Newsletter aus Sri Lanka von Royston Ellis

Hallo Joey,

auf dieser webside finde ich aber keinen Flug Bentota nach Kandy und zurück.

LG Premasiri
 
Hallo Premasiri,

danke, der Preis ist bestimmt für einige hier sehr interessant.

Bei Target Travels und Srilankan habe ich Bentota als Destination zumindest mal gefunden.

L.G., Biggi
 
danke, der Preis ist bestimmt für einige hier sehr interessant.

Hallo Biggi,

habe soeben ein Mail an Royston gesendet mit der Frage nach dem Preis. Bei Target Travels finde ich Bentota auch aber nicht mit Kandy als Ziel. Bei Srilankan habe ich mehrere Daten eigegeben aber es kam immer das:

  • Sorry. We were unable to find availability for the dates you require. Please select an alternate travel date from below.

LG Premasiri
 
Hallo Biggi and all,

habe heute eine Antwort von Royston bekommen:


Dear .....

Good to hear from you! I hope all is well?


Thank you for circulating my newsletter to fans of Sri Lanka.


Unfortunately, Sri Lankan Airlines have suspended their seaplane flights from Bentota to Kandy until they get a smaller plane. Prices and schedules, when they are flying again, can be checked on www.srilankan.com


Sunny regards from Sri Lanka.
Royston
 
ROYSTON’S REPORT, Number 155

TROPICAL TOPICS, Sunday 7 April 2013.

Welcome to readers around the world to this week’s view from Sri Lanka.

Made in Sri Lanka
Feta cheese is not something one associates with Sri Lanka where the locally produced cheeses are of the hard yellow kind. However, Kotmale (www.kotmale.lk), founded in 1967 and now the largest producer of dairy products in Sri Lanka, has introduced this fine fettle feta cheese to the market.

Feta cheese from Sri Lanka


Feta is not only traditionally associated with Greece, in the EU it can only be called “feta” if it is made with sheep’s milk. Elsewhere, this brined white cheese derives from cow and buffalo milk. Brining (or pickling) gives it the distinctive salty, tangy flavour and crumbly consistency that drives its fans (like me) ecstatic.
This 100gm piece (well packed in cellophane, airtight bag and cardboard display box) cost Rs 380 [£ 2; US$ 3.04 ] . I’ve already pickled some in extra virgin olive oil and oregano to preserve it as, without liquid, it dries out quickly. Now we can buy local feta cheese, I expect to see “Greek salad” on more restaurant menus here.
See next week’s newsletter for some secret news about a new brand of locally produced cheese…

Map Mystery 3
My mention in last week’s newsletter of the mystery on ancient maps of two Taprobanes (both Sri Lanka and Sumatra were called by that name in the 15[SUP]th[/SUP] century) has brought a spirited response from Sri Lankan British resident, Richard Boyle, who was kind enough to send me a chapter “Naming The Teardrop” from his book at present awaiting publication, Island of the Cosmos: An Alternative Guide to Sri Lanka.

The lost map


He comments: “Consider: Taprobane is no doubt derived from the rock-solid Tambapanni, so it is not a fanciful name and must be Sri Lanka. The problem was that Ptolemy’s map was lost for 12 centuries, and when it was found the island was called Seylan, which made travellers search for a non-existent Taprobane! Then di Conti suggested Sumatra, cartographers such as Munster put both on his map not realising the confusion. I have now written a whole chapter on the subject, and it is quite clear to me that we were Taprobane from two millennia ago, while Sumatra was only named Taprobane by di Conti six centuries ago! It's the loss of Ptolemy's map that caused all this confusion.”
Read next week’s newsletter to see Richard’s report on the other names bestowed on Sri Lanka in the past.

Pub Crawl
At long last, the west coast area around Bentota, where I live, seems to be livening up and adding a few bars and restaurants to lure package tourists away from their buffets. A few months ago (Newsletter No. 128) I wrote about the modern, industrial style beer bar called Machang in the nearby town of Alutgama.



Now it has spawned a branch between the 64 & 65 km markers on the Galle Road, south of Alutgama and Bentota, on the way to Induruwa, squeezed on a narrow plot of land with the main road on one side and the rail track on the other. Machang is actually a term of affection in Sinhala for a male friend or colleague, although it really means ‘brother-in-law.’

Asitha sets up the pool table


The Bentota Machang is an acceptable cross between a beer pub (it has a pool table and wooden benches) and a spirit and cocktail bar. A mug of draft beer (300ml) costs Rs100 [ .51p; .80c]; 50m Lemon Gin is Rs110 [.56p; .88c] while Long Island Iced Tea (which I am not brave enough to try) is listed at Rs400 [£ 2.05; US$ 3.20].

Devilled pork at Machang pub


We popped in there for lunch yesterday and greatly enjoyed a bite of robust devilled pork (Rs450 [£ 2.30; $ 3.60]). We went off menu with a special request to the cook for butter fried cuttle fish, instead of the advertised ‘batter fried’ cuttle fish. It was tender and tasty, perfect for a lunch time snack (Rs475 [£ 2.43; $3.80]).

Butter fried cuttle fish at Machang pub

Jungle Tide
From Sally & Jerry (whom I’ve not met) comes a newsletter report of disaster at their hillside retreat of Jungle Tide near Kandy (http://www.jungletide.com).

“Just before Christmas after five days of incessant heavy rain the stream in our garden burst its banks, water crashed across the swimming pool and began to gouge into the unstable land beyond, which we’d had planted with mango and other trees (partly to stabilise it, but they hadn’t been there long enough to achieve that). The result was an absolutely massive landslip which deposited our mango orchard squarely on our neighbours’ paddy fields, and also affected the chicken farm adjacent to us…

Jungle Tide


“The good news is, first and foremost, that no-one was injured - it happened at night – and, second, that the pool itself was undamaged, though the pipework and electricity supply were fractured and the pump-house was unceremoniously dumped into the bottom of the canyon. It’s going to cost us almost £25K to fix… Talk about throwing money into a hole in the ground! Being positive, we will in the end have an intriguing valley garden and an accidental infinity pool.”

Links
Thanks to all the readers who expressed concern about the small operation to drain a swelling on my arm. It seems it may have been a centipede bite that got infected – I guess the centipede didn’t feel very well either!
To recover, I flew to Maldives for a few days last week, but I couldn’t swim as my arm is still bandaged. To read more about Male’, the capital of the Maldives, my article in the April Singapore Airlines inflight magazine is available on this link. http://www.silverkris.com/destinations/asia-pacific/discover-male?page=0,1
This spectacular and unusual photo of a tropical island scene is a road junction in Male’ by Karen & Brian Knutsen (www.karenknutsen.com) © Karen Knutsen and © Brian Knutsen (All Rights Reserved - Worldwide)

Male' traffic

On another link; to read more about me, as interviewed by The Sunday Leader last Sunday, click on: http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2013/03/31/royston-the-legendary-paperback-writer/

Sunday Leader 31 March 2013

Finally, here’s a link to my article in last week’s Sunday Times on my recent discovery well worth visiting, the Royal Bar and Hotel in Kandy, see:
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130331/plus/toast-to-an-elegant-transformation-38942.html

Sunny regards
Royston

leider kann ich keine sonnige Grüsse senden...

LG Premasiri :wink:
 
Zuletzt bearbeitet:
ROYSTON’S REPORT Number 156

Tropical Topics, Sunday 14 April 2013.
It’s the National New Year weekend in Sri Lanka so special Festive Greetings to all Sri Lankans and fans of Sri Lanka round the world.
Made in Sri Lanka
By good fortune, Jez, a former SriLankan Flight Attendant, invited me to visit his cheese stall at the Good Market held every Thursday from 12 noon to 8pm in the canopied car park in front of Water’s Edge at Battaramulla, the up-market suburb of Colombo.
What's in the pot?
Thus I discovered this newest culinary treat made in Sri Lanka: cheese produced from single origin milk from Jersey or Frisian cows, and from Swiss Saanen goats, with neither E numbers, preservatives, flavour enhances or colours.

Tropical goat's milk yoghurt
Jez also makes this goat’s yoghurt which turned out to be almost liquid, and bracingly wholesome.

Jez and Moorock cheeses
Jez started making cheese about four months ago and as yet his products are young. The cheddar is mild and milky and his blue has still to bloom to a raunchy bite but his feta, crumbly and without salt, is so smooth! Jolly good with smoked salmon, avocado, herb-marinated tomato, or just to wallow in for breakfast!
News of when he has a regular outlet in Colombo will be published on his Facebook page www.facebook.com/ripeandraw. Jez says he has still not finalised his line of products. “We're exploring frozen yoghurt and gelato at the moment.”
Feta and mild Cheddar and young Blue
He has to keep his prices higher than expected, as he needs to pay a premium for top quality, hygienically collected and stored milk. He quotes Goat milk probiotic yoghurt 400ml at Rs 500 [ £ 2.63; US$ 4.00], Goat milk cheeses at Rs 5,200 [£ 27.36; $ 41.60] a kilo and Cow milk cheeses at Rs 3,500 [£ 18.42; $ 28] a kilo.

The Fort Printers
Galle Fort with broad ramparts dating back to the days of 18[SUP]th[/SUP] century Dutch and 19[SUP]th[/SUP] century British occupation, has some amazing buildings, ranging from officers’ quarters and merchants’ mansions to bold art deco villas and boarded up shacks. It is a sanctuary in transition from being a walled peninsula of gentility to an enclave of Sunday Supplement gentrification.
The Fort Printers, entrance with press
One building that has been transformed was formerly The Fort Printers and, before that, a school. It has five bedrooms now, with the Prefect’s Room fronting a courtyard lap pool. The other rooms, on the first floor, are The Headmasters, and the Geography, Art and History Rooms. All are furnished in retro style.
Fort Printers: bathroom of Prefect's Suite
The demand (room rates are about US$150) has been growing ever since it opened in 2004, so the owner has recently renovated a house opposite with three guest rooms and one adjoining the Printers (five guest rooms) fronted with stout Dutch columns.

Extension to Fort Printers Galle
I popped in to The Fort Printers for lunch and enjoyed a refined prawn curry presented in an enormous plate with eight plump prawns floating in a mild coconut and curry sauce. The rice, crisp runner beans, carrots and potatoes, and thick dhal, papadums and coconut sambol were daintily served in separate in bowls. It was a superior quality lunch at a very reasonable Rs1,200 [£ 6.31; $9.60]. (www.thefortprinters.com)
Fort Printers refined rice & curry lunch
Multi-named Lanka
According to Richard Boyle who responded to my query about why both Sri Lanka and Sumatra are called Taprobane on ancient maps, Sri Lanka has had many names through the ages.
“Names such as Taprobane, Serendib and Ceylon might be familiar, but Tenarisin, Tragan and Topazius are probably not. The oldest name for the island, found in the literature of both Buddhism and Brahminism, is the Sanskrit Lanka and its variations, such as Maha Lanka, the resurrected Sri Lanka, Sri Lake, Sakelan, Lanka-Puri (the Malay name), Maha Indra Dipa, Lince, Lans and Lana. Lanka became familiar throughout India because it was one of the principal locations of the epic poem, Ramayana, which also uses the name Lankadvipa.”
I’ll return to this topic in next week’s newsletter.

Bank Cooking
Thanks to my local bank, Nations Trust in Alutgama, I can now cook rice, (leaving cooking the books to others).
Last year I opened a savings account at the expanding Nations Trust Bank because the bank is part of the Keells Group whose chairman I am proud to have known since he began his career with Keells as an airline ticket clerk more than 30 years ago.
The Alutgama branch of the bank celebrated its first anniversary on Tuesday 9 April and I was invited for “a get-together” at 8.30. Being fixated on cocktails I assumed the caller meant 8.30pm and so was surprised, when Tuesday came, to be summoned by telephone to the bank at 8.30am!
Ever thoughtful of not upsetting my friendly banker in case I should need an overdraft, I donned my safari suit and dashed off. To my amazement, I was presented with a certificate by the Senior Regional Manager, Mr Herath, for a Rice Cooker as the prize in the Bank’s fourth quarter draw 2012.
Novel interest
That’s just in time for me to cook mutton biryani for our traditional Sri Lanka National New Year Lunch today, Sunday 14 April.
Colours of Change
There is to be an exhibition of the photographs of Sri Lanka by Stephen Champion in London from Thursday 18 April to Saturday 22 June 2013 at the Brunei Gallery, Thornaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1 that will thrill Sri Lanka fans in London. Champion is a freelance photographer based in London. From 1986 he developed new works in Sri Lanka, creating several exhibitions; in 1993 his first book, Lanka 1986-1992, was published in the UK. His photographs have appeared internationally in magazines, academic research papers, newspapers and films. www.stephenchampion.org

YES FM
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of being interviewed on the famous Sri Lankan radio station YES FM (101) by Michael, a confessed retro-dict who loves his yellow Beetle car and the Beatles. You can listen to a podcast of it on www.yesfmonline.com

Michael at Yes FM
Beat regards
Royston

Heute sende ich allen Usern einen wunderschönen Abend nach einem so schönen sonnigen Tag

LG Premasiri :wink:
 
Royston’s Report, Number 157.

Tropical Topics, Sunday 21 April 2013.
Greetings to fans of Sri Lanka. This week we have a request for curry recipes from someone yearning to try a taste of Sri Lanka at home.

Talking Drums

New Year drumming

Last Sunday marked the beginning of the New Year for Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka. This trio of village ladies were playing a neighbourly drum (known as a raban) in the car park of Colombo’s Arpico Supermarket when I shopped there last week.

Sri Lankans are lucky in having two New Years to celebrate, together with the festivals of all the religions that are practised here. There are at least 25 official holidays in 2013, including the days of the Full Moon. These, plus weekends and village feasts, mean that Sri Lankans are on holiday for more than a third of the year so this is a real holiday island, for Sri Lankans as well as visitors.

