baths. The elephants were lying in the shallow water, and these mahouts were riding on them, scrubbing them clean with fresh coconut husks. The elephants really looked like they were enjoying themselves. Since they were mostly submerged in the water, you could see their trunks sticking out of the water once in a while to get some air.

Throughout the hotel grounds, signs of topless women with a cross on top of them were posted on the palm trees. Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country, so nakedness is definitely a taboo. I bet the Europeans must not have been pleased with that.

The hotel had quite a large swimming pool with big rocks embedded at the bottom of the pool. We swam just a little and started sweating all over. Definitely not a refreshing swim. The Indian ocean was much better. The water was warm but not hot, and Robert and I spent quite a lot of time playing in the waves. The waves could get quite big at times. Robert would lie in the water and try to catch a wave. He got lots of sand in his shorts (hee hee!) I just stood in the water because I was chicken. It was great fun!

Dinners at the hotel were not bad. The Sri Lankan food was much better than the continental cuisine. Most of the guests at the hotel were tourists from Germany or other European countries. Some of these people really overdid it with the sun-tanning. There entire bodies, including their faces, were beet-red in colour! It was painful even to just look at them!

Robert bought me a beautiful Ceylon Sapphire and Diamond ring as my early birthday present. It was a good deal even though we just bought it at one of the jewellery stores at the hotel. As our Dutch friend Evelyn would say, the ring was “cheapy, cheapy”. Apparently, we were the first customer for May Day, so our jeweller wanted our business badly. It was funny, because he was taking a nap when we entered the store. I guess business was not good for him that day.

The next morning, we rented a boat to take us on a tour up the Bentota river. Our boatmen showed us water monitors (they were lying on tree limbs by the rivers edge) and various birds (eagles, cormorants, etc.) We also stopped by this little hut where two little girls came running to show us their “pets”, a mongoose and a baby alligator! The mongoose actually looked quite cute, but I didn’t want to pet it in case it bit me. I figured that if mongooses (or is that mongeese??) were tough enough to kill snakes, they couldn’t had been that domesticated! We bought a hand-painted wooden elephant as a souvenir of the trip. We later found out that the wooden elephant was missing its tusks… bummer!

When our agent picked us up to take us to the airport for the flight to Male (the capital of Maldives), he showed us all the wonderful sights along the west coast. On our way, we saw lots of white flags and white banners. SriLankan Airlines required us to check in 3 hours before flight time, so we had plenty of time to shop in the duty free area. The shopping was WONDERFUL at the Colombo airport! We bought lots of Ceylon tea (the Mango tea was especially delicious), and bought four kinds of cashew nuts. I also bought some cosmetics because the prices were really good. Now, THAT’S duty-free shopping! I was so happy shopping that before I knew it, it was time to board the aircraft. Bummer!

The Male airport was on a completely separate island from Male itself. It was very small, and was basically non-air-conditioned. We were met with a representative from Nika Hotel, and were quickly transferred to the Hummingbird helicopter waiting area. Nika Hotel is on Ari Atoll. It would take about 2 hours for speedboat transfer, so were lucky to get the helicopter transfer instead. The ride on the helicopter was very nice since we got to see all the beautiful islands below us. The Hummingbird helicopter service ran two different helicopters, an American one and a Russian one. Apparently, they had to hire a Bulgarian pilot to fly the Russian helicopter since all the controls were in Russian. After we arrived at the helicopter pad, we then took a 10 minute ride on the boat to get to the Nika Hotel. Boy, what a trip! I was completely exhausted when I got there. But at the reception, they had already laid out fresh pineapple and papaya together with two coconut welcome drinks for us. What a nice surprise! They even had nice cold towels for us…ahhhh…. this is the life!

Nika Hotel was situated on this small island covered with many fruit trees. It was named Nika after a rare tree in the middle of the island. The hotel was owned by Italians but was run by local Maldivians. The bungalows were shaped to look like coral shells. Very interesting indeed! The water around Nika was absolutely gorgeous in all different shades of blue! The only thing that I didn’t like about the island was that there was this one bat (at least I hoped that there was only one of them!) that would fly around the pathway at night! Gross! I could even tolerate the little lizards that would run around the island. They looked just like miniature iguanas. When they ran, their tails would swish around, making them look very comical!

We were assigned the Sultan room, and later found out that we got the best bungalow suite on the entire island. Nika Hotel had altogether about 26 bungalows, and each one got its own private beach, well, except for bungalow #1 (to the left of our bungalow). The two young Italian girls (I called them the Italian babes, they looked like twins) in Bungalow #1 were sunning themselves on our beach when we arrived! Imagine my surprise when I saw them right next to my bedroom window! So much for the private beach! Our “public relations” guy told us that their beach was being repaired, and so they were sharing our beach with us. But if we didn’t want to share, he would tell them not to go to our beach anymore. Well, I didn’t want to chase the two women off our beach, but I didn’t want to have them lying by my bedroom either! But I guess Robert and I grossed them out when they saw us lying around on our bed (with our towels) after our shower (we were so beat!) I guess the Italian babes got embarrassed and decided to find another beach themselves. We later found out that they decided to share the beach with some of their other Italian friends. Lucky us!

The Sultan bungalow had two large bedrooms complete with mosquito netting over the beds. The place was furnished with old Sri Lankan furniture, and the bathrooms were actually outdoors! There was even a second bathroom with an outdoor tub. Strange! Since parts of the bungalow were outdoors, there were quite a number of house lizards and ants running around, especially at night. One of the house lizards actually got into the toilet and was doing a backstroke in it. Yuk! The best part of the bungalow was definitely our bedroom as we overlook our private beach. It was really nice to hear the waves lapping away at night! Sort of like a lullaby! There were several ceiling fans throughout the bungalow, but we really wished that they had air conditioning during our first evening there. Somehow our part of the island had very little breeze at night… so that was a drag. On our first night, we kept on waking up every few hours because of the heat. We actually went and took cold showers to keep cool.

Dinner was served from 9pm to 10:30pm! Nika set its time 2 hours ahead of Male time, so I guess it wasn’t too late after all. Besides, there wasn’t too much to do after dark on the island anyway, except for swimming in the moonlight (which we did the first night…it was really nice!) The moon was glowing on the beautiful water, and I could actually see the sand underneath the water! Anyway, back to dinner. We got one of the best tables at the restaurant because we got the Sultan bungalow, and our waiter’s name was Hussein. He was a really nice Maldivian. Lunches and dinners were always a three course affair with tea or coffee at the end. Considering that they had to import mostly all of their foods, I would say that the food was quite excellent. We had excellent pastas with tomato sauces, and we had fresh fish every day. At night, they would usually serve some meat. We also had a Maldivian buffet (curry and rice mostly) one night. The hotel actually grew its own vegetables and fruits. One night, I ordered the lobster as a special meal. Our waiter made beautiful flowers with our paper napkins. It was so pretty!

Next to our tables were this one German couple who seemed to know EVERYONE. The wife had these incredibly long thin legs. I was so jealous. I told Robert that I would like to have her body but keep my face. He thought that I would look very strange indeed! The German husband had this very very dark tan! He must not had been worried about skin-cancer!

At the other table sat the Italian Doctor and her buddy. I had requested for some cough syrup when we got to the hotel, and ended up getting a quick checkup by the Italian Doctor. She couldn’t speak English well at all. It was my first checkup in Italian! That was funny. Apparently, the hotel always invited a Doctor to be on the island for medical emergencies.

From our dinner table, we could sometimes see the moon rising over the horizon at night. It was a really beautiful sight to see the moon rising over the clouds! Too bad we didn’t have a camera to capture it on film.

There was an open air aquarium not far from the restaurant. We would take our bread to go feed the turtles, fish, and sharks (they didn’t like bread) nearly everyday. It was really fun to see the turtles fighting for the bread! The German couple had this ritual where only one of them would go feed the turtles during every meal. Strange…

Sure seemed like everyone else smoked except for us. I guess it was because the hotel guests were mainly Italians and Germans, and that smoking was quite common in Europe. Oh well… We just made sure that we didn’t linger too long among the smokers. The main activities before and after dinner were to gather at the coffee-shop to have drinks. I particularly enjoyed our pre-dinner drinks since we could see the beautiful sunsets. Drinks were very expensive in the Maldives since the Government does not allow Moslems to drink. It was a major offense to smuggle in alcohol in the Maldives. Even our bartenders were not Maldivians. The Government would import Sri Lankans, etc. to act as bartenders. Robert’s favourite drink was the Coca Dorato, a very potent mixture of coconut, Rum, and Galliano. Since I had a bad cold, my favourite was Coke with Lime (they call them Limon over there). They would serve the drinks with finger sandwiches (tuna and tomato, or olive spread), green olives and fresh coconut. All very yummy! One night, I fed the tuna-fish sandwich to the cat “Lumpy”. This one white and gray cat would always show up at the coffee shop at night. He had one bad leg and would hobble around. I called him Lumpy (or Lumpaceous) because he had these scratches and scars all over his body. I guess it was tough to be an island kitty. Apparently, he was one of the five cats on the island. Lumpy was nice and friendly enough. He would always meow for attention, and loved getting petting from me. Robert tried petting him with his foot once, and Lumpy let out this awful meow after a while. He then kept staring at Robert’s foot while meowing in this awful tone. Robert was sure that Lumpy was going to attack his foot! It was so funny!

My favourite activity on the island was definitely snorkelling! We could actually snorkel right from our beach. There were an amazing number of fish on the coral about 30 yards from the beach. We even fed them once, and these neon colour fish were very aggressive and even bit our fingers to try to get at the bread. It was fun! There was a short “wall” or drop-off in the coral, where we could see large schools of fish swimming along the wall. I couldn’t believe all the marine life! Actually, before we discovered snorkelling right along the island, we went on this snorkelling trip to one of the outer reefs. The water was very choppy that day, and I was getting quite nauseas from the sea. Everybody else (there were only four of us) jumped into the sea from the boat, but I refused. So they got me this ladder which I hung on for dear life. I was so nauseas that I wasn’t sure what would be better. In the water or on the boat. Good thing I decided to go ahead with the snorkelling anyhow. We actually saw a manta-ray swim by. The ray was a very fast swimmer. Robert tried to catch up with him, but he just kind of “flew” away. The other German couple saw a small reef shark. One of the local Maldivians from our hotel snorkelled along with us. He used no flippers at all, just stuck a mask and snorkel on. All the Maldivian men wore these long sarongs. It was really funny to see him in the water with this sarong. When we swam back to the boat, we had to swim outside the reef area where there was this incredible wall. I didn’t have my contact lenses in, so I couldn’t see how deep the water was all of a sudden. All I knew was that the water turned a very intense shade of green. Robert said he looked and couldn’t see the bottom at all. Scary!

Since I caught this awful cold, we didn’t get to try any diving at all. But the snorkelling was just fine for me. I had never seen so many fish in my life. The best part was that I could go snorkelling any time in the day right from the beach, and then go into the bungalow for a shower before coming back out to the beach to lay around. Sometimes we could see the water turning dark from all the schools of fish. Many of them would actually jump out of the water, making splattering noises. That was very entertaining! Our beach always had one or two cranes that would stand there patiently waiting for an unsuspecting fish to swim by. Robert would always try to get close to them, but they were awfully shy. So he would start running after them. These poor cranes would let out these awful noises when they were terrorized by Robert.

Maldives was having its rainy season, but we were fortunate to have only periodic showers from time to time. Actually, we enjoyed the showers because it would bring some relief to the hot weather! One afternoon, there was a big storm outside, and we actually spotted two water spouts! Robert was really happy because he had never seen water spouts before.

Lots of people were learning diving, including the Italian Doctor. One night, a group went on a night-diving trip. While we were sipping our pre-dinner drinks, they put on all their gear and just kind of disappeared into the water. One of the Germans was kidding to the bartender, saying that he better sign for his check before he went diving, just in case he didn’t come back.

We arranged to be dropped off on a deserted island not far from the hotel. It was really strange to be there all by yourself. We spent the morning walking around the island, and Robert saw this black and white water snake in the water not far from where he was standing! Good thing I didn’t see it because I would definitely have freaked out! Robert even tried to take a picture of it, although it didn’t turn out very well. The snake was about 1 foot long. It was my understanding that all water snakes were very poisonous, although they didn’t usually attack unless they were provoked. Still, the thought of us lying there on the deserted island dying from the poisonous snake bite was not a good one! It was quite hot and sunny that day, so we did some snorkelling around the island. We saw these very cute clown-fish (orange and brown with white stripes) that hang out in the anemones. Anemones were something like living coral and were poisonous. The clown-fish would secrete this mucus so that the anemones would think that the clown-fish were actually part of the anemones. This way, the clown-fish would be protected from other predators. They were really very cute. When Robert waved in the water with his hand, they would hide in the anemones, and then peek to check whether he was gone!

We also went fishing twice. Robert caught this 40 lb grouper, a very fat fish with an awful looking mouth and teeth, and also this 80 lb (6 to 7 feet long) Blue Marlin (or Sailfish, with this very beautiful blue fin and a nose like a swordfish). I caught these two much smaller fish by comparison. Boring! I did nearly get pulled overboard by this other Blue Marlin. He actually bit the steel leader off and got away. That was quite exciting! The fishermen hardly spoke English, but they were all very nice. All the fishing was done with just a hook with fish as bait and a piece of fishing line. For the big fish (caught during Trawling Fishing), we had a big piece of rope attached to the fishing line. No fishing rods at all! It was really amazing to see one of the fishermen pull in this great big shark (about 9 to 10 feet, I would say) with his bare hands! He also caught another smaller reef shark (about 2 to 3 feet). We took a picture of him holding his trophy before he let the little shark back into the water. That shark went bounding all over the deck in a fury. Robert’s fisherman actually got on the bench to get away from the shark. It was so funny to see Robert’s grouper jumping around madly, splashing water onto one of our fishermen’s eyes. Everyone was laughing really hard. The Maldivians really keep their fishing boats very clean. They would clean and scrub with sea water every time a fish touched the deck. During our fishing trips, we also saw schools of dolphins playing in the water. They would gracefully jump in and out of the water. What a sight it was!

Apart from fishing, we spent some time playing “Travel Scrabble” and kayaking. As the slogan goes…”Maldives, the art of doing nothing!”, I figured that we did alright! We could sure get used to this life! It was really sad to leave the place, although I missed Tiggra and Teddy badly. I stared at the blue waters as we took our boat ride to the helicopter pad, and I saw this spotted ray go by. It was beautiful! On the way back to the Male airport, since there were only three passengers, Robert actually got invited to go sit in the helicopter cockpit. He took lots of nice pictures of the islands below, and spent some time talking to the Bulgarian pilot.

Time to go back to Colombo for one night before flying back to Singapore. The Male airport was FILLED with local Maldivians who were seeing their relatives off on their trip to Mecca (in Saudi Arabia to pay pilgrimage…this was supposed to be their journey of a lifetime). It was really funny to see a huge Boeing 747 being filled with these folks all dressed in white robes. Looked like a giant Toga party!

We stayed at the Cinnamon Grand in Colombo. It was quite nice and luxurious in comparison to the simple bungalows we were used to. We had asked for a suite, and it turned out to be two adjourning rooms! They took out the bed in the other room and put in sofas. So much for a suite! Apparently, the occupancy rate was so low there that they could afford to have these “suite” arrangements. Our room was quite nice as it overlooks the swimming pool. After another totally refreshing swim at the swimming pool, I went for a quick massage at the Health Club, while Robert read his newspaper (first time in over a week) by the pool. There were these big crows all standing around the pool, hoping to get a scrap of food. There were a lot of expatriate families around the pool area. Apparently, the hotel pools were one of the few hangout joints in Colombo.

For dinner, we tried out the local restaurant at the hotel called the “Ran Malu”. We ordered all Sri Lankan curries. Yummy! We really like Sri Lankan food. They even had a band playing Sri Lankan music (sounded like Mexican music to us though). The food prices in Sri Lanka were very reasonable. The entire dinner with drinks came to about US$30. Not bad!

Well, all in all, we had quite a wonderful time in Sri Lanka and Maldives. I really want to visit again. I will never forget the beautiful blue waters and sandy beaches….

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Sri Lanka

The historic Pahala Walauwa in the cool climes of…

The misty heights of the mountain range surround the tranquil waters of the Kotmale reservoir which in turn reflect the beauty of this unique environment. The panoramic view is breathtaking and for a moment one might think that one has been gazing too long at a picture post-card from Switzerland. But this is no postcard, this is upcountry Sri Lanka and you are actually a part of it all.

Lazily stretched out on a chair on the back verandah of Pahala Walauwa, for a moment I entertained this hopeless hope that I would never have to go back to the hustle and bustle of modern life. The sound of a farmer working his paddy field, using the traditional method of a ‘nagula’ twin bulls harnessed, to aid him, wafted over the air.

This I mused, is the “solitude” Wordsworth spoke of and one could be “in vacant or in pensive mood” forever and ever (or let’s be more realistic for a weekend), while the sunlight and shadows create different moods in the mountains.

Pahala Walauwa, the “Maha Gedera” or ancestral home of Gamini Dissanayake’s mother, has seen a major slice of the history of Ceylon, having been built more than 200 years ago.

Today 50 years after independence, the Walauwa retains its atmosphere of serenity and peace.

Connaissance Hotel Management took over the management of Pahala Walauwa eight months ago and while preserving all its antique charm have transformed it into a guest house. The walauwa nestled in the mountains, 1800 feet above sea level, has four double bedrooms with lovely attached bathrooms in marble, with hot and cold water on tap, and provides a wonderful hideaway for groups of friends or families who’d like more than just a change of climate. Here, the “meda midula” or middle garden, considered an essential component of houses in those days, and which is once again being adopted in modern architecture, is surrounded by a corridor held up by wooden pillars, naturally creating a very cool atmosphere within.

Stone steps lead into the house which is filled with furniture of a bygone era, “kavichchi,” “Pettagam,” carved chairs and coffee tables.

The “atuva”‘ or granary which has been preserved to this day has a tale of its own to tell. It is said that since the family at Pahala Walauwa used to provide rice to other village families in the area, during the time of the British the “atuva” had been burnt down as punishment, related Bandula Cooray who is in charge of looking after guests needs.

Bandula has been with the Dissanayake family for a long time. And having his roots in Kotmale he is well equipped to inform one of the attractions Kotmale holds for visitors.

Kotmale is where Prince Dutugemunu sought refuge when he incurred his father’s wrath by sending him a parcel of woman’s attire as a symbol of cowardice. Fleeing, disguised as a commoner, he hid in the mountains of Kotmale. It is here that while living in the house of Kalu Ethana’s family “Visuru Gedera” and working as a farmer that he fell in love with Kalu Ethana.

Therefore among the places to visit of historic significance is “Visuru Gedera” the house where Prince Dutugemunu lived in Kotmale, the “Rana Muna peella” – standing in the middle of the paddy fields, made by him out of stone, where he and his friends bathed after working on the fields beside which is even today an “ambalama” a resting place of stone also believed to have been made by him.

For hikers and explorers there are many other destinations to discover. Ramboda Ella and Gerandi Ella are just two of the many waterfalls to be found in that area.

The numerous springs of Kotmale provide the villagers with water for cultivation and other purposes.

Even Pahala Walauwa depends on a spring for all its needs. The water collected in a tank is used to satisfy all the needs of those in the walauwa.

For purposes of recreation, the lounge with leather saddle chairs, and a television set provides an excellent setting. Carrom and Draughts are among other games provided for guests.

The meals served at Pahala Walauwa are authentic Sri Lankan fare. Mainly rice and curry, “mallum,” “polos”, and other traditional delicacies which on certain occasions is served on a plantain leaf as the “ambula” the repast served to farmers working on the fields.

On request, other cuisine too could be prepared explained Bandula. Tourists generally like our meals, he stressed.

Pahala Walauwa, located 164 kilometres away from Colombo, is an ideal retreat for writers, poets or artists, or for stressed out people yearning to get away from busy schedules.

The timeless peace of Pahala Walauwa is bound to have a magical effect on you.

Thanks: Gamini Jayasuriya

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Sri Lanka

The old world charm of the Mount Lavinia Hotel

Scott McDonald of Reuters has described the Mount Lavinia Hotel as “Colonial mystique, a secret tunnel, an amazing sunset view and a scandalous affair involving a bare breasted dancer – Sri Lanka’s Mount Lavinia Hotel seems to have them all…”

Starting off as an imposing and majestic weekend abode for a British Governor in 1806, situated 12 kms from the city centre, Mount Lavinia Hotel, consisting of 275 rooms, retains the old world charm and imperial elegance of yesteryear combined with the most upto date facilities of a modern resort that any discerning traveller might ask for.

A vast expanse golden sandy beaches with frothy white lacing of waters that go far into the clearest and deepest blues you’ve ever seen… under a warm sunny day and a silvery moon on a night sky – you’ll find what was once the sprawling mansion of Sir Thomas Maitland.

It is said that one cannot blame the staid and sober Sir Thomas Maitland for forgetting himself and falling head over heels in love with a local mestizo named Lavinia. Given the circumstances, the romantic setting, the enticing eyes and the flaming dances of Lavinia after whom the area itself has been named, anyone might have done the same.

This perhaps is why Mount Lavinia Hotel is reputed to be the most romantic and popular venue for weddings and a favourite destination for honeymooners. An extract from Newsweek magazine described The Mount Lavinia Hotel Terrace as “One of the World’s Best Gathering Places” and has this to say ….” For many people the romance of the East is inseparable from the Old World Charm of its colonial era buildings – and none is more romantic than Colombo’s Mount Lavinia Hotel…

Today, the Hotel’s Terrace Bar offers much more than just a romantic history.

Connoisseurs of gracious living come for the heart – stoppingly beautiful panorama of the Indian Ocean. But equally potent are the ice – cold beers, gin and tonics, and whisky and sodas that slip down so smoothly with the setting of the sun.”

In addition, this famous Terrace now offers its guests “Movies Under the Moon” on Saturday nights. These are VCDs and DVDs of popular and current movies, projected on a giant white wall measuring approximately 25 feet across, right under the moonlit or starlit sky, overlooking the vast Indian Ocean and the beautiful Colombo city skyline by night.

Or if your heart is set on the soft sands of the Paradise beach, try out the Seafood cooked Market on the beach daily in the evenings and have your favourite seafood your favourite way.

Don’t let life pass you by….. visit the Mount.

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Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s famous monkeys do it again!

The toque macaques of Polonnaruwa, who shot to fame through many internationally acclaimed documentaries, are part of the longest-running study of primates in the world. Kumudini Hettiarachchi reports.

Jr, Sirima and Hema are just a few of the 4,000, with no two having the same name. They are named after politicians, famous people, family and friends. Two brothers are called Ponnam and Peruma, after Cyril Ponnamperuma, the founding head of the Institute of Fundamental Studies (IFS).

Who are they? They are the toque macaques (Macaca sinica) who roam the ancient citadel of Polonnaruwa, the second capital of Ceylon, with whom any visitor to the area is familiar. For they are part of the landscape, gambolling across the pleasure gardens of the kings, with the babies clinging on to their mothers’ under-bellies or peering inquisitively at the human intruders, while perched on a pillar centuries old.

Conceding that it is inevitable to have favourites, top primatologist Dr. Wolfgang Dittus, better known as ‘Wanduru Mahattaya’ (Monkey Gentleman) mentions ‘Not so’, a male which was “not so strong or not so weak”, ‘Hema’, a red-faced female, ‘Stumpy’, a male with a short tail and ‘Saf’, a young female whose entire life he and his team have followed from youth to breeding age and on to old age. “One was even called Lal, after a former girlfriend,” he adds smilingly and when asked whether Jr was a wily one, quickly replies that he was an “innocent fellow who died young”.

And what’s special about these simian cousins of ours in Polonnaruwa is that they are part of the longest-running study of primates in the world being carried out by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, America.

The study is being conducted by Dr. Dittus, Research Biologist for the Smithsonian Institution and Senior Visiting Scientist of the Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy, along with a local team headed by Sunil Gunathilake who has been with the programme for 20 years.

