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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Galle Face Hotel - places to visit in Sri Lanka

                                 One of the ancient hotels in Sri Lanka 

                The Galle Face Hotel is situated in the heart of the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. An oasis of tranquillity amidst the hustle and bustle of the city by the side of the Indian Ocean. A feature unique among the hotels in Colombo. Established in 1864, the Galle Face Hotel soon became and continues to be one of the most exquisite hotels East of the Suez.


 the marvelous hotel in the capital



 the marvelous hotel in the capital at sunsetat night

Services and amenities
  1.  Private check-in and check-out                                                          
  2.  9 restaurants and 4 bars offering a range of dining experiences to suit      every taste                                                                                    
  3.  Specialty restaurants                                                                       
  4.  Wine Lounge combined with an underground wine cellar                        
  5.  3 grand ballrooms and 6 function rooms                                             
  6.  Wedding and Conference facilities                                                     
  7.  Galle Face Hotel Spa, a 20,000 sq. ft. spa inclusive of Colombo's largest saltwater swimming pool and gymnasium                                             
  8.  Personal Butler service                                                                     
  9.  Business Centre offering all Secretarial facilities                                   
  10.  The plush 'Piazza' Shopping Arcade offering designer labels                   
  11.  A Salon                                                                                          
  12.  Laundry Services                                                                              
  13.  A Museum and Art Gallery
                                

                             Facilities

         For in-house dining options, the hotel provides a range of venues.
The "Sea Spray Restaurant" located a few feet away from the Indian Ocean, provides guests an atmosphere where dining under the stars or a romantic candle light dinner can be enjoyed. Gourmet meals prepared from the freshest seafood is served here.

         The "Verandah Restaurant" offers buffet breakfasts ranging from American, Sri Lankan and Continental dishes, Businessman's lunch for the busy corporate executives, daily high tea buffets, candle lit dinners and large gatherings. The "Checkerboard" is a fine spot to unwind after a hard day at work enjoying the sunset while sipping a chilled beer or cocktail.

          The "Wine Lounge" which is located off from the Regency wing's main lobby, is inspired by elements of nature to create a mood of elegance and specially designed for lovers of fine wines, cigars and cheese. The "1864" Restaurant is the hotel's fine dining restaurant enlightening its grand history. Providing luxury and comfort, the restaurant offers gourmet specialities.

           Galle Face Hotel Spa is located in the Regency Wing and is spread over 20000 sq. ft area hidden gracefully by a beautifully landscaped garden overlooking the Indian Ocean. With soothing surroundings, traditional timber floors and nature friendly furnishing, guests can enjoy luxurious pampering. The Spa also includes Colombo's largest Saltwater Swimming Pool and a gymnasium.

           Professionally organized weddings, banquets and official functions are executed perfectly at the Galle Face Hotel. Elegant furnishing, graceful decor, high standards and perfect service ensure guests a remarkable experience. Other facilities include private check in and check out services, a personal butler service, a business centre with secretarial facilities, the "Piazza" shopping arcade with designer labels, a salon, laundry services, a museum and an art gallery.
 

                             Hotel Accommodations

Classic Wing

Fully air-conditioned rooms and suites which are elegantly furnished with modern amenities are offered at Galle Face Hotel. With views of the Indian Ocean, Galle Face Hotel Green Promenade or the Bustling city, guests can absorb the luxury the hotel has to offer.

Royal Suites - Boasting of being probably the largest suites in any hotel in Colombo, the suites offer a direct view of the Indian Ocean, a well equipped minibar, refrigerator, television, local/IDD Telephone facilities, attached private bathroom and a hairdryer.

Executive Suites - Spacious suites with direct ocean views while facilities include high ceilings, a well equipped minibar, refrigerator, television, local/IDD Telephone facilities, attached private bathroom and a hairdryer.


Standard Rooms - With a view of the garden, room facilities include a minibar, refrigerator, television, local/IDD facilities, attached private bathroom and a hairdryer.


Deluxe Rooms - Larger than the standard room and providing guests with a side sea view and also views of the Galle Face Green, facilities include minibar, refrigerator, television, local/IDD facilities, attached private bathroom and a hairdryer.