Good Marketing
It’s a new concept in Sri Lanka: a market of wholesome local products, including some wonderful food items and ingredients that never make it to the supermarket shelves. The Good Market takes place from 12noon to 8pm every Thursday in the Water’s Edge compound at Battaramulla.
As well as the Moorock Ripe & Raw cheeses I featured last week, there are a few local handicrafts on display. But the most exciting are the food items. I bought a packet of Rangala House sundried tomatoes (75g. Rs230 [£ 1.21; US$ 1.84] that are now happily marinating in extra virgin olive oil and garlic at home.
Garlic in bee honey

I also bought a jar of Garlic in Bee Honey (Rs 790; [£ 4.15; $ 6.32] that is a curious blend of tart but soft garlic and the sweet tang of honey; it was delicious as well as making me feel virtuous.


Priyanka natural products

It came from Priyanka Natural Foods, which looks like a cottage industry but is in fact an enterprise of the Food Research Unit of the Department of Agriculture.


Garlic pickle
Neel bought a jar of Garlic Pickle made with garlic, ginger, pepper sauce, traditional spices and iodised salt; no artificial flavours or preservatives, and no msg. Rs 790. I grabbed a bottle of green pepper sauce - 100% vegetarian, 100% natural, - green pepper, white pepper, black pepper, red pepper, ginger, garlic, tropical spices, table salt, water, corn flour. No artificial flavours, colours, chemicals or msg. (Rs490 [£ 2.57; $ 3.92]). It’s going to be perfect for a green pepper steak.


Green pepper sauce
Even healthier was this small jar of Rangala House Gourmet Natural Fine Ground Tahini, containing only white sesame seeds and vegetable oil. The 200g jar cost Rs400 [£ 2.10; $ 3.20]. The company, part of a tea plantation bungalow guest house enterprise, bills its products as “Quality natural foods from the hill country of Sri Lanka.” (www.rangalahouse.com)


Tahini from Sri Lanka

Recipes please
Still on food this week, I have had a request from a lady enamoured of Sri Lankan curries, particularly curried garlic and beetroot curry. She wonders if I have recipes for such dishes. Here’s one of my own favourites, curried garlic.


Curried garlic

If any readers have a sensational recipe for garlic or beetroot curry they would like me to feature in a forthcoming edition of this newsletter to help pining curry fans abroad, please email it to me. I’ll enjoy trying it too.


Napkin Holder
In newsletters 141 & 143, I wrote about Napkin Clips as an essential accessory for gentlemen, like me, whose napkins always slide gently to the floor just when needed. Jane and Paul, two readers, very kindly brought me a present of the latest napkin clip available in England. It’s elaborate and useful as the clips are attached to a lanyard strung around one’s collar, keeping the napkin squarely in place.

New napkin clip

Naming Sri Lanka


From Richard Boyle comes more information on the origins of the various names given to Sri Lanka over the centuries.
“In Buddhist literature, Sri Lanka was also known as Ratnadipa, “Island of Gems”, a reference to the variety of precious stones found most especially around Ratnapura (“City of Gems”). Another ancient name was Nagadipa, “Island of Snakes”, an allusion to the snake worship practised by an aboriginal tribe known as the Naga, which, it is believed, lived between the sixth century BCE and third century CE in the western and northern parts of the island.”
More next week.

Beatles in 1963
I am reminded by an author in Canada who is writing a book detailing what each of the four Beatles did together – and separately -- every day in 1963, that it is 50 years since I was rocking and rolling with them in Jersey & Guernsey. I’ve declined to contribute to the book, having said all I should in Steve Turner’s excellent 1994 book: A Hard Day’s Write where he reveals I was the inspiration for John’s song called Polythene Pam - based on a night we shared with a lady in polythene bags (in lieu of black leather sheets).

GUERNSEY 1963

Anyway, it’s an excuse for me to look back at this photo, taken as we arrived in Guernsey from Jersey, Channel Islands. (I’m the one with the beard.)


Follow The Beat
That’s a cue for a plug for the reprint of my 1960s book The Big Beat Scene still available, if you’re quick, from http://musicmentor0.tripod.com/book_big_beat_scene.html
The Big Beat Scene

Beat regards
Royston

LG Premasiri :wink::wink:


 
ROYSTON’S REPORT, Number 158

Tropical Topics, Sunday 28 April

Greetings from sweltering Sri Lanka (30 plus degrees) where we anxiously await the cool breeze and rain of the monsoon season, supposed to begin in May.

Made in Sri Lanka
Kooni has several meanings (just Google it to see) but I’d never heard of it until I saw a packet in my local supermarket (the source of many wondrous things); bought it out of curiosity, took it home and opened it - to discover dried baby shrimps. Packed, and presumably harvested there, in Payagala on the west coast, the 200g pack cost me Rs 230 [£ 1.21; US$ 1.84]; on line it’s available at $5.99.


Kooni (dried)

When I lived in Dominica we used to delight in tiny, tiny fish (titiri) cooked in battered cakes, but how to prepare these exceedingly small shrimps? Obviously they needed lots of washing to sift out the sand, so I left that job to Kumara’s mother-in-law who provides Sri Lankan rural cuisine for my cottage. She did a marvellous job, tossing the shrimps with onion and seasoning in oil, resulting in a bracing breakfast dish, which I ate with cucumber salad to neutralise the saltiness.


Kooni ready for breakfast

Brief briefly



Signboard to Brief

“Brief” is a privately owned garden created in the raggedness of tawdry plains that proves nature can benefit from man’s help. The transforming of this former – and failed - rubber plantation by Bevis Bawa and its subsequent maintenance by its current owner Dooland de Silva, is a man-made miracle. It demonstrates that with passion, experiment and ‘blood, sweat and tears,’ nature can be moulded to man’s dreams.
The dream in this case was of Bevis Bawa (1909-1992) who was given the 200-acre rubber estate (acquired by his lawyer father through funds earned from legal briefs) by his mother when he was 20. He took poorly to plantation management, preferring the camaraderie of army life where he distinguished himself by becoming ADC to a succession of British governors of Ceylon.
Gradually Bawa sold off acres of rubber-growing land, ploughing the funds into the creation of his dream garden; a dream based on gardens he had seen in Europe fused with the gorgeous trees, plants and bewitching foliage of the tropics. Now there are five acres of over 120 varieties of trees, but no flowers.

Evening shadows at Brief

Brief is open every day from 8am to 5pm and admission costs Rs1,000 [£ 5.26; $ 8]. Visitors are left to enjoy the gardens, as one flows into another, by themselves. These are gardens that don’t need a guide, only a chance to contemplate nature’s glory (and the gardeners’ painstaking work) in solitude.


Brief entrance sign
After enjoying the gardens, visitors can tour the house, which has been preserved by Dooland de Silva, as it was when Bevis Bawa died. It is an amazing example of a simple, tropical colonial life style that has visitors gasping in admiration at its quirks and beauty, including a priceless mural by the famous Australian artist, Donald Friend.


Donald Friend's mural at Brief

There is also a handsome mosaic table that must have been fun to create, and concrete slabs bearing Bawa’s signature imprint of a leaf.


Home made mosaic table at Brief

It takes only 30 minutes from Colombo along the Southern Highway to reach the Welipenna Junction on the way to this extraordinary garden of Eden, then a further 15 minutes to the approach to Dharga Town and a Bo Tree shrine marking the differently named Ambagaha Handiya (Mango Tree Junction).

Turn right there (or left if you are coming from Alutgama) until a dignified sign board with lettering like the writing on a legal brief, directs drivers to the right. Then the road disintegrates to a country trail until a retired fountain marks a crossroads. The extreme left fork leads through carefully manicured bushes to Brief – and its garden paradise.

Dooland de Silva at Brief

More names for Sri Lanka
Richard Boyle, the British writer and resident of Sri Lanka who is an indefatigable researcher into the origins of words and Sri Lanka’s legends, writes about the many names of Sri Lanka in his forthcoming book Island of the Cosmos: An Alternative Guide to Sri Lanka.
“After the arrival of Vijaya – an outcast Indian prince who supposedly arrived circa 543BCE and was the legendary founder of the Sinhalese people – the island acquired the name TambapanniTâmraparnî - which means “copper-palmed” in Pali. …Taprobane – pronounced Tap-ROB-a-nê – the name by which the island was first known to the Greeks, is thought to be a corruption of Tambapanni. However, some believe it is derived from tapu-ravan or “the isle of Ravan” (a reference to the king of Lanka, Ravana, the villain of the Ramayana); others that it comes from the Hebrew taph-porvan or “golden coast”, which, like Tambapanni, is another allusion to the characteristic colour of the island’s soil. …
“Later, Taprobane became Simundu, Palai-simundi and Salike. Palai-simundu is perhaps derived from the Sanskrit pali-simanta, or “the head of the sacred law”, as the island had become a major centre of Buddhism. Salike may well have been a seaman’s corruption of Sinhala, Sihala or Sihala-dipa, the name chosen by the Sinhalese themselves, which means “the dwelling place of lions”; although some assert that “the blood of the lion” is more correct.”

The Small Print
If you don’t receive this newsletter on time on Sundays, please click on www.roystonellis.com/blog to see it on my website. If there’s a specific topic you’re interested in, enter the topic in the SEARCH box and you can see if I’ve covered it during the past three years. Also, you can enter in the SIGN UP box the email address of anyone who might like to receive their own copy of this newsletter every Sunday.

Sunny regards
Royston

wünsche allen Usern eine wunderschöne Woche
Premasiri :wink:
 
ROYSTON’S REPORT Number 159

Tropical Topics, Sunday 5 May 2013.

Greetings from Sri Lanka where the rains began on the torrid west coast on time, 1 May, as predicted.


The rain arrives on time

Monsoon time


For vacationing visitors to Sri Lanka this is the season to make for the east coast where the sea is calm, the sand and sun welcoming; while the west coast gets its annual watering from the monsoon. In a few weeks we’ll be fed up with the rain, but right now it’s refreshing after so much heat.
Bang on time the thunder came
Heralding the monsoon month of May
With bolts of lightning, streaking rain
And upbeat winds to cool the day.

Curry Recipes
Recently I received a request for recipes for Beetroot Curry and Garlic Curry from a visitor who enjoyed those curries while touring the south. Last week, we had lunch in the garden to commemorate the 100[SUP]th[/SUP] birthday of a dear friend of ours who died in Sri Lanka on Christmas Day, 2011. The dishes were, clockwise in this Lazy Susan starting from 6 o’clock: Stuffed Capsicums, Beetroot Curry, Chicken Curry, Spinach & Lentils Curry, and Tempered Potato with red rural rice in the centre.


Rice & Curry for lunch

Kumara’s mother-in-law prepared them and provided these simple recipes. For the Beetroot Curry, slice 500g of beetroot into strips then mix it with 1.5 teaspoons of chilli powder and 1.5 teaspoons of curry powder, plus a pinch of turmeric, salt according to taste, a couple of green chillies chopped fine and 2 cups of coconut milk. Boil the mix until it thickens and the beetroot is tender.
Next, slice a couple of red (small) onions and temper the onions in oil with the addition of a few curry leaves and rampa. When it’s cooked, add it to the beetroot; mix and serve.

Beetroot curry

For the Garlic Curry, my favourite, peel 250g of garlic, and then mix it up with some Maldive fish pieces, a couple of sliced red (small) onions and green chilli pieces, a teaspoon of curry powder, a pinch of turmeric and salt, and 1 cup of coconut milk. Cook until tender.

Apparently the secret in achieving maximum curry satisfaction is for freshly squeezed coconut milk to be used (not powdered or canned) and for the cooking to be done in a clay pot over a wood fire.

Lotus Chalets
A chorus of mewling peacocks greeted the dawn, and woke me up with a start. I gazed at the ceiling of the bedroom and found there was none, just the underside of the roof, neatly thatched with palmyra leaves.

The palmyra leaf thatched roof

It took me a moment to remember that, as a result of wanting to inspect Sri Lanka’s newly opened second international airport at Mattala in the deep south of the country (report next week), I had checked in the night before at a hotel just 15 minutes drive from the terminal.


Lotus Chalets signboard

Hotel? Hardly, but certainly the most unusual near-airport accommodation I have ever stayed in – and worth the US$ 38 [Rs4,750; £ 25] for a double room (and the tranquillity).


The chalets at sunrise

Room? A semi-detached chalet constructed of breeze blocks plastered with mud. The interior floor was of unadorned concrete (not a sign of boutique refinement here), the bed solid local timber with a comfortable mattress but silly small pillows (I’d brought my own anyway). The bathroom was daubed in green splodges eco-fashion and equipped with tiny wooden shelves and a wooden towel rail, although I would have also liked hooks on which to hang clothes.


Lotus Chalet bathroom

The veranda into which the rising sun shone, overlooked a lotus pond, a round kiosk used as a sit-out with reed thatched roof, a thicket of manioc bushes, furrows of sweet potato leaves, and jungle. For passengers spending their first night in Sri Lanka at Lotus Chalets, they might feel on waking that they have discovered an alternative Eden.


The-jungle-kiosk-at-Lotus-Chalet.j

There are three “eco” chalets (with fan) and one four-bed AC chalet (all with attached showers/toilets), as well as an open sided pavilion for meals focused on farm-grown vegetables.

To get to this haven, either from Hambantota or the Mattala airport, take the road to Migahjandura, turn left into Sooriyawewa and skirt around the new cricket stadium, then follow the signs. (Lotus Chalets, Canal Road, Migahajandura, Sooriyawewa; 071 4422244; lotuschalets@gmail.com; www.lotuschalets.com)


Naming Sri Lanka
My continued thanks to the distinguished British writer Richard Boyle who is a resident of Sri Lanka for snippets about the naming of Sir Lanka taken from his as yet unpublished book, Island of the Cosmos: An Alternative Guide to Sri Lanka.