These are also the very same monkeys who have shot to fame through many international film documentaries on Discovery Channel, BBC Natural History World and Animal Planet. The latest is ‘Dark Days in Monkey City’ (2009) produced for Animal Planet while some of the others are ‘Temple Troop’, winner of 12 international awards (1997) and ‘Life of Mammals: Social Climbers’ with David Attenborough (2002) both for BBC Natural World.

‘Dark Days in Monkey City’ is about many troops of macaques who fight for dominance in Polonnaruwa. Using the semi-animated graphic-novel visual, it is like ‘300’ and ‘Sin City’, says Dr. Dittus.

Having spent his childhood in Germany where he was born and getting his first degree from McGill University in Canada, Dr. Dittus, who was looking to do a study on primates, was the last person to join the Primate Biology Programme (PBP) of the Smithsonian.

Nobody wanted to do the macaques, he says, when asked why he decided to spend the better part of his life here in Sri Lanka studying these monkeys, “because ‘my fellows’ are considered ugly compared to other good-looking types such as the grey langur”. The macaque is endemic to Sri Lanka and is known locally as rilawa.

By the time he joined the PBP, Dr. Dittus was already heavily involved in studying animal communications such as the development of song in birds. “But communication among primates is more complex and the macaques are socially very active.”

It was way back in 1968 that he set up base in Polonnaruwa to study the troops of macaques which rule the ruins there, observing them, identifying them as individuals and taking meticulous notes on their behaviour.

There are around 1,000 at a given time, he says, explaining that he gained his Ph.D from the University of Maryland in America, on the research he did on the ecology and behaviour of macaques, which found that the monkeys’ reproduction and survival (evolutionary fitness) was influenced by their social behaviour.

The macaques live in social matriarchal groups in a certain area, feeding on natural vegetation such as fruit and flowers. Males leave the “mother family” on reaching puberty to find a mate from another troop, according to Dr. Dittus who has numerous publications on a wide range of subjects to his credit.

“There is a genetic-imprinting that prevents inbreeding among macaques even if there is an opportunity to do so. They avoid mating with close relatives because any ancestral macaque with such a predisposition would have been handicapped with few descendants. Thus incest behaviour has been eliminated by natural or genetic selection,” he says.

Although the original mission of the PBP was basic science, it has now developed along three fronts: science, conservation and education. The research includes behaviour, ecology, demography, population genetics, epidemiology, physiology, and comparative socio-ecology among three sympatric (species sharing the same habitat) primate species, says Dr. Dittus.

Apart from the Smithsonian Institution, IFS and the University of Peradeniya (Veterinary Faculty) and a number of international collaborations have been involved in the research, The Sunday Times understands.

As the research is carried out where threats to nature conservation loom large, the PBP has become involved in conservation by establishing the NGO, Association for the Conservation of Primate Diversity to mobilize local leaders in business, education and science, he says.

“We have promoted and participated in film documentaries on the premise that the public will conserve only that which they love, and love only that which they understand,” Dr. Dittus explains. “This has brought the wonders of primate social life into the living rooms of millions of viewers around the globe. We have also got some of them dubbed in Sinhala and telecast on Rupavahini for the home audience,” he says seeking the support of a corporate to do the same with the series ‘Dark Days in Monkey City’.

Stressing that although primates are the focus, the principles and biological phenomena enlightened by these studies have a relevance among vertebrates, especially mammals, Dr. Dittus’s hope is to write up all the data collected, spanning 40 years of research.

Some firsts of PBP

1968-2008: World’s longest continuous study among vertebrates, of animal population dynamics, under a varying environment.
1977: Discovery of the role of behaviour as the major factor governing mortality and hence the growth (and density) of primate populations and their age-sex compositions.
1988: Showed that macaques use referential vocal signals to communicate about the quality, quantity, and distribution of food resources in the environment.
1993-2007: Discovered that dengue fever is an epizootic disease in non-human primates of the Sri Lankan dry zone and that human encroachment of wild areas results in the introduction of human diseases to wild primate populations (e.g., toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidosis).

Monkey camp

Small groups of schoolchildren studying science can now go to “monkey camp” at Polonnaruwa, for a reasonable fee, not only to learn about primates but also about plants, with a few lessons on history thrown in courtesy of the Association for the Conservation of Primate Diversity.

Source: SundayTimes.lk