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TROPICAL TOPICS, Sunday 7 October, 2012. Greetings, this week, from the sunny shores of the Maldives as well as from Sri Lanka. Made in Sri Lanka If the way motorists (well, mainly bus drivers) drive in Sri Lanka isn’t crazy enough, think about the road signs. This one is on the highway to Anuradhapura and warns of an unexpected natural hazard: iguanas crossing.
In Sri Lanka an Iguana Crossing road sign
First Day Cover: Steam Trains My interest in First Day Covers (FDC), having been roused by the function at the Galle Face Hotel recently to launch an FDC celebrating Colombo’s Colonial Heritage Buildings, has resulted in this marvellous prize.
Viceroy Special Steam Train 25th Anniversary FDC
To commemorate the introduction in 1986 of the Viceroy Special steam-hauled special train for tourist trips from Colombo to Kandy and other hill country stations, the Philatelic Bureau, Department of Posts, Sri Lanka (http://www.slpost.gov.lk/philatelic issued this FDC on 2 February 2011, bearing a postmark of “Railway Station, Rambukkana.” The Viceroy Special (featured on a long Rs45 value stamp), hauled by steam engine “Sir Thomas Maitland” 4-6-0 class B1A 251, manufactured by Beyer Peacock, UK, in 1928, consists of two air-conditioned observation saloons with 64 reclining seats and adjustable tables. There are also stamps of some other broad gauge (5ft 6in) super steam engines, alas no longer in operation, that have hauled the Viceroy Special. These are the 4-6-0 class B2B 213, built in UK in 1922, and the Hunslet 4-6-0 class B8C 240 from 1927.
Stamp bulletin about Viceroy Special commemorative issue.
There are two narrow gauge steam engines also commemorated on these stamps. These used to ply on the narrow gauge (2ft 6in) line from Colombo to Avisawella and beyond to Opanayake (the line no loner exists). The Hunslet 4-6-4 class J1 T220, built in 1924, was cute and determined as it puffed across the Colombo golf course and through the paddy fields as recently as 20 years ago, but the real, rare delight then was a ride in the Sentinel Steam Rail Car 331, classified V2 built in England, 1928.
Sri Lankan Airlines Silk Route The evening before I was due to fly to the Maldives, I received a call from a Sri Lankan Airlines staffer who politely enquired whether I intended to take the flight on which I was booked. My spirits flagged as I expected to be informed it was cancelled. But no! I was told how to check in at the airline’s Silk Route Lounge (no extra charge for business class passengers) and given directions how to find it, because it is located apart from the main terminal where the hoi polloi battle to gain access.
Sri Lankan Airlines Business Class sign
The sign was prominent enough, on the left of the approach road and just before the terminal. There is a small car park where a porter stood ready with a trolley as we drew up. He took my luggage and escorted me five paces to the check in desk where I was checked in so swiftly, it took me a moment to realise the process had been completed. No queuing! I turned around and was confronted by two neatly attired gentlemen who introduced themselves as customs officers. One took my passport and flicked through it, returned it to me, thanked me, and shook my hand, wishing me a good flight. As a man whom I hoped was a baggage handler strolled through a doorway with my suitcase, a ground stewardess commandeered my passport.
Sri Lankan Airlines business class check-in lounge
I waited in the pleasantly lit lounge for about 10 minutes until an immigration officer turned up, took my passport from the hovering stewardess, stamped it and waved me through. Then I took a lift up to the main departure concourse, found the Serendib business class lounge, poured myself a glass of champagne, and settled down to wait for the flight. My return ticket (booked on line) cost Rs35,756 [£170; US$275]; the airline doesn’t operate a first class, and there seems no reason to do so for the attention each individual Business Class passenger receives, both on the ground and in-flight. The suitcase arrived safely too. Kurumba’s 40[SUP]th[/SUP] Anniversary
Kurumba Maldives welcome back.
My problems of what to wear to conform to the dress code of “Resort Formal” (see last week’s newsletter) was addressed by email even before I got to Kurumba by Jason Cruse, the resort’s genial and effervescent general manager. He recommended a website defining resort formal but it wasn’t that helpful, unless I went in drag. So I prepared to appear in white tuxedo jacket with a tropical bow tie from Thailand featuring palm trees.
Kurumba Maldives: message in a bottle.
The invitation announcing the 40[SUP]th[/SUP] Anniversary Gala Dinner was printed on parchment and cunningly concealed in an empty wine bottle. I’ll save an account of the event for my next newsletter as I have had to extend my stay in the Maldives -- working of course.
Beatleland It’s a big leap from the high jinks at Kurumba to the Beatles, but that jump is typical of the gambols I’ve enjoyed. For some of my memories of sharing time with the embryo Beatles in Liverpool in June 1961, tune in to BBC Radio 2 on Wednesday 10 October at 2200 hrs (London time) for the programme Beatleland. It’s produced by Owen McFadden, whom I’ve never met but who, by telephone, charmed me sufficiently to recollect forgotten moments of my past for this programme. More of those glorious days in my book: The Big Beat Scene available from http://musicmentor0.tripod.com/book_big_beat_scene.html.
Beat regards Royston
hier zwei Nwesletter hintereinander, konnte ihn am letzten Sonntag nicht einstellen weil ich keinen Computer hatte....es grüsst herzlich aus dem Regen Premasiri
Kam erst heute dazu nachzulesen. Es war für mich sehr komisch, die Bilder vom Blue Lagoon in Talahena anzuschauen.. (habe dort ja vor 23 Jahren an der Swiss Asian Hotelschool gearbeitet).
Ganz liebe Grüsse und es Merci für Dini Büez
Aliel
Kam erst heute dazu nachzulesen. Es war für mich sehr komisch, die Bilder vom Blue Lagoon in Talahena anzuschauen.. (habe dort ja vor 23 Jahren an der Swiss Asian Hotelschool gearbeitet).
Ganz liebe Grüsse und es Merci für Dini Büez
Aliel
TROPICAL TOPICS, 14 October 2012. Greetings this week with reports on a fair, a rail trip and a Maldivian celebration.
Hotel Hospitality & Food Fair Fun in Colombo from 18 to 20 October for all associated with the hospitality industry (including those of us who actively support it!) with an exhibition at the Sri Lanka Exhibition & Convention Centre in D R Wijewardena Mawatha (near the back entrance to Colombo Fort Railway station). There’ll also be a Salon Culinaire competition with teams cooking lunch created from individual baskets containing identical ingredients, supplied by Waitrose. See you there! (www.hhf-srilanka.com)
To Kandy by Intercity Express Luxury Carriage As much as I am a fan of subcontinent trains (after all, one of my best selling books was India By Rail (1989); and I even wrote Sri Lanka By Rail in 1994), travelling by train in Sri Lanka requires a considerable degree of patience and good humour.
So it was with pleasure I greeted the news of special luxury railway carriages being attached to popular long haul trains, to give passengers prepared to pay a premium a comfortable journey, even if the train itself is subject to malfunctioning generators, delays while awaiting for oncoming trains to cross on single line tracks, and the unpredictable behaviour of fellow passengers.
An anxious passenger awaits his e-ticket.
I was able to book and pay for (at Rs1,300 [£6.34; US$10] per passenger, one way, compared to Rs340 in the train’s observation car) reserved seats of my choice on line at www.exporail.lk. Unfortunately the seat diagram does not indicate which seats have windows (not all do, so avoid 9D) and which are the best for photographers, with small windows that can be opened (I suggest 4D, 11A and 11D). Avoid Row 1 with limited legroom and Row 12 with constant annoyance from the closing of the sliding door to the galley.
Kumara triumphantly holds the e-ticket obtained after queuing for 30 minutes.
Next comes the catch. The printout downloaded from the website is NOT the ticket. This printout has to be swapped for an e-ticket by joining the long queue of all passengers planning to travel by reserved seat on the Intercity Express to Kandy, snaking around a tiny, airless office.
Intercity Express: M6 790 (built 1980) being coupled to the Exporail carriage.
The train arrives at Platform 2 at Colombo Fort station 20 minutes before departure and people surge aboard. However, the engine (here a diesel electric loco M6 790 built in 1980 by Henschel, West Germany) has to be uncoupled so it can shunt to the front of the train and be re-coupled for the journey. The rake consists of an Observation Car at the rear of the train, three 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] class carriages, one pantry car with 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] class seating, a luggage van with 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] class seating, and the Exporail luxury carriage.
Intercity Express: Exporail carriage interior
This carriage is converted from a regular passenger one, with the addition of air conditioning, two video screens, a luggage rack by the entrance doors, overhead closed luggage lockers, 48 slightly reclining seats with tray tables, a galley and, worth the premium alone, a clean, sweet smelling lavatory.
Exporail: a spotlessly clean loo
Mercifully the only video screen that was functioning had the sound turned down very low. The show began with captions that I thought were meant to be funny, such as: Do not lean on or read over your fellow passenger’s shoulder; avoid consuming smelly food; do not panic; do not lean close to the generator.
Further entertainment was provided by the fat foreign passenger thumping his tray table and shouting: “I haf paid for ze air-conditioning and I van’t it! I vill complain to ze railvay mineester.” A steward smiled kindly, gave him a bottle of water, and then the train stopped for 15 minutes while someone hammered noisily, we all sweated, and the air conditioning began to function (intermittently) again.
Exporail: breakfast
For travelling, the luxury carriage was a pleasure but not if you want a real rail experience with the windows and doors open, the camaraderie of fellow passengers, and filthy loos…
Kurumba Maldives at 40 For the resort of Kurumba, Maldives, life really does seem to begin at 40. I’ve been visiting the resort for 20 years and seen it evolve from an uncertain adolescence of trying to balance island culture and conventions with the curious demands of contemporary tourists. The resort is now mature, self-confident and pleasing in personality, letting the Maldivian instinct for hospitality and genuine friendship shine through in support of keen professionalism. For business or pleasure and sheer convenience there is no better value place to stay in the Maldives.
Of course, I would say that, since I am the author of The Kurumba Story, which was released during the 40[SUP]th[/SUP] Anniversary Gala Dinner on 3 October 2012. The importance of the occasion was noted in the menu in a quotation from the book: “For the visitor to the Maldives in 2012, it must be hard to imagine how the islands were 40 years before, when Kurumba opened to receive her first guests on 3 October 1972…The advent of Kurumba as a holiday resort was the catalyst for much of what has happened in the Maldives since then.”
The Vice President of the Maldives, Mohammed Waheed Deen, with a copy of “The Kurumba Story.”
The anniversary evening began with champagne (or fruit juice) for guests as they arrived, served in the resort’s high-roofed reception pavilion. We then flowed in good humour to the ballroom where we found our allocated tables and were treated to an amazing live sand art presentation by a Maldivian artist while the General Manager, Jason Kruse, narrated incidents in the resort’s history, drawn from the book.
Kurumba Maldives Anniversary Dinner; the perfect menu
The Chairman of the owning company, Universal Enterprises, M U Maniku, who was one of the founders of Kurumba in 1972, gave a speech of charm and modesty before presenting awards to staff who had served for more than 30 years. The dinner was perfect (and gluten-free too!) This was a happy, family affair with a few old friends joining the Maniku brothers and children in commemorating the anniversary of the resort that remains the first in the Maldives in every positive sense.
Kurumba Maldives: Some diners (including myself) conforming to the dress code: “Resort Formal”
Guide Reminder However fantastic the Maldives is for a holiday (and I have written half-a-dozen books set there) Sri Lanka is still, for me, the best destination in the world (because of its contrasts and diversity (and its train rides). Which is a plug for my book, available through www.amazon.uk or direct from the publisher: http://www.bradtguides.com/Book/552/Sri-Lanka.html
The Bradt Guide to Sri Lanka
Visit soon. Bon voyage! Royston
Finde es immer sehr spannend zu lesen was Royston wieder neues gesehen und erlebt hat. LG Premasiri
Hallo Premasiri, mir gefallen die Newsletter von Royston auch sehr. Eigentlich denkt man, er hat schon über so viel berichtet, was kann da noch kommen? Aber er findet immer wieder interessante Stellen, Orte, Sachen usw.
Der Bericht über den Zug ist auch klasse, wenn man die Bilder anschaut, meint man, er sässe im Flugzeug.
ROPICAL TOPICS, Sunday 21 October 2012. Greetings to readers around the world, with some travel notes this week. Laid in Sri Lanka I had been wondering what to feature this week as “made in Sri Lanka” when Sasindu, Kumara’s three-and-a-half year old son, was asked by his teacher to bring a picture to his Montessori school of something beginning with “e”. So for a picture I put this brown egg in my old (from the 1940s) wooden napkin ring.
Sri Lankan Happy Hen Egg
This is a Golden Yolk Happy Hen Farm Fresh Egg which came packed in a traditional cardboard tray made from recycled paper; large grade at 56-63g each; costing Rs181 [.88p; US$1.39] for 10. These are produced in Sri Lanka by Switz Lanka (www.happyhen.lk), an integrated commercial layer farm that manufactures its own feed; produces, packs and markets its own eggs; and also manufactures its own packaging material.
Golden Yolk Happy Hen Eggs
I forgive them their corny slogan of “get Eggdicted” because the eggs are yet another example of the fine things produced here.
The Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya In 1991 (for its centenary) I wrote a book about The Grand Hotel in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka's British-inspired hill station. The Grand Hotel soldiers on in a more glamorous way than when I wrote my book, and a new history of the hotel - by fellow British expat author, Richard Boyle - is soon to be published.
Circumstances took me back to Nuwara Eliya last week and I was delighted to see how clean the town looked, with flowers abloom, cheerful people, bright blue skies in the morning, clouds and rain in the afternoon, and a characteristic mist and chill in the evening.
Nuwara Eliya, The Grand Hotel
Even more delight was in store when I popped into The Grand Hotel for a look around, and was pounced upon by old retainers who remembered me from previous visits, and by new managers (Tyrone David, Resident Manager, and A A Lakshman Silva, F & B Manager, who recalled serving me when he was a trainee waiter at a beach hotel in 1987).
Nuwara Eliya, Grand Hotel; F & B Manager A A Lakshman Silva in the wine bar with sommelier, S Ganesh.
Thanks to the energetic Lakshman and his expert and charming sommelier, S Ganesh, I was able to experience a wine tasting in the new wine bar, before dinner (veal flambé) in the hotel’s comfortable Supper Club.
Nuwara Eliya, The Grand Hotel, Supper Club, veal flambé.
With Ardbeg malt whisky (50 ml at Rs1,000 [£4.87; US$7.69]) at the bar; good Havana cigars (although the humidor needed freshening to prevent those cigars becoming too crisp); and stimulating conversation; the Wine Bar and Supper Club are settings for a jovial evening...surely a great venue for a chilly Christmas retreat.
Drive Through History I am sometimes unwittingly involved in discussions about how Sri Lanka should be promoted for tourists. I take the view that this is much more than a beach destination. Sri Lanka is a country with so much surprising ancient and contemporary history, as well as compelling scenery and wildlife, the country’s main appeal is to the traveller eager to know or to learn, and who wants to do more than lie on a beach.
Here are just three unusual sights that tourists often miss.
Kadugannawa: Dawson’s Tower
On the main road out of Kandy, at Kadugannawa, looms this extraordinary tower like a lighthouse lost in the hills. It commemorates Captain W F Dawson of the Royal Engineers “whose science and skill planned and executed this road and other works of public utility,” according to an inscription in English at its base. Erected in the 1830s it has 110 wooden steps curling around a central wooden column for the climb of 38m to the top.
Kandy-Colombo Road: the Highway Museum
A more recent monument to public utilities is the open-air Highway Museum by the Colombo road at Pilimatalawa. Opened in 1986, it is a yard where green and red painted steamrollers are parked alongside ancient road-building equipment and old traffic signs.
Kandy: The Prince of Wales fountain
Who notices this gothic fountain, rich in rococo cherubs, that no longer spouts in a square by Kandy’s Temple of the Tooth? It was erected by “the coffee planters of Ceylon” to commemorate the visit of Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1875. In my Bradt Guide to Sri Lanka (2011) I comment: “It seems to have been a deliberate attempt to perpetuate a little acceptable frivolity into the solemnity of its surroundings."
Banned from travel (writing) The chap in charge of “travel writing” at the Daily Mail, Mark Palmer,has written a revealing article in a recent issue of The Spectator listing some phrases he has banned from the newspaper’s travel page. He recognises that a travel writer’s life is not the doddle others think it is (turn up, have fun, dash off 1,200 words, get paid) but very demanding as one struggles to make a travel article arresting.
His list of banned, lazy phrases and words includes: attentive yet unobtrusive service; breathtaking; bygone era; nestles; pampered; stunning; to die for. I would add the cringe-making commands: “Enjoy” and “Feel free.”
Negombo: T-shirt wearer; but does he mean it?
However, perhaps travel writers are trying to tell their readers something with hackneyed phrases, so take hotel and restaurant features, as well as the food described, with a pinch of salt. “Friendly service” could be a warning that the waiter will try to proposition your guest, or you. A “family resort” is a clear warning that it was full of screaming kids and sloppy food. “Dinner in peaceful surroundings” suggests the restaurant was empty. When travel writers are tempted to write: “Feel free to nestle in this stunning lounge withattentive yet unobtrusive service and pampering to die for in the breathtaking setting of a bygone era,” they should send postcards instead, saying “Wish you were here.” That means, of course: “Look where I am!”
how Sri Lanka should be promoted for tourists. I take the view that this is much more than a beach destination. Sri Lanka is a country with so much surprising ancient and contemporary history, as well as compelling scenery and wildlife, the country’s main appeal is to the traveller eager to know or to learn, and who wants to do more than lie on a beach.
TROPICAL TOPICS, Sunday 28 October 2012. Greetings from sunny Sri Lanka (in the mornings; rainy in the evenings)! Essential Art From Shanth Fernando, the genius behind the Paradise Road ‘lifestyle’ stores and Colombo’s urbane Gallery Café, a text message states: “An exhibition of a private collection of art including Donald Friend (Australia) [who painted in Sri Lanka], Suman Gupta (India), Chandra Bhattacharjee (India) and Ali Kazim (Pakistan) at Paradise Road Galleries.” This exhibition is on NOW, but only until Wednesday 31 October, 10am till midnight daily. A must see!
Donald Friend: detail from mural at Brief, Sri Lanka
Made in Sri Lanka Ever adventurous, especially when I am wandering through the maze of shelves in the Keells’ supermarket at the Crescat Mall in Colombo, I discovered something I have never heard of called Italian Table Cheese Scamorza. I now learn that this is a stretched cheese made from curd and usually sold pear-shaped; it is reputed to melt better than mozzarella, and is supposedly delicious grilled.
Sri Lanka: locally produced ball cheeses
I bought it because it is “Made in Sri Lanka from 100% full cream cow milk, a handcraft product from Negombo.” The price tag said it costs Rs1,400 [£ 6.82; US$ 10.76] a kilo. Taste? Well, since I’m not a fan of pizza or pasta, I am clearly biased and seemed to have missed the ecstasy as implied by the label of “Flavor Delcats.” More to my liking are the ball cheeses shown alongside it, made in the hill country by Ambewela Farms; pepper and cumin flavour at Rs355 [£ 1.73; US$ 2.73] a ball. Hotel, Hospitality & Food Fair Thanks to Charlie Wrey, a British resident in the south of Sri Lanka, I was invited to a Salon Culinaire lunch at the Sri Lanka Exhibition & Conference Centre recently, which he helped organise with exhibition firms Pico and Angus Montgomery. The Fair featured stalls by companies offering supplies for the hospitality industry. One was run by the effervescent Jane Fletcher seeking orders for the Manacare Village of Hopes & Dreams (Newsletter 108) which produces, among many other things, small bars of guest soaps made by village women.
Manacare products include uniforms and soaps.
The Salon Culinaire featured lunch cooked by teams from different hotels, using ingredients supplied to each team in mystery boxes by Waitrose (the UK supermarket chain that doesn’t have outlets in Sri Lanka, yet).
Chaaya Tranz (Hikkaduwa) chefs prepare the starter.
I sat at a table catered by chefs from Chaaya Tranz Hotel (Hikkaduwa) and was fortunate in having an inspired starter of sea food, although its name sounded like a chapter heading from a racy romance novel: “Sun-kissed tomato pesto on top of Lime Nelli.” That was actually the base for “marinated poached seafood served with passion fruit form [sic] and muscle [sic?] greens.
Chaaya Tranz (Hikkaduwa) produced this romantically named, and delectable, starter.
The main course was described as “Fresh herbs marinated turkey roulade combination, with braised lamb and fig compote served with roasted chestnut puree and honey glazed petit vegetable and porcini mushroom risotto, turkey jus.” The lamb was meticulously diced, tender and tasty, but it seemed a shame to miniaturise it, even though it looked pretty.
Chaaya Tranz (Hikkaduwa); a pretty version of lamb & turkey
Other tables had less exciting menus from the same ingedients. The Bentota Beach Hotel offered “home smoked tuna and shaved pumpkin with teriyaki glaze” and a main course of “Toasted pine nut coated turkey with dried apricot and figs.” Cinnamon Lodge just concentrated on “Christmas Turkey Roulade.” Then the penny dropped: this was early Christmas fare.
Olympic Medals for Sri Lanka
Gerard Mendis, Chairman of the Chefs’ Guild of Sri Lanka and master chocolatier)
At the Salon Culinaire I was honoured to encounter two old acquaintances from the days when time I had a column (1991-1992) reviewing restaurants for Sri Lanka’s Sunday Observer: Gerard Mendis and Tilak Senaratne.
Tilak Senaratne, double gold medal winner
They had just returned from taking part in the 23[SUP]rd[/SUP] World Culinary Olympics in Frankfurt, Germany, where every one of the 24-member Sri Lanka team won at least one medal, totalling 15 gold, 14 silvers and one bronze for Sri Lanka’s indefatigable chefs. Congratulations.
Gone to Pot Mosquitoes have become cocktail-time menaces with the recent rain so I have begun to burn a mosquito coil on the veranda as night falls. To collect the ash and give some respectability to the smouldering spiral of pyrethrum, I found this clay pot, actually a miniature brazier used for supporting a clay cooking pot. Cost? About 50p (.75cents).
A clay brazier makes a cool mosquito coil pot.
History addict Kate Spencer, who dropped in with her husband, Tim, for ‘sundowners’ (actually ‘cloudbursts’, given the rain that evening) commenting on my book Guide To Sri Lanka said: “You couldn’t have made much out of it – but we made much out of you.”
She was referring to the discoveries – through reading my book – which she and her husband have made during their visits to Sri Lanka over the years. Tim suggested ‘history is a disease’ as an excuse for his addiction to collecting items of historical value. One was a watercolour painting (see Newsletter 54, 22 April 2011) of a Nuwara Eliya scene, which led to him acquiring other mementoes of Sri Lanka, although not a clay brazier.
“ADC Quarters, N. Ellia”, unsigned, dated 1891, from the collection of Tim & Kate Spencer
Quiz Answer The Spencers brought with them a copy of that day’s Daily News newspaper (23 October 2012) that had an original 15-question quiz by Nalaka Gunawardene and Vindana Ariyawansa. Kate had been astonished to find that she not only knew the answer to Question 7, but that very evening was due to meet the answer: me.
Quiz question in Daily News
I’ve been many things in my life, but never before the answer to a quiz question (based on my influence on the Beetles/Beatles). The lucky winner gets some book vouchers.
Beat regards Royston
Wünsche allen eine schöne Woche es grüsst aus dem Schnee Premasiri
TROPICAL TOPICS, 4 November 2012 A week of terrible weather with high seas and winds and relentless rain battering Sri Lanka, not just the USA! That’s the tropics…! Made In Sri Lanka I’ve mentioned Jaggery before (Newsletter 114, 16 June 2012) and have just discovered a more refined version than the jaggery balls I wrote about then. To recap, jaggery is made from boiling kithul honey until it solidifies. Last week, I bought jaggery cut into squares, in the manner of fudge, which it resembles.
Jaggery squares
This product of Sri Lanka containing only pure kithul treacle with “no artificial colours, no artificial flavours, no preservatives and no added sugar” is, according to the label on the attractive plastic box in which it is sold, “manufactured from the sap exudate collected from the inflorescence of the kithul palm (caryota urens).”
It tastes better than it sounds! The carton of 250g, about 20 pieces, cost Rs205 [£ 1; US$ 1.57]. The Nutritional Information panel says it contains “340 kcal energy, 70.0 total sugar, 10.0 invert sugar, 1.8 protein, 1.9 minerals and no fat or carbohydrates.”
Poster Art Another stirring exhibition of art begins this week (on Friday 9th November) at the Barefoot Gallery, adjoining the Barefoot Café, which itself is in the courtyard at the back of the celebrated Barefoot emporium in Galle Road, Colombo. While the shop is renowned for its handloom fabrics of the brightest hues, and tropical knickknacks, the Gallery exhibits paintings and photographs by local artists and occasional unusual art.
Exhibition of Poster Art at Barefoot Gallery
Until 24th November the Gallery is given over to the collection by Anura Saparamadu of Vintage Posters of Ceylon. I expect some of them will be advertising Pure Ceylon Tea as that was the main export from the island in colonial days. I once owned such an advertisement, although it was actually very small, the size of a cigarette card, and came from inside a packet of loose-leaf tea. Unfortunately, I only have this photocopy of it now, which does no justice to its glorious colours.
A vintage advertisement for Pure Ceylon Tea.
Business Lunch I have enjoyed many cocktail parties at the venerable Galle Face Hotel so last week I tried a meal in the hotel’s Regency Wing where the 1864 Restaurant offers a Business Lunch. I was accompanied by my self-named webmonster, Andrew, (who does the technical things that bring this newsletter to you every week).
I hate buffets and so am apprehensive when confronted by one. In the 1864 room, however, there are only about ten tables, thus not many diners all at once. And the buffet there is limited to salads and desserts, while the main course is served by classically liveried stewards. The salad bar itself is anything but limited, with an amazing array of intriguing cold dishes such as fish and calamari, hummus, ham and asparagus, and a shooter of prawn gaspacho. There is also soup and several breads.
Galle Face Hotel: Salad buffet counter at 1864
The choice of four main courses changes every day but always includes a meat, fish, chicken and vegetable option. Luckily it was Friday, for which day the menu featured oven-roasted Australian lamb chops (juicy and tender) presented stylishly with sliced courgettes, bell peppers, egg plant, carrots and potatoes. Andrew had spicy herb-marinated grilled chicken leg cut into chunks.
Galle Face Hotel: Australian lamp chops at 1864
Desserts were the usual goo and chocolate, self-served from the buffet. It was an excellent meal although sharper, more elegant service (and less staff members using through the room as a thoroughfare) would have improved the overall experience. The cost? Just Rs1,850 (tax and service charge included!) [£ 9.02; US$ 14.23].
Budget Travellers Michael & Stephanie are in their mid-30s and decided to take a career break for five months to tour around Asia. Their first stop was Sri Lanka where I met them staying at a friend’s house in Induruwa. They had just returned from a 13-day tour that took them from Alutgama to Kandy by train; by bus to Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya and back to Kandy; by train to Hatton (from where they climbed Adam’s Peak) and then onto Ella by train. From there it was bus to Mirissa and back to Induruwa via Galle.
Budget travellers, Michael & Stephanie
I was curious about what they thought of their trip. “It went well,” Michael said. “The only problem I had was on the bus from Ella which was full and I had to stand with a lot of other passengers. I am tall so I was bent in two for a couple of hours.”
The most expensive room they stayed in cost Rs2,500 [£ 12.19; US$ 19.23] for two and was where they had the worst food. That was in the south coast resort of Mirissa. The average price they paid for accommodation was Rs1,000 [£ 4.87; US$ 7.69] a double room, except at the venerable Old Empire Hotel in Kandy where they happily paid Rs2,000 for a room with attached bathroom over looking the Temple of the Tooth.
Ella, a favourite place for visitors to the hill country
Their favourite place was Ella; good food, good vibes and good value. Their least favourite place was in Mirissa, which they thought was a “rip off.” They were thrilled with Sri Lanka and feel that one month is not enough time to explore and enjoy the country.
“I wish, though,” said Michael, “that the sites like Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya and even the Botanical Gardens, were not so expensive, just for tourists.” It irked him that a notice in English displays the prices Sri Lankans pay – about a tenth of what foreigners are charged. “Better we don’t know about that,” he said.
Celebration Someone has sent me a photo of this mural advertising a year of celebration of myself. I wish it were so! It’s referring to the town of Royston in Hertfordshire, England, after which I am not named.
Wieder ein interessanter Newsletter! Vielen Dank dafür!
Das Werbeposter von Hagenbeck`s Ceylon Thee - diese Schreibweise ins schon amüsant.
John Hagenbeck war der Halbbruder von Carl Hagenbeck und er reiste nach Sri Lanka um Elefanten für den Zoo des Bruders zu kaufen. Er lebte mit einigen Unterbrechungen 25 Jahre auf Sri Lanka und exportierte Kautschuk, Tiere und Tee. Ausserdem gründetet er den Diyatalawa Tierpark in Colombo, den es heute noch gibt. Die Briten internierten ihn zu Beginn des 2. WK und in diesem Lager auf SL starb er auch.
Klasse, dass diese alten Poster ausgestellt werden!
Ich finde auch den Bericht über Stephanie und Michael sehr interessant.
5 Monate kreuz und quer durch Asien, wow. Und sie haben ja auch wirklich gute & günstige Unterkünfte gefunden. Da sind einige gute Tips für Backpacker dabei.
TROPICAL TOPICS, Remembrance Sunday, 11 November 2012. Greetings to all our readers around the world as we commemorate Armistice Day.
Made in Sri Lanka A few weeks ago I waxed eggstactically about Sri Lankan’s brown-shelled, golden-yolked eggs. Now I have found, in Sri Lanka, the perfect egg holder: an eggcup and saucer combined.
From Sri Lanka: Eggcup and saucer combined
This ingenious creation comes from Paradise Road in Colombo, a treasure trove of unusual items for the home, and for gifts. These two cost Rs308 [£ 1.46; US$ 2.36] each. Eggceptional.
Treasure marker?
A headstone revealed in the rocks
The recent high seas caused by the cyclonic storms washed away the sand of the beach in front of my cottage. There, Kumara spotted this headstone revealed between the exposed rocks. The inscription is in Sinhala, which made me wonder if it’s instructions on how to find pirate treasure.
The Sinhala inscription is too worn to read properly
Kumara, however, deciphered it as recording the death in the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] century of someone known as Vanderbon. We have a grave of a gentleman whose headstone identifies him as Daisy (1901-1964) surviving in the cottage garden. Perhaps there was a family cemetery here of the original, Dutch-Sinhalese (ie: Burgher) owners of this old cinnamon plantation, before the sea (and subsequently the railway line and the main road) claimed it.
Treasure Map? When I told a friend that I collect antique maps and charts of the Indian Ocean islands, she asked me if the maps are to help me find buried treasure. A nice idea, but this map I bought in auction last week, is itself a treasure.
Southern India, Ceylon & Maldives by Bonne 1780
It’s copper engraved and is especially interesting as it features the trade winds at different times of the year. I already have a copy of it but this version is unique, being printed on firm, fine parchment and vigorously coloured by a contemporary hand in the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] century. The cartographer, Rigobert Bonne (1727-1795) was one of the most important of the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] century, producing incredibly detailed and accurate maps during his period as Royal Cartographer to France.
Brook only the best A great triumph for the Brook Boutique Hotel (www.brook.lk), previously mentioned here for its delectable cuisine (Newsletter No. 54; 22 April 2011): being recognised in the 2012 World Luxury Hotel Awards as the Best Luxury Country Hotel in the Indian Ocean region.
World Luxury Hotel Awards
The awards are presented to winning nominated properties after “a selected global panel of consultants” has evaluated them and following a site visit by “an official or mystery guest.” The success of this newly built property near Dambulla, in the heartland of Sri Lanka, owes much to the dynamic marketing and irrepressible charm of Karen Whyte, seen here receiving the award with the hotel’s managing director, Pubudu Dassanayake, at a gala ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on 13 October.
A garden chalet at Brook Boutique Hotel
Less than two years old and located by a brook in an estate of fruit trees in a tropical woodland, but with a gravel road so access is possible, the property consists of superior rooms, garden chalets with plunge pool, and a two-bedroom villa with pool. Its appeal lies in it being reassuringly comfortable and happily independent without the restrictions of having to conform to a “chain hotel” formula. Of course, I like the freedom of the bar!
The bar at Brook Boutique Hotel
Ingenious at the Nanoscale? If you’re in Colombo on Thursday 15 November, for a different – and probably more intellectual - evening out, there’s a free lecture in the Ray Wijewardene Memorial Lecture series entitled Being Ingenious at the Nanoscaleat the IESL Auditorium, 120/15 Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7. It’s probably worth attending just to find out what that’s all about. More on http://www.raywijewardene.net/memorial_lecture.html Halloween Party When a friend sent me this clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY6oPA8W270 I simply had to go to the party. Closenberg is a hotel created by the Abeyewardene family out of the cliff top mansion, built in 1858, of the British agent for P & O Lines, reached by a secret drive alongside the entrance to the Galle Port.
Incredibly the pounding rain and wind of the previous days disappeared that evening and the elegant and costumed guests (I wore tuxedo trousers hung with silver chains) partied happily in the hotel’s gardens. There are four rooms in the old building surrounded by a veranda for dining, with 16 in an annexe above the sea.
Closenberg Hotel: the veranda dining room
Drinks were sold at modest prices, there were plenty of stewards (even a pair dedicated to refreshing spent candles) to look after the 300-plus guests and the most delicious snacks, including a tender and well-soused-in-red-wine fillet steak (at just Rs700 [£ 3.33; $ 5.38]). The host was Emanuel Abeyewardene (he’s the star of the clip), the son of Kumar Abeyewardene, the hotel’s owner. Emanuel is gradually assuming management of the property after studies in the USA. At the party he was ably supported by the chef, Gayan, his cousin from Australia, sporting pirate’s regalia.
Closenberg Hotel: Chef Gayan and his brigade at the party.
TROPICAL TOPICS, Sunday 18 November 2012. Greetings from the sunny side of life.
Made in Sri Lanka Over 40 years ago, when I lived in the Caribbean island of Dominica, I was fascinated by a dish known as “Goat Water” for which the recipe began “Take 2 quarters goat” and ended: “Add some whisky or rum as desired. Serve in bowls, very hot, with the bones.”
Curry mutton sold in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka goat masquerades as mutton (or “curry mutton”) and I was delighted to buy a kilo of local goat meat for just Rs1,600 [£ 7.61; $ 12.30] last week. I didn’t try goat water but instead marinated the meat in a paste of smashed papaya and curd for a couple of hours and then simmered it for another hour with lots of seasonings. Added to rice as it cooked it became a delicious biryani, without adding whisky or rum!
Vintage Posters Having mentioned the exhibition of vintage posters of Ceylon at the Barefoot Gallery last week, I went to the opening. The gallery adjoins the courtyard café at the back of the Barefoot emporium in Galle Road - a pleasant place to relax (especially for Sunday brunch when a jazz band plays).
Vintage posters of Ceylon at the Barefoot Gallery
The posters conveyed the essence of a Ceylon of which only a few traces remain today. There were not only posters advertising tea but film and travel posters, including one exhorting people how to stand when travelling by double decker bus.
Vintage poster about bus travel
Reproductions of some of the posters are available for purchase as are postcards. I liked the one shown here about “safeway – railway” at Rs350 [£ 1.66; $ 2,69]. If only train travel in Sri Lanka was as idyllic now as it appears to have been then.
Reproduction vintage poster as a postcard
Busmania Backpackers (and they are not always young ones) visiting Sri Lanka, like to travel by public transport. Since I am a fan of trains (I did write Sri Lanka By Rail for Bradt in 1994) I agree that is a good way to see the country. I have never been enamoured with bus travel, however, because of hair-raising driving styles, such as using the horn instead of brakes, overtaking on the inside and competitive racing.
In a recent newsletter I mentioned a young couple from Europe who found the buses reasonably tolerable for local travel. Now I discover from the bi-monthly magazine, The Sri Lankan (www.thesrilankan.net), that not all buses are equal. There are four kinds, and this illustration from the magazine of the signboards of each type, is self-explanatory.
Sri Lanka: bus destination boards
Sri Lanka in the charts. I snapped up this tiny map when it popped up for auction recently. It is a rare copper engraved map of South India and Sri Lanka by Jacques Peeters with text in French. It has been liberated from El Atlas Abreviado, o compendiosa geographia del mundo antiguo, y nuevo by Francisco Afferden, published in 1725.
India, Sri Lanka & Maldives, a rare map dated 1725
Considering this chart was drawn over 280 years ago, it is remarkably accurate in the names of towns in “Ceylan,” although the islands in the Maldives now have different names. Maldives Actually, I am writing this week’s newsletter while on a visit (business, of course!) to Baros, one of the most select resorts in the Maldives. The resort celebrates its 40[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary next year, and is much changed since it opened in 1973 as an island coconut plantation with cabanas. I’m researching to write a commemorative coffee table book about the resort and what an amazing place it is to stay at now: simple sophistication in the sun by the sea.
Cocktail Corner The Colombo Courtyard Hotel (http://www.colombocourtyard.com) located at a convenient corner in Colombo’s Duplication Road (R A De Mel Mawatha) has introduced a special cocktail menu in its long Loft Bar. Mixologist Lahiru de Silva’s idea is to offer signature cocktails using local ingredients, that also reflect the tropics.
A signature cocktail from the list at Colombo Courtyard
One that attracts me (but I have yet to try it) is called Dark & Stormy – a mix of Sri Lankan produced dark rum, local ginger beer and crushed ginger root for Rs700+++ [£ 3.33; US$ 5.38]. Drinkers who fancy something more traditional, with a Sri Lankan twist, could try a mojito, with the Loft’s passion and ginger mojito (passion fruit, rum, ginger, mint leaves, lime) being popular, at Rs850+++ [£ 4.04; $ 6.53].
A Site for Sri Lanka Fans a new site dedicated to fans of Sri Lanka, and – judging by its content – written by young Sri Lankans with chutzpah. The contributors say things that wouldn’t even occur to me, and grumble when it’s necessary too.
I was fascinated to read the piece apropos the difference in what foreigners and locals are charged in various places, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. There’s a lively debate going on at http://www.yamu.lk/resident-visa-tourist-price/
die Vintage Poster sind schon ein Hingucker.
Wie ich sehe, hat Mr. Ellis nun auch das Courtyard besucht. Die Bar dort ist auch wirklich klasse, es gibt dort sogar einen kleinen, gemütlichen Raucherbereich.
Das letzte Bild, von der Toilette ist schon funny. Oder sollte man besser schreiben, traurig, dass da nach Locals und Touristen eingeteilt wird? Wüsste zu gern den Grund dafür.
Vielen Dank für den Bericht.. wie immer: seehr interessant..
savan, October 31, 2012 at 3:22 pm
There are a couple of large gaps in the fence around the archaeological sites in Pollonaruwa. The most obvious are on the Pollonaruwa-Habarana road you can easily walk through with a bicycle. Do that in the afternoon on an uncrowded weekday and youll be fine. Dont go to the Gal Vihare as they check tickets there but you should be able amble/ cycle round the rest of the sites.
At Sigirya go for the Pidurangala entrance early in the morning – before 7. Nobody there and you can walk in. Climb up the second set of stairs avoiding the main path and the mirror wall, dont go to see the frescoes where again they check tickets. Also walk out of the main entrance if you try leaving from the Pidurangala side the guard, who will by then have turned up, will be suspicious.
Many of these sites – Anuradhapura, Horton Plains, the Botanic Gardens etc are too large to be effectively sealed so if you are desperate to save your $30 you can. Sometimes outwitting the rapacious Cultural Department is more fun than the site itself. Reply
Den fand ich ganz heiss....
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In Sri Lanka an Iguana Crossing road sign First Day Cover: Steam Trains
Viceroy Special Steam Train 25th Anniversary FDC To commemorate the introduction in 1986 of the Viceroy Special steam-hauled special train for tourist trips from Colombo to Kandy and other hill country stations, the Philatelic Bureau, Department of Posts, Sri Lanka (http://www.slpost.gov.lk/philatelic issued this FDC on 2 February 2011, bearing a postmark of “Railway Station, Rambukkana.”
Stamp bulletin about Viceroy Special commemorative issue. 
Sri Lankan Airlines Business Class sign 
Sri Lankan Airlines business class check-in lounge 
Kurumba Maldives welcome back. 
Kurumba Maldives: message in a bottle. 
:Gitarre:
