Tangalle is one of the best tourist attractions in the southern belt of shallow seas. It's very popular for its beautiful shallow beaches and outstanding hotel industry which is prevailing currently. One of its most popular beaches is 'Parevi valla' beach which is only about 1 km from the city town. This place is known for its beauty and mostly as the safest place to take a sea bath for a whole family. In the evening, you will find lot of local and foreign visitors enjoying themselves, some playing cricket, volleyball, football etc. and others making fun with their family. Many foreigners use the place for diving and observing coral reefs.
tangalle beach
fisherman in tangalle beach
Tangalle is very popular for the top class tourist hotels. Some of them that any tourist would dream to spend couple of holidays are Bay hotel, Harmony City Bungalow, palm paradise cabanas and so on. One can view all the hotels by clicking on here. Out of these Bay hotel would be the best selection if anyone is seeking a luxury lifestyle whereas most of other places would give a simple but yet comfortable holiday experience.
bay hotel
bay hotel
Tangalle is famous among most of the tourists for the spicy foods that represents the Sri Lankan culture. It's the best place for anyone who is willing to study country's culture, traditions and its style of living. Tangalle being a city with cultural norms have very friendly people who are always willing to help. Tangalle is a must visit for any foreigner which gives a glimpse into the beauty of Sri Lanka. It's a marvelous place to have a great experience in Sri Lanka living by the sea.
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.
Services and amenities
Private check-in and check-out
9 restaurants and 4 bars offering a range of dining experiences to suit every taste
Specialty restaurants
Wine Lounge combined with an underground wine cellar
3 grand ballrooms and 6 function rooms
Wedding and Conference facilities
Galle Face Hotel Spa, a 20,000 sq. ft. spa inclusive of Colombo's largest saltwater swimming pool and gymnasium
Personal Butler service
Business Centre offering all Secretarial facilities
The plush 'Piazza' Shopping Arcade offering designer labels
A Salon
Laundry Services
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
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 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.
'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 discoveryawaits 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.
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.
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......