An original 1652 print of Ceylan et les Maldives (Taprobane) by Sanson

“Down the centuries and across cultures, Serendib was transformed into Sielediba, Serindives, Selin, Seilan, Syllen, Sillan, Celan, the Portuguese Ceilão, Spanish Ceilán, French Selon, the Dutch Zeilan (as well as Ceilan and Seylon).”

“Finally it became the English Ceylon, and the variants Seylan, Zeylan and Ceylan. Although the Portuguese used Ceilão, the names Tragan, Trante, and Caphane also appear on Portuguese maps. Other names to be found on mediaeval maps are Siledpa-camar, Lanka Camar, Pertina and Tuphana. The last is derived from Topazius, a name given by the Greek writer Polyhistor during the first century BCE because the island produced topaz.”

No Locate
This isn’t appalling English for “Can’t find” but a fact: LOCATE is no more. Set up by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the UK as a website so British nationals living or visiting abroad could register their whereabouts in case of emergency, it has been shut down as not many people bothered. In Sri Lanka, it’s left to the Consular Wardens (of whom I am the one for the Southern Province) to try to keep in touch with Britons. A good excuse for a monsoon party?

Beat Poetry
There are poems, raunchier than the one above, in the new edition of my 1961 rock ‘n’ roll guidebook, The Big Beat Scene available from http://musicmentor0.tripod.com/book_big_beat_scene.html

Beat regards
Royston

Wünsche allen Usern eine sonnige Woche

LG Premasiri
 
ROYSTON’S REPORT, Number 160

Tropical Topics, Sunday 12 May 2013
Greetings to readers around the world.
Made in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, it’s not only the craftsmen & women who are skilful at weaving, birds are too. This is the nest made with great trouble by a weaver bird and was presented to me by a villager since they are highly prized as decorative pieces. The birds enter through the sleeve of the nest and settle down in the elbow-like bulge.

Weaver bird's nest
This sketch of a male and female weaver bird is reproduced from Sarath Kotagama’s book Pictorial Pocket Guide to the Common Birds of Sri Lanka (ISBN 955-9021-24-9) in which he states: “Baya Weaver. The nest is pendulous and usually built overhanging ditches and water bodies. Reedbeds, paddy field, wetlands. Common.”
Weaver birds
Resthouse cuisine
The resthouse tradition in Sri Lanka goes back to colonial days when bungalows were built in the best locations for officials to stay a night while travelling around the island. They were usually spaced a day’s horse ride from each other.
Now the tradition is continued by hotel companies who have leased the old buildings and moved them upmarket, but a few still fall under the purview of the Urban Development Authority and are rented out to private operators. One of these is at Hambantota where the older wing of 1930s art deco architecture overlooks the harbour.
Restaurant at Hambantota Resthouse
Drinks are served on the veranda in front of the bedrooms or on the sea-facing lawn. There is also a spruced up, cottage restaurant where rice & curry lunch costs Rs350 [£ 1.79; US$ 2.80]. Since I was close to the sea I opted for the seafood mixed grill, uncertain of what I would get for just Rs750 [£ 3.85; $ 6.00 ]. I was astonished when this hot cast iron platter was produced with half-a-dozen prawns, three pieces of grilled seer fish, two pieces of grilled tuna, and a whole crab. A lunch to remember.
Seafood mixed grill
Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport
Sri Lanka’s second international airport opened to pomp and ceremony in March 2013 in the deep south of the country. There were lots of press articles about it (total cost US$209m; built with financial assistance and expertise from the Chinese government; 2,000 acres; able to handle one million passengers annually) but little information on how to get there.

Airport welcome sign
So when I saw an advertisement that showed its distance from popular tourist spots such as Nuwara Eliya (94km), Yala (53km) and Arugam Bay (110km), I decided to check it out. It took five hours to drive there from my cottage (it takes me three hours to the international airport at Katunayake, north of Colombo) so the new airport isn’t practical for those staying on the west coast. However, for people staying in Galle, along the southern coast, and even in the hill country, the airport is a super gateway to the world.
Gigantic peacock at the airport
The way there is via the A2 to Hambantota with a sign-posted turn-off inland that opens up into a grand dual carriageway giving access to the airport access road after about 25km. Wild peacocks lurk in the wilderness and a giant metal sculpture of one guards the approach to the airport.
Public courtyard at Mattala airport
There is one broad corridor for departing and arriving passengers linking the public concourse and an interior open courtyard, behind a large statue of Buddha, where the public can watch aircraft movements.
Check in desks
Departing passengers are processed in the check in lounge in the left wing, from where domestic passengers access the departure lounge directly while international passengers take an escalator to the first floor for immigration formalities.

General departure lounge
The departure lounge has huge windows making it bright and pleasant to use; the seating is polished chrome chairs and pastel-shaded armchairs.
Business class lounge at Mattala airport
There is a small Business Class lounge but as yet only soft drinks and snacks are available in it. Duty free shopping counters, run by Dufry, are soon to be set up for departing and arriving international passengers.
Two air bridges serve two aircraft at a time (the airport can accommodate the new A380 aircraft). Arriving international passengers take the lower deck of the bridge to emerge at immigration and customs (while domestic passengers follow another route). All passengers emerge into a bright arrivals hall in the terminal’s right wing and then proceed along the main red-carpeted corridor to the exit.

Arrivals hall
It was very impressive, and a contrast to the undeveloped plains of the surrounding countryside. While the airport will bring employment and development to the area, it also makes air travel easier for residents of the south, either to fly to Colombo for overseas flight connections, or directly overseas as more airlines schedule flights to/from Mattala.
Ship at new port, Hambantota
The new airport (and the new deep water freighter port) and the super highways are the first massive major infrastructure development in Sri Lanka since the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] century when Governor Barnes declared the solution to prosperity and peace was “roads, roads, roads” – and then, in 1867, the railway network was begun. It gave me an eerie feeling to see the future unfolding in the plains of Hambantota; to witness the beginning of a valiant vision that will change the demographic of Sri Lanka.

Naming Sri Lanka
From Richard Boyle’s new book, Island of the Cosmos: An Alternative Guide to Sri Lanka, come these further comments on the names for Sri Lanka.
“The names by which the island was known to the Chinese were either adapted from the Sinhalese as near to the Chinese characters that would supply equivalents for the Sanskrit and Pali letters, or else they were translations of the implied sense. Hence the classical Lanka was rendered Lang-kea, and Sinhala as Seng-kia-lo. On the other hand, Tambapanni is translated as Chi-too (“red land”), while Ratnadipa is translated as Paou-choo (“island of gems”). Tsib-e-lan, She-lan and Se-lung are all modern modifications of Ceylon.”
Warmly
Royston


trotz Regen wünsche ich allen Usern einen schönen Sonntag und allen Müttern einen schönen Muttertag

LG Premasiri :wink:
 
Danke für den neuen Newsletter! :smil_dankä:

Den Metallpfau finde ich gelungen, auch wenn er jetzt schon Rost ansetzt. ;)
 
Hallo Premasiri,

danke, es lohnt sich immer wieder, die Briefe von R. Ellis zu lesen. :fing002:
Das Hambantota Rest liest sich interessant und die Preise im Restaurant lassen sich sehen.

