A Trip to an Eco Paradise (Part 02)

The day began with a gentle knock on the door by a room service waiter, who brought our Bed Tea. We immediately stepped in to the balcony as we were dying to see the out side from our Balcony. The view we had from our balcony was fascinating as the entire area has been covered by four magnificent views as per our opinion.

01. The closest view was the hotel garden area which covered by a lush greed garden with small, medium and larger trees (we came to know from the hotel, that during hotel construction they haven’t destroyed a single large tree, as they have removed these larger trees and has relocated them in the Hotel Garden)

      02.Kandalama lake, which covered a whole large area

03. A range of Mountains, headed by "Sigiriya" (There are two wings in Kandalam where rooms are located. One is Sigiriya Wing, which has the Sigiriya Rock view, and the other one is Dambulla wing. Both the wings have Kandalama Lake view. But most of repeat guests, prefer Sigiriya Wing as it has a hidden classical taste than Dambulla wing)

04.004.The Romantic Sky, which stands above all the artists who lived and who are living, as it blends the natural colours at it’s best which soothes your soul. To highlight this picturesque scene , I’ll sight the exact words which was used by an elderly English Guest who seated on a bench looking at the sky in the afternoon with his wife. “It’s a dramatic view”.

By the time we reached the restaurant, it was around 8 am. We were greeted by a Restaurant Hostess with her warm welcome smile and Greetings “Ayubowan”. The name of the Restaurant was “Kanchana Restaurant”. A five star buffet was laid which covered entire range of Breakfast items, starting from Cereals which goes up to Fresh Tropical Fruits. Two action station Chefs were busy preparing Eggs of your choice and Waffles.

We seated next to the window, which overlooked Kandalama Lake. There were no curtains used to cover those huge glass windows (which covered the entire left [lake view] side of the restaurant).



A special note need to be kept on the fresh juices as there were a range of tropical fresh juices offered for Guests. There were Beli, Wood apple, King coconut, Lime juice...etc, with no added sugar. A glass of fresh juices will chill your thoughts and the unmatched lake view will soothe your eyes which finally rejuvenates yourself while enjoying a Five Star Buffet Breakfast.

We left the Hotel by around 9 am and reach Dambulla Temple after a 15 minutes of drive.

Temple has added some new features, such as sculptures of monks who are going for a Buddha Puja and a large Buddha Statue, which was gold plated.

You have to climb around half a Kilometre to reach the top of the temple. The journey won’t be boring as you’ll be entertained by many monkeys’ right through out your climb. But don’t get that close to these monkeys as it will not be safe. But note that, they will not attack you or jump towards you, as long as you maintain our discipline.

I forget to add a note, that there are many Monkeys’ at Kandalama Hotel too, and they will reach up to your balcony some times. The hotel is giving very clear instructions to their Guests by saying that guest should not feed these monkeys’ at all and need to close their balcony window in case if they reach your balcony. These safety precautions has to be followed in order to safeguard yourself.

 Please mind that hotel has not taken any measures to evacuate these monkeys’ permanently from the Hotel premises, as it would harm and tarnish their Eco concept and image, which stands as a Truly Genuine Eco Friendly Five Star Property. So you need to adhere to these hotel rules and regulations. As a general practise, "You should not violate any of the rules which are enforced by the local authorities, where ever you go for a Vacation , trip or a project".

To get more details on Dambulla Cave Temple, please refer Wikipedia (The Free Encyclopaedia) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dambulla_cave_temple

If you are interested in reading a new blog on Dambulla Temple (which was written by our dearest Friend "Robing Low" who went on the trip with us. Dambulla Sri Lanka (Life-in-Boston.blogspot.com)

      As usual, you’ll find many sellers near these temples, who sell ornaments’, small sculptures, statues, paintings…etc. Depending on your bargaining capabilities, you’ll go for a good offer. Keep discovering!

Our next stop was at Matale Spice Garden. Lets meet up soon with Spicy Adventures and Spicy tips for a Healthy life.

- Asela -

A Trip to an Eco Paradise - (Part 01)

We left Colombo by around 4.30pm last Sunday hoping to reach a world renowned Eco Paradise in Dambulla. When we think about Dambulla, there are many interesting places which will flash in your mind. Starting from Rangiri Dambulla Temple, Award winning Eco Hotel Heritance Kandalama, Dambulla International Cricket Stadium, Minneriya National Park, Sigiriya...etc.

But our journey was to "Heritance Kandalama", the Five Star Eco Hotel which is been managed and owned by Aitken Spence. There are mainly two ways that you can reach Kandalama from Colombo. One is through Kandy, Matale, Dambulla (approx: 185 Km) and the other one is through Kurunegala, Dambulla (approx: 170 Km).