Regency Wing

The Newly refurbished wing of the Galle Face Hotel - The Regency offers Suites and rooms with unique themes that capture Sri Lanka's rich history. All units provide views of the Indian Ocean, the Piazza shopping arcade or the Spa Garden. The super luxury suites include living and dining areas, and are equipped with Jacuzzis, either in-room or on the balcony overlooking the ocean.

Suites The Oceanic Spa Suite which overlooks the Spa and the Indian Ocean has 2 jacuzzis with one in the balcony. The Oceanic Balcony Suite overlooks the Patio and the Ocean with a jacuzzi placed in the center of the room. The Oceanic Suite overlooks the ocean with in-room Jacuzzis. Additional Suites include the Piazza Spa Suite and the Piazza Suite.

Rooms include Oceanic Deluxe Rooms and Spa Deluxe Rooms as well as the Piazza Junior. Interconnecting rooms are also available


location is right here.......



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Contact info.....

Address:
Galle Face Hotel
2, Galle road, Colombo 3,
Sri Lanka.

Tel:
(941) 12541010/16
(941) 12543565/77

Fax:
(941) 12541072/74


Official website:
http://www.gallefacehotel.com

E-mail:
reservations@gallefacehotel.net

For information email:

smarketing@gallefacehotel.net


Monday, August 13, 2012

Royal Botanic Garden

Best Travel Places in Sri Lanka

Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens, Kandy

A walker's paradise


The location of the finest of its kind in Asia

 Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens, the finest of its kind in Asia, the largest of the botanical gardens of Sri Lanka, couldn't be better located. In the Mediterranean climate of Kandy, the gateway to the Central Highlands, the Gardens, at an elevation of 500 meters above sea-level, were tightly bounded on three sides by a loop of River Mahaweli (Great sandy river, the longest river in Sri Lanka), the largest river of Sri Lanka.
The town of Peradeniya is located at a distance of 110km from Colombo and another 6km over the Peradeniya Birdge and you are Kandy, home to the sacred Temple of Tooth.

 Peradeniya, the name

Peradeniya is believed to take its exotic name from Sinhalese names Pera (guava) and Deniya (a plain). The name also reveals, although Guava is not indigenous to Sri Lanka, introduction of the fruit to the island and cultivation had occurred even prior to the era of British Colonialists in Ceylon.

 The official establishment of Peradeniya Botanical Gardens during the colonial era

It was British colonialist rulers (1815-1948) of Ceylon, who destroyed the invaluable forest cover of a thousand wooded hills from Kandy to Badulla of Central Highlands of Ceylon that was protected by the gentle sway of Buddhism, which indoctrinated the respect for all living beings.
The wooded hills were converted to hill after hill of Ceylon Coffee and following the devastating "coffee rust" (a leaf blight - Hemileia vastratrix) in 1869 to seamless hill plantations of Ceylon Tea.
The very same British Colonialist rulers of Ceylon established the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens that contribute, today, towards the enlightenment of concepts of floriculture conservation, birdlife conservation, butterfly conservation, biodiversity and sustainability of the island of Sri Lanka: 5% of the school children of Sri Lanka visit the Peradeniya gardens every year.

 The vegetation

The vegetation is purely tropical, being characterized by an abundance of climbing plants or lianas, palms, bamboos, pandanus or screw-pines, epiphytes (orchids, ferns etc.), and lofty trees, the latter often having buttresses roots. The leaves are generally large, thick and leathery; the flowers usually brilliant and considerable in size, and the fruits often of immense proportions and borne on the trunks of trees or older branches.
H.F. Macmillan, F.L.S, F.R. H.S. 1906 (Curator)

4000 labeled species of flora at Peradeniya Botanical Gardens

A signboard at the entrance, with a map, feature a numbered circuit from 1-30. The corresponding numbers are placed at strategic points on the route, black on a yellow background. 60 ha (150 acres) gardens, where you can easily stroll around a whole day, are stuffed with a bewildering variety of local & foreign tree & plant species. There are around ten thousand plants & trees inclusive of 4000 labeled species. One of the most interesting sites here is bizarre-looking snake creeper, whose tangled aerial roots look just like a writhing knot of vipers.