Liebe Grüsse und auch allen einen schönen Muttertagsabend.
 
@Claudia und @Biggi,

vielen Dank für Euer Feedback das freut mich sehr das einige User diesen Newsletter lesen.

LG Premasiri
 
ROYSTON’S REPORT Number 161

Tropical Topics, Sunday 19 May 2013.
Welcome to this week’s newsletter from Sri Lanka where we are celebrating the monsoon with days of wind, rain – and sunshine!

Made in Sri Lanka
The saltpans of Hambantota in Sri Lanka’s deep south have long been famous so I was pleased to see roadside vendors offering salt for sale during my recent visit to the harbour and airport there.


Salt seller

The best deal was to purchase eight packets of salt for Rs100 [ 52p; 80c]. Since each packet contains 500g of salt crystals and is price marked at Rs35 each, it was a bargain. Now of course I’m wondering what to do with 4kg of rock salt.


Rock salt

Unawatuna
After touring temples, tea estates, wild life game reserves and souvenir shops, what about having a real, old fashioned holiday break? That means lying in the sun by the sea at Unawatuna, rated as among the ten best beaches in the world (and the only beach in Sri Lanka oozing fun where you can drink and eat as the surfs laps your feet).
It’s not just the sand, sea and sun that makes it a great beach but also the other activities – including the beach bars that turn out some great fish dishes and where the partying seems to go on all night. No hassles either.
Here’s a photo of sun worshippers outside Lucky Tuna, refreshingly the antidote to a boutique hotel (in spite of what the sign says), with friendly service, cheap meals and a couple of simple beach view rooms above its log cabin bar. (luckytuna@hotmail.com)


Unwatuna Beach scene (Photo by Neel)

Flying to Mattala
Following my report last week on the new international airport at Mattala, in the deep south of Sri Lanka, I have received many enquiries from readers overseas who don’t want to drive to the airport, but want to fly there from their home countries.


Road sign to airport

At present this is possible by connecting at the main international airport (code CMB) for SriLankan Airline’s (www.srilankan.com) flights to Mattala (code: HRI) on the following days: Monday UL818 CMB1240/HRI1315; Tuesday UL119 1025/1100; Wednesday UL119 0710/0745; Friday UL858 1240/1315; and Sunday UL273 1200/1235.
On Mondays and Fridays, UL114 flies from Male’ at 1130 and arrives Mattala at 1325. There are flights from Bangkok on Tuesday (UL819 BKK 0610/HRI 0755) and Wednesday (UL819 BKK 0915/HRI 1110). There is a flight every Sunday from Riyadh (UL274 RUH 1740/HRI 0150 [Monday]). Bon voyage!

Elephants crossing
On the way to the new international airport, I spotted this warning of an unexpected road hazard.


Beware. Elephants crossing

Dish of the week
In last week’s newsletter I wrote excitedly about the seafood platter I enjoyed at the Hambantota Resthouse for Rs750. This week I’ve moved upmarket and tried the seafood kebab platter at the Chaaya Traanz 4-star hotel in Hikkaduwa.


Seafood kebabs at Chaaya Tranz

It consisted of three skewers, each with a cube of fish (mullet), calamari and single farmed prawn. Added to this was a simple salad of lettuce, grated carrots and sliced black olive drenched in a dressing that had a hint of mint. There were two sauces: a salsa and another of pineapple and snake gourd cubelets. It was an ample snack for lunch and, even upmarket, cost only Rs650 [£ 3.42; $ 5.20]

Australian writer wanted

Are you Australian and a writer in need of somewhere to concentrate while you write, or do you know of one? If so, click on http://writersvictoria.org.au/services/fellowships/templeberg-residential-writing-fellowship
This is a fellowship for fiction, non-fiction and performing arts writers, poets, journalists and bloggers that includes return economy airfares, accommodation at Templeberg Villa (www.templeberg.com) in Galle, southern Sri Lanka, full board for month and a $1,000 allowance. Applications close on 14 June, so apply quickly!
As a professional writer I know how being in Sri Lanka helps me with my work. Not just because of the 3 S’s (scenery, service and serenity), but also because days can be structured solely around writing, making the most of the inspiring bliss of staying in this gracious plantation cottage.


Templeberg writer's cottage

I visited Templeberg a few days ago. The Writer’s Cottage is a two bedroom, clay tiled building with a bathroom linking the two bedrooms, at the back of the inner lawn of Templeberg. It looks like the perfect place for a guest, whether a writer or not, who wants to be independent while also enjoying the food and facilities of the main Templeberg bungalow.


Templeberg paddling pool

Guests can cool down in the small rock pool in the garden. It was an abandoned lotus pond that has been converted into a water filled space with boulders left in place as seats for chilling out as the sun sets. Meals are taken in the semi-open parlour with a view of the inner lawn and are prepared using locally grown ingredients where possible.
To get to Templeberg, whether to write or for few days break (at around US$120 per night), leave the Galle exit of the Southern Expressway then turn left at the first set of traffic lights into the Akuressa Road. After driving about 300m, the first lane on the left leads up hill to the plantation gates and the curving drive up to the bungalow. And to creative peace.

Dominica Beauty
For 13 years (1966-1979) I lived exclusively on the island of Dominica and during the 1980s commuted between there and Sri Lanka as I gradually changed islands. To see what Dominica is like today, click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbrIJbUMC5s
Sri Lanka guide

For more on Sri Lanka, my Bradt guide is available through http://www.bradtguides.com/Book/552/Sri-Lanka.html

Warmly,
Royston
 
Zuletzt bearbeitet:
ROYSTON’S REPORT, Number 162
Sri Lanka, Sunday, 26 May 2013.

Greetings to fans of Sri Lanka around the world.
Made In Sri Lanka
Landmaster adapted to pull a trailer

Inspired by the inventions of the late Ray Wijewardene, Sri Lanka’s foremost inventor who created the Landmaster two-wheeler tractor (“a mechanical buffalo”), six inventors explaining their inventions have been filmed in Sri Lanka by talented young filmmaker Rehan Alexander Muddanayake.

These made-in-Sri Lanka ideas not only include inventions for local use, such as in the rubber and coir industries, but also medical innovations. The inventors were all shortlisted for The Ray (Sri Lanka’s equivalent for inventors of Hollywood’s Oscar). It was won by I S Waidiyarathna Karunathilaka for his Waveless Boat. The film can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/65430714

Vesak
Vesak was celebrated in Sri Lanka on Friday 24 May, the night of the full moon, and the Saturday following, which was also a public holiday. Traditionally the night is observed with tiny paper lanterns containing candles hanging from trees and larger ones dancing in the wind under the eaves.
Vesak, according to my Bradt Guide to Sri Lanka, is a thrice-blessed day for Buddhists as it commemorates the birth of Prince Siddhartha, his attainment of enlightenment and his passing into Nirvana as Gauthama Buddha.
The day is devoted to religious observances and charity, as well as being celebrated with illuminations, pageants and the street side erection of pandals (decorated electrified hoardings). Celebrants set up wayside stalls to distribute food to pilgrims and passers-by.

Madu & Kumara making a vesak lantern

At home, Kumara and Madu spent Thursday afternoon making a gorgeous lantern with yellow and orange tissue paper stretched over a frame, which Kumara made out of strips of bamboo. The joints were daintily decorated with paper ruffles, the panels with intricately designed cutouts, each one a different significant symbol, and it had a comet’s tail of plaited strips. I wish I had the patience they had to create such a fragile and ephemeral object. Let’s hope it doesn’t fly away in the monsoon wind.



Flying Vesak lantern

Hikkaduwa “tranzformed”
Hikkaduwa at last seems to have shaken off the reputation as a happy haven for hippies it gained when, as a sleepy beachside fishing village, it was colonised in the 1970s by young and impecunious backpackers in search of surf, scuba diving, sun, sand and intoxicating après-plage nightlife. The reformation was completed with the opening there last year of Chaaya Tranz.


Bedroom view, Chaaya Tranz

With its gimmicky name, this re-branded and renovated beachside hotel has tranzformed accommodation in Hikkaduwa, offering luxury in colourfully decorated rooms and a zany bar (shades of deep pink and orange prevail).


Fanciful wall decor in signature dark pink
I spent a night there last week and was enchanted with my bright and spacious room, with its broad sea view balcony, glazed terracotta floor tiles, plenty of power points (Wi-Fi is free), & rain and handheld showers in the neatly equipped bathroom. And the convenience of an iron and ironing board.


So practical, Chaaya Tranz in-room facility
With a signature restaurant, The Crab, often packed with non-residents who pop in for dinner using the Southern Expressway for quick access from Colombo, daily rice & curry buffets and dining in the glass walled wine cellar, Chaaya Tranz provides a satisfying, seamless and sophisticated holiday for locals & foreigners alike.


Baked crab in a tea cup with garlic rice

I was puzzled when my baked crab turned up in a teacup until the steward explained it is no longer served it in a crab shell, “for sanitary reasons.”


To smoke or not to smoke?

When by mistake I took the staff staircase to the lobby I discovered a quiet corner for smokers, while guests are spoilt with an air-conditioned cigar lounge with deep pink upholstered armchairs, and fine Cuban cigars.

(http://www.chaayahotels.com/chaayatranz.htm)

Maldives
By the time you read this, I shall be in the Maldives again for a few days. Perhaps that’s why I couldn’t resist buying this pretty map, when it came up for sale last week. It is a French chart printed in 1740. The seller said “we found this attractive map covering much of the coast facing the Indian Ocean, loose & unmounted, when searching through the stock of an antiquarian print shop closed for 40 years ago.” Quite a find!


Maldives map 273 years old

Tattoos
I’m not too sure about tattoos, never having wanted one myself and finding the scars left by the removal process as off-putting as some of the designs. But I was impressed by a tattoo I spotted on the beach at Unawatuna the other day, on the midriff of a chap who’d had too much sun.


Poetical tattoo

It’s begins (if you don’t have a magnifying glass handy)

To everything there is a season
and ends
a time of war, and a time of peace
I don’t know if the gent so literally adorned knew the origin of the poem as
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ascribed to King Solomon, King James version of the Bible, 1611)or thought of the words as the lyric of the 1965 hit by The Byrds.
Perhaps I should have Paperback Writer tattooed on my chest?

Paperback


My latest paperback is the new edition of my 1961 hit The Big Beat Scene available easily through http://musicmentor0.tripod.com/book_big_beat_scene.html

Sunny regards
Royston Ellis

regnerische Grüsse Premasiri :wink:
 
Sri Lanka, Sunday 2 June 2013.
Welcome to this week’s Tropical Topics.

Made in Sri Lanka
On a recent supermarket safari, when I saw imported fruit juices on sale at high prices, I decided to ‘buy local’ instead. I remember from my days in Dominica in the Caribbean 40 years ago, that the popular drink was a cocktail of rum and passion fruit. Although Sri Lanka’s rum is a poor substitute for the real Caribbean kind, or even the sensational rum from Mauritius, Sri Lanka does produce passion fruit in abundance.



So I bought this 350ml bottle of passion fruit cordial at Rs230 [£ 1.21; US$ 1.84] made of “sugar, passion fruit, water and permitted preservative (E223).” The distributor is CIC Agri Business Pvt Ltd whose website (www.cicagri.com) states: “Under it’s [sic] own Brand name for the local and export market, CIC Agri Businesses [sic] works with a strong commitment of enhancing farmer incomes, improving the Rural Economy and contributing towards the Development of Agriculture in Sri Lanka with a view of transforming the island Towards a Nutritious & Healthy Nation.”

I’ll drink to that, if any reader can send me a recipe for a decent passion fruit cocktail!

Upgrade auction
This is not a sponsored plug for SriLankan Airlines, although I did enjoy my (full fare) business class flight to and from the Maldives last weekend. The lunch served in both directions was jolly good.

For me the extra fare for Business Class is worth it because of the opportunity to check-in at Colombo direct from the kerb at a separate VIP lounge where luggage and immigration bother is reduced to a minimum. Next there’s another lounge in which to wait, with self-service champagne and premium drinks, so at least the waiting seems fun. Then there’s more liquid refreshment, as well as space and comfortable seats, in business class on the plane.



I mention this because I’m intrigued to learn that SriLankan Airlines have introduced an amazing wheeze whereby any Economy Class ticket-holder travelling to any SriLankan operated international destination can place a bid online for a seat in Business Class up to 72hrs before departure.

The press release says, in its convoluted way: “Go to the webpage and fill in the e-form with accurate details [of the booked economy flight]. Review and submit your bid for an upgrade. The payment has to be made through credit card and if the offer is accepted the passenger will be billed for the upgrade. The confirmation will be sent to the passenger via email between 72 and 48hrs prior to departure.”

It’s seems a wonderful idea for a bargain upgrade if you’re flying to or from Colombo in the near future. The website? Try: www.srilankan.com/upgrad [sic]


Lagoon Prawns
When a friend presented me with two ‘lagoon prawns,’ Kumara decided to prepare them for lunch while they were still fresh.



Although these crustaceans are called prawns in Sri Lanka they look more like what I know as crayfish, being so big. They were caught in the Bentota River, in the lagoon formed at its mouth, where they were trapped in bamboo cages into which they found their way in, but not out.



After cleaning them under running water, Kumara put them to poach in boiling water while he vigorously chopped up some garlic. Then he put the cooked prawns in their shells into a pan filled with butter, the garlic and various other spices, including lemongrass and a pinch of curry powder. When it began to bubble, he served it for me on a garnished plate.



The perfect tropical lunch.

SKAL 42[SUP]nd[/SUP] Asian Congress
I felt very honoured at being invited to attend the opening of the 42[SUP]nd[/SUP] Asian Congress of SKAL in Negombo on Friday, 31 May 2013. SKAL is the leading organisation of travel professionals and has the mission of promoting friendship and fostering goodwill and understanding among members of the tourist industry worldwide.