The journey will take around 5 Hrs. But remember, it's not going to be boring as you drive under heavy traffic in Colombo and suburbs. It'll be through lush green forests, paddy fields, rural villages, mountain ranges...etc. While you drive, if you feel that you need a break, there are small ­­­Boutiques, where you can drink a fresh cup of Beli Flower and eat a freshly boiled corn while having a look around at unpolluted environment. Since we left in the afternoon, by the time we reached kandalama, most of these small boutiques were closed as it was late in the evening.

Finally we reached Kandalama around 9.00 pm. When we turned our vehicle from the main road to the Hotel road (a 2 Km stretch), we suddenly noticed that the road was not built using Tar and the road was kept at it's original (Clay) condition. As per Hotel sources, the road has been kept at it's original condition with the intention of not to disturb the environment and Animals. This is the first impression we got that, how much they (Kandalama Hotel) care for their surroundings.

We were welcomed by a Receptionist (who was dressed up with a matching cloth and a Jacket) by offering us Lotus Flowers. I still can remember that fresh Lotus Fragrance, which can't match at all even with Paris perfumes.

A Heartiest Welcome at Heritance Kandalama using Lotus Flowers

We were offered a range of choices to choose for our welcome drink. There were fresh Beli Juice, Wood apple Juice, Lime juice…etc.



Welcome drink been served at Heritance Kandalama

As it was almost night, we couldn’t see the surrounded beauty. But we instinct, that there is a pool nearby and a large empty ground (this was the lake, which we found the following day), as we felt the fresh breeze which took away our hours long tiring feelings.

Heritnace Kandalama Hotel on a bright full moon lit night

After we done with our check-in formalities, we were escorted to our rooms by Elliot (Senior Receptionist), who gave us a brief, but detailed description about Kandalama Beauty. (These information will be shared accordingly as the blog progress).

The cold breeze in Corridors, embraced us as we walked along. It was the first closest encounter we had with the environment during our Trip. Once we entered the room, we were delighted to see the simple room set up, which has not tarnished the five Star image at the same time which blends naturally with the environment. To name a few features which blends the rooms with the environment are, Parquet flooring, framed large clothing (which was made out of a handloom material) decoration which was hanged on the head side of Beds, terra cotta / cement tiles on the Balcony, and finally the hanging natural creeping plants which was planted on the rooftop (which grows from top to bottom) and the ground floor (which grows from Bottom to top).

A Deluxe Room

Kandalama Lake view from a Room Balcony

Sigiriya Wing at Heritance Kandalam Hotel




Creeping plants from Top to bottom and vice versa

These creeping plants made Kandalama a unique Eco Hotel, and have covered around 2/3 of the hotel. This was the idea of Greatest Architect Mr. Geoffry Bawa, as one day, the entire hotel rooms will be covered by these plants. So when you look from the balcony through these creeping plants, you will feel like you are in a jungle and looking through a lush green forest.


As it was night, we couldn’t see Kandalama lake, but the moon above gave us the glimpse of the beauty which was surrounded us.

Kandalama Lake View on a Bright Full moon day from a Room Balcony

This brings an end to the first part of our Kandalama journey. Lets meet up with more exiting stories on our trip to Dambulla Temple, Matale Spice Garden, Minneriya National Park, Sigiriya, Elephant Safari, in the next blog.

- Asela -

A Hope for Sri Lankan Tourism

Sri Lankan Tourism started picking up recently after decades long downturn in the industry. As Tourism is a resilient industry, it'll have ups and downs all around the world depending on Political,economical, social... prevailing conditions.

Most of the Aitken Spence Hotels were fully booked during the long weekend on 04th Sept 2009 and the pattern started continuation on the weekends no matter whether it's a long weekend or just an ordinary weekend. This is a clear sign that the Industry started picking up with many new hopes and wishes.

When the economic down turn around the world is finished by around 2 years of time, the world tourism industry will start booming up by generating tremendous direct and indirect job opportunities for masses.

So any one hoping to be in an industry, which has many potentials, now its time to get back to Tourism. Aitken Spence have identified their role as the Market Leader by establishing a fully fledged Hotel School in Ahungalla to train youth to take up future challenges.

Traditonal Thinking vs Innovative Thinking

The word Tradition derives from the Latin word "Traditionem" which means a belief / story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical stuff which aren't verifiable. Therefore traditional thinking too confines to a certain area which will not challenge any of those existing beliefs or practices.

In contrary radical and revolutionary changes (which challenge traditions) in thinking refers to as Innovative Thinking.
The business success of 21st Century lies in Innovative Thinking business concepts such as Blue Ocean Strategies.

There were many success stories of Blue ocean Ex: Casella Wine (Australia)(http://www.casellawine.com.au/home) which goes up to Ceylinco On the Spot Vehicle Insurance Policy of Sri Lanka. Therefore selecting the right strategy with the right channel (ex. Social Media for Branding / Advertising...etc) will help existing business entities to rejuvenate their business sensors and to benchmark themselves as the Market leader or their respective businesses.

New Business Leaders "Think twice, but think right !"