Main entrance, River Drive and avenues
Main entrance opens up the River Drive which takes you straight down to the great circle and then on to the suspension bridge over the River Mahaweli. River drive branches off to a number of avenues: Double Coconut Avenue, Cook's Pine Avenue, Royal Palm Avenue, Palmyrah Palm Avenue and Cabbage Palm Avenue 

The spice garden, Orchid house

The spice garden to the right of entrance is replete with exotic spices. Cardamom, Coves, Pepper & Vanilla. We follow the path to the right, right into the Orchid House with an outstanding collection.

The great circle and memorial trees

The great circle is a grassy central area of nearly 4 acres in extent. Around the circle is a diverse array of trees planted by dignitaries, who had visited the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens.

A "Flamboyante" of Madagascar (Poinciana regia), planted by Princess Henry of Prussia in 1899; a "Bo" (Peepal) tree (Fiscus religiosa), planted in 1875 by King Edward VII; a "Na" tree, or Ceylon Ironweed (Mesua ferrea), planted in 1891 by Czar of Russia; Brownea grandiceps tree planted by the King of Greece in 1891; Amherstia nobilis, planted by  Prince Henry of Prussia in 1898;‘Asoka" tree (Saraca indica) planted by Emperor of Austria in 1893; "Cannonball" tree (Couroupita guianensis), planted by the Prince of Wales in 1901.
Alongside generations of European royalty, there are trees planted by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India; Yuri Gagarin, the first man to circle the orbit of earth, thereby cracking the door to space;  Marshal Tito, the man who rebuilt Yugoslavia devastated in the Second World War; U Thant, the Secretary-General of the United Nations during the decade from 1961 to 1971 & Supermac Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the period of  1957 to 1963. Between the great circle & the great lawn is the Herbarium. Then there is an arboretum.

Lawns, pavilions, sandwiches & a cup of tea

There are extensive well-kept lawns, pavilions, an Octagon Conservatory, fernery, banks of Burmese, Chinese & Japanese bamboos & numerous flower borders with cannas, hibiscus, chrysanthemums, croton & colorful bougainvillaea. You will see unusual exotic species, especially palms (Palmyra, talipot, royal, cabbage) & Ficus elastica (latex-bearing fig or "Indian rubber tree" with buttress roots), an amazing avenue of drunken looking pines & some magnificent old specimen trees. Then there are Ebony collection, Fiscus collection, Cycad Collection, Flower garden, Medicinal Garden, Cactus house and Plant house.

Natural pavilion
Grown from a sapling brought from East Indies, huge Javan fig tree covering 1600 sq. meters of the lawn, with its sprawling roots & branches create a remarkable natural pavilion.

The Cabbage Palm Avenue
The Cabbage Palm Avenue from the South America was planted in 1905. Walking along the stately avenue of Royal Palms (1885) we find fruit bats in large colonies hanging in the trees. Oh! Yes, true to their style, upside down.

Cannonball avenue

Cannonball Avenue is lined with beautiful cannonball trees, wreathed in creepers from which hang the large, round fruits. These Sal trees are loved by the Sinhalese. The flowers have a singular shape: a tiny stupa shaped bud in the centre is shaded by a cobra like hood & surrounded by tiny florettes which resemble a crowd of worshipers. It is believed Prince Siddhartha (who was to become Gautama Buddha) was born in a park of Sal trees called Lumbini, near the Sakyan kingdom of Kapilavastu in then north India, now the southern region of Nepal.

Talipot palms

Talipot palms (Corypha umbraculifera) are the easiest to identify with its enormous leaves. The talipot palm is one of Sri Lanka's botanical celebrities, an arboreal oddity which flowers just once in its lifetime, after about forty years, producing the largest cluster of flowers in the world. In Kandyan times the enormous leaves reaching a height of 10 m were used to make tents by sewing a couple of leaves together. "One single Leaf being so broad & large, that it will cover some fifteen or twenty men, & keep them dry when it rains" wrote Robert Knox. Talpot leaves were utilized to produce fine ultra long lasting solid parchments called Ola, in Sri Lanka & India as early as in 500 BC. Young talipot leaves were boiled, dried in the sun, exposed to dew & smoothed & stretched. The treated leaves were then engraved with writing using steel stylus to cut in the characters. Then the engraved leaf was smeared with ink made out of a resin blended with finely powdered charcoal. The great chronicle of Sri Lanka (Mahawamsa) & all other ancient books were written on these treated, cut & loosely bound talipot palm-leaf parchments.

Artificial lake

In the centre of the Gardens is an artificial lake with water plants including the giant water lily & papyrus reeds. Beside the lake is a white-domed rotunda commemorates George Gardener, the Superintendent of the park during 1844-1849.

"Coco de Mer" or "Double Coconut Palm"

One of the rarest plants in the world, Coco de Mer (Lodoicea sechellarum) is on a path leading to this monument of Gardner. This plant has the largest & heaviest fruit or nut in the plant kingdom, weighing an average some10 - 20 kg. They take between five to eight years to mature & are surprisingly productive. It is not unusual to have 20 nuts on a tree. They are all carefully numbered. Native Coco de Mer are only found in Praslin, an island in the Seychelles. Strolling along the path we reach lily tank which is surrounded by giant bamboo, some 40m tall that grows 2-3 cm a day.

Suspension Bridge

Suspension Bridge across the River Mahaweli takes us to the School of Tropical Agriculture at Gannoruwa hill, where research is carried out into various important spices & medicinal herbs as well as into tea, coffee, coca, rubber, coconuts & varieties of rice & other cash crops.

Peradeniya campus
Just across the main road from the gardens is Peradeniya campus of Sri Lanka University (1942), built in the old Kandyan style in an impressive setting of a large park with the River Mahaweli running through it & the surrounding hillocks.

The History of Peradeniya Royal Botanical Park

The history of the park wouldn't take a backseat to its geography, terrain or vegetation. Conceived originally in 1371 as the Queen's pleasure garden, it was developed by King Kirti Sri Rajasinhe (1747-1778) where royal visitors were entertained. It was converted into Botanical Gardens in 1821, by the British during the deputy governorship of General Sir Edward Barnes, six years after fall of the last King of Sri Lanka.

Alexander Moon, the botanist
Alexander Moon, a diligent student of the Ceylon flora was appointed the superintendent of the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens. In the year 1824, Mr. Moon published a "Catalogue of Ceylon Plants" with the description of 1,127 plates referring to same by native names as well as botanical names. Sri Lanka's first tea trees were planted here at Peradeniya Gardens in 1824, though the full commercial potential wasn't to be realized for another half a century.
All prime imported crops - Coffee, Tea, Nutmeg, Rubber & Cinchona - were tested in Peradeniya Royal Botanic Gardens. That was during the enterprising governorship (1824-1831) of Sir Edward Barnes. Imported crops, Tea & Rubber together with the local crop of Coconut became mainstay of the economy of the island in the time to come. After the death of Mr. Alexander Moon, a succession of superintendents followed.  

George Gardner, the famous traveler botanist
In 1844, an aptly named Scotsman was appointed the Superintendent of Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens: Mr. George Gardner (born in1809 or 1812), a son of a gardener to 5th Earl of Dunmore. Mr. Gardener's deeds had already well surpassed the carry of his name: his expeditionary account of "Catalogue of Brazilian plants"numbered a collection of enormous 6100 plants.
Gardener collected the specimens during his four years of explorations in Brazil & was responsible for importing Rubber as well as Cinchona to Ceylon. Both of these imports have been blessings to the island; Rubber becoming a prime export & bark of Cinchona tree producing anti malaria drug Quinine.
Mr. Gardner, with great industry, launched upon the development of Peradeniya Gardens till his tragic death in 1849 with a fit of apoplexy at the Rest House of Nuwara Eliya, the prime sanatorium of the colonialists in the Central Highlands of Ceylon. His untimely death left his work towards a Ceylon Flora incomplete. "Gardner Monument" was erected at the park to his memory.

Dr. Thawaits's 30 years of unbroken selfless service to the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens
Gardner was succeeded by a man who wouldn’t be his second best: Dr. Thwaites. Dr Thwaits’s term of service extended over thirty unbroken years, during which he never left the Island of Ceylon. A devoted student of the science of Botany, Dr. Thwaites is credited with bringing world wide recognition to the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens. He retired in 1880, and died in Kandy in 1882.
While their fellow Englishmen were busy game hunting, killing thousands of elephants, killing mammals and birds, those illustrious botanists of Ceylon at the Perdenaiya Royal Botanical Gardens, contributed with their tireless work towards enlightening their follow colonialists with the value in conservation of biodiversity and floriculture of our Sri Lanka Holidays.

peradeniya botanical garden - lanka-2 peradeniya botanical garden - a nice scenary orchids at peradeniya botanical garden
Peradeniya botanical garden peradeniya botanical garden peradeniya Botanical garden
perdeniya botanical garden perdeniya botanical garden - palm trees perdeniya botanical garden - natural benches
perdeniya botanical garden perdeniya botanical garden perdeniya botanical garden
peradeniya botanical garden peradeniya botanical garden peradeniya botanical garden
peradeniya botanical garden peradeniya botanical garden peradeniya botanical garden
orchid an old tree at the Royal botanic park, Peradeniya peradeniya botanic garden

Sunday, August 12, 2012

AYUBOVAN (may you blessed with a longlasting happy lifetime)

 'AYUBOVAN' you all. It is the time to know about the amazing pearl of the Indian ocean, Sri Lanka, a land with a heart. Get into know why Sri Lanka is called as a gorgeous travel place to visit.


  "where everything smells of the sun, of spices and for places, passed through brown hands, drenched in tropic rains, dried by equatorial sun and shaded by primeval forests" -- Herman Hesse.

      Discovery upon marvelous discovery awaits you. A fluttery pilgrimage of butterflies from all over the island towards a peak bearing a footprint said to be Adam himself. An orchid which looks like the Kandyan dancer himself. Singing fish at Batticaloa.
Kandyan Dancer Orchid
 
        Kaleidoscope from a bleached beach to waterfall in 4 hours -- paddy fields metamorphose into brooding jungles in less than four hours. You have all this variety in the boundaries of this one small island called Sri Lanka.

Friday, August 10, 2012

The Hill Country - coolest places to visit

          Whenever good tea is drunk, the flavor of of Sri Lanka's Hill Country will always be enjoyed, for this ruggedly beautiful terrain which rises from 3,000 ft, to beyond 8,000 ft. is the home of the world's best tea. The route to the hills -whether by road or rail - is a passage through range after range of tea-draped hills; through narrow passes beside deep ravines, over gushing streams.







                     Temperature drop with elevation, and waterfalls create  their own turbulent mist or cascade in the distance in beautiful scenes. Clouds float by you to lay a soft mantle over still unopened buds of tea. The air is mint-fresh, with that aromas of eucalyptus laced with that of fresh, green tea where spring is always in the air.

                     The hill country is sprinkled with colonial hill stations...built by the British planters who opened most of the region first for coffee, then cinchona, and finally tea which conquered.Badulla, Dikoya, Bandarawela, Dimbula, Talawakale, Bogawanthalawa, all these and many more names are linked with the flavor of good tea.















Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Gorgeous travel Places to visit in Sri Lanka

              Hay! In this blog i am providing the most glamorous and  attractive travel places to visit in Sri Lanka, including finest restaurant, hotels, beaches, religious places, beautiful sceneries and so on..






               Sri Lanka is a must place for all those who love the nature, beautiful sceneries and good holidaying. Just keep in touch with this blog, to have a good knowledge about this country. Same time if you are willing to get here, this is the best site to get the coolest places....

               If you are incurring doubts in traveling country, just let me know the stuff. I will reply the best solution. It may be about places, transport fees or about anything here......