This was only the third time the SKAL Asian congress was held in Sri Lanka (the last one was in 1994) so the 100 delegates and their companions had a lot to see (and to say) and were impressed by the recent changes to the tourist product, including the upgrading of the Jetwing Blue Hotel (where the congress was held) to a smart, boutique-style property.

My invitation happened thanks to the Minister of Tourism of the Western Province, the Hon. Nimal Lanza, whom I had never met, but for whose Tourist Board Chairman, Claude Thomasz, I am the Editorial Consultant for his ministry’s magazine, Amazing Sri Lanka. The latest issue has just been published.


Amazingly, the function started on time and it was a pleasure to be there and hear some inspiring speeches about the state of tourism in Sri Lanka. I also enjoyed the dancing!



Sri Lanka Guide
The magazine will soon appear on the Tourist Board’s website, but for more information on Sri Lanka, my Bradt Guide to Sri Lanka is available through:
http://www.bradtguides.com/Book/552/Sri-Lanka.html


My apologies if this newsletter arrives late. As I was about to upload it, I discovered my website had been hacked. It's thanks to the personal intervention of webwizard Andrew this is being ciruclated.

Happy travels
Royston Ellis

LG Premasiri :wink: :rain:
 
ROYSTON’S REPORT, NUMBER 164

Sunday 9 June 2013.

Welcome to this week’s report on some tropical topics.

Made in Sri Lanka
The 116-km road from Colombo to Kandy is rich in wayside stalls selling all manner of goodies in different sections, starting with pineapples near Kadawata stacked on shelves or peeled and quartered with a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and ending with avocado pears piled high at a bend near Peradeniya. Flirtatious maidens offer cashew nuts at Cadjugama (Cashew Village) while basketware and cane furniture is to be had by the wide sweep of road at Radawadunna.

Clay pots by the Kandy Road
Platoons of clay pots guard both sides of the road at Molagoda, where some 200 families are engaged in pottery making. We wanted some cooking pots that could be used on a gas stove, since cooking in clay pots seems to add flavour to curries. So when we saw a sign declaring the pots were good for gas, we stopped.
Choosing new cooking pots takes time
Neel discussed the merits of different shapes with one of the potters while I bought (for Rs150 [.78p; US$ 1.20] a clay pan used for toasting rotis but which turns out to be ideal for making a lush scrambled eggs and bacon.
Clay cooking utensils

Avanhala
A traditional refreshment stop, about halfway between Colombo and Kandy, was for long the Ambepussa Resthouse, one of the oldest hostelries in Sri Lanka. Now it’s been transformed into The Heritage and the owning company has opened a pastry shop called Avanhala, on the opposite side of the road. Tradition is alive there in the ‘short eats’ (small snacks) served at old-fashioned prices: Rs50 [.26p; 40c] for a fish bun Rs40 [.21p; 32c] for a cup of tea, and these scrumptious Capsicums [31p; 48c] stuffed with a potent mix of onions, green chillies, potato and dried fish.



Baros Maldives Menu
A freelance writer shares with an actor the thrill of a varied professional life: never quite knowing what the next role will be, and where. In my case a week’s work could include writing a travel piece, editing text for a website, staying in a hotel to update the new edition of my Bradt guidebook about Sri Lanka…and proof reading restaurant menus.
This last task is part of the work I do as Editorial Consultant for what has been acclaimed by the World Travel Awards as “The Most Romantic Resort in the World.” I have to check that everything produced in-house in English is free of typos and grammatical errors. Last week, on a visit to the resort, Baros Maldives, I also got to try a dish on one of those menus.
Maldives salad
Barabo Mas Huni
Smoked Fish and Pumpkin Salad
With Iceberg Lettuce, Red Onion, Coconut and Chili
It looks simple and tasted delicious, an intriguing combination of the saltiness of the tuna fish and smooth sweetness of the boiled pumpkin, drenched in a delicious lime dressing. Surprisingly it was filling too, a neat light lunch.

Book Sale
The Association of British Residents in Sri Lanka recently inherited a private and extensive library of superb books including History, Novels, English Literature, Travel, Geography and Biographies. These are to be sold at bargain prices for charity with proceeds going to The Castle Street Hospital for Mothers & Babies on Thursday 20 June from 2pm-7pm in the church hall of the St Andrew’s Kirk. Colombo 3.

Maalu Maalu
“Maalu maalu,” the fish vendor cries as he cycles through a village with his catch of the day. Maalu Maalu is also the name of a hotel (www.maalumaalu.com) .
The hotel was the first to open on the fabled beach of Passekudah, on Sri Lanka’s east coast, after the decades-long separatist war ended. Now two years old, it is being challenged by conventional hotels walling off the beach as a haven for tourists. However, Chandra Wickramasinghe, the chairman of the owning company of Maalu Maalu, had a vision of creating not another tourist factory but a hotel that encompassed local traditions as well as delivering ultimate holiday fulfilment.


Balcony view

If I am wittering on like a brochure, I apologise, but I am so smitten by Maalu Maalu as a hotel I would happily return to, I want to share the enchantment. Maalu Maalu works properly because of its intriguing design (elegantly simple, palm thatch, A-frame cottages with palm wood floors), superb beach setting, huge swimming pool and fine locally-inspired cuisine and (unfortunately rare in mainstream Sri Lankan hotels) swift, obliging and knowledgeable staff. It’s great value too from around $220 a night for two with breakfast.


Maalu Maalu beach villas

Sure, it’s a six hour drive from Colombo, but the roads are good. A catamaran painted with the hotel’s name signposts the entrance to Passekudah Bay. Ignore the concrete walls of its newly built neighbouring properties to reach Maalu Maalu’s entrance, decorated with dried palmyrah leaves like fans.


Maalu Maalu bedroom

The entrance reveals a small reception desk and a glorious panorama of a swimming pool seeming to float off into the sea, edged with thatched cottages. There are 40 with downstairs and upstairs rooms, some with attic bedrooms for kids. Each room is supremely comfortable with fans as well as AC, a working desk and tea/coffee set up, deep pile beds and huggable pillows. Behind the palm wood screen backing the bed, is a wardrobe and two doors opening onto a huge bathroom, complete with bathtub and separate shower. Eight of the rooms are classed as suites and have extra refinements including Jacuzzi and cluster plunge pool.

There are unexpected touches of sheer delight, ranging from the cute cards with a fish theme placed on beds at night, the beach bars converted from abandoned fishing hulls, the open-sided restaurant with sarong-clad waiters, to the joy of the sea where, in the main season of April to October, it resembles a shallow lagoon, and is where I swam contentedly at 7am basking in the sunrise.
“Maalu Maalu” is the phrase to remember if you want a perfect beach holiday in Sri Lanka.


Happy travels
Royston
PS: Fierce storms in Sri Lanka today so this e-newsletter might be delayed. Sorry!

LG Premasiri :wink:



 
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