Category Archives: tourism

Bernard’s Odyssey in Sri Lanka: Further Marvels

Bernard Van Cuylenberg, whose chosen title is  “An Odyssey: The Search for Heritage, Part Two”

Nilaweli Beach in 2020 –Pix by one Mike Roberts

PROLOGUE: Saying “Goodbye” is never easy. The “Goodbyes” I bid to the Staff at Nilaveli Beach Hotel after a relaxed idyllic holiday following the first leg of my tour was hard. This was where I cut my teeth on life’s road and the ties that bind me to this Hotel were, and remain, very strong. But there was a long road ahead, a road I never travelled before. Travice Ondaatjie, whose late Dad Mr. George Ondaatjie was my Boss when I worked for Nilaveli Beach Hotels Limited drove up to Nilaveli on Friday the 24th and told me that on Sunday the 26th March we would leave for Passekudah, Arugam Bay and travel down the Eastern seaboard right down to the Lahuggala National Park in Amparai to visit the archaeological sites there, and then head for Wellawaya and finally to Colombo.

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Galle Fort Today: Its Western Ramparts in the Sun

Amateur Camerawork by Michael Roberts, in Early April 2023

 I  was fortunate to benefit from the hospitality of Moninna and Gamini Goonewardena of Parawa Street and took the opportunity to record some of the work with autistic teenagers & children that was conducted at ECSAT in Wakwella Rd on the Friday (easily the most vital event during my stay).
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Galle Fort & Its Peoples in Black & White

Gagno’s Searing Camerawork

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Old World Charm: The New Oriental Hotel in The Fort of Galle

Joe Simpson, in https://www.worldgenweb.org/lkawgw/noh.htmlwith highlighting added by Thuppahi and pictorial embellishments from Joe on request or from his past articles plus other cameramen

“Preserving the spirit of a forgotten world”  ––  anecdotal glimpses of the New Oriental Hotel, Galle Fort, by Joe Simpson. otesaga@shaw.ca

Not long ago while reading a Canadian newspaper article about the restoration of Penang’s Eastern & Oriental Hotel, founded in 1885 by the Sarkie brothers, the same Armenian-born Malay Peninsula hoteliers who built Singapore’s legendary Raffles Hotel, I felt stirred to begin delving into the history of an even more venerable South Asian hostelry of my past acquaintance – Sri Lanka’s New Oriental Hotel.

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Mack & Tessa’s Glorious Cinematic Pictures of Sri Lanka Today

Two Weeks in Sri Lanka | A Recent Cinematic Travel Video: 

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Leopards in Sri Lanka: Rare Shots of Leopards in Fornication

A letter (reproduced today…….. https://thuppahis.com/2022/11/13/aussie-tourists-give-thumbs-up-for-tourist-scene-in-sri-lanka-today/#more-67980) from an Australian couple presents a Warm Thumbs-up for the Sri Lankan tourist industry today. …. Yes, TODAY. It should perhaps be evaluated in conjunction with a ground-breaking documentary on Sri Lankan leopards by the highly qualified Thivanka Rukshan Perera which is being aired by National Geographic at present (November 2022). This type of encounter, of course, is hard to come by – but Thivanka himself will be envious of the local tourist who watched and snapped a couple of leopards coupling in the wide-open spaces of a wild-life track.

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Aussie Tourists give Thumbs-up for Tourist Scene in Sri Lanka Today

Letter from Ray & Chris Czajko of Kensington, Victoria (November 2022)

The Czajkos would have been even happier, or become ecstatic, if they had accompanied Thivanka Perera on his leoaprd filming ‘safaris; or chanced upon leopards in fornication in the full ‘glare’ of a jungle track  (which Thuppahi is pleased to present in another item today).    This is the Circular Note sent by Thivanka:

Dear Family & Friends,

Despite all the negative reports we get every day in the press and on TV, it was heartening to read this letter from recently returned Aussie tourists to SL. It augurs well for the poor tour operators and hotels that seem to be struggling because of the lack of tourists from all the bad press.

I thought it worth sharing this with you. I hope you like it.”                                                    Continue reading

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Kingdom Australis! A Mosaic of Extraordinary Landscapes

Original Title reads: “Australian Specials: A Mosaic of Extraordinary Features”

In case you’ve forgotten, we are special aren’t we? … says a Dinky-die Aussie

  1. The Australian Alps get more snow than the Swiss Alps.
  2. 90% of Australians live on the coast.

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Twelve_Apostles_Great_Ocean_Road_Victoria_Australia_29943

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A Film that charts New Vistas for Sri Lanka: Malwatu Oya Soyaa

Uditha Devapriya, in Newswire, 19 October 2022, where the title reads “Factum Special Perspective: Culture as diplomacy in Sri Lanka” …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi and the title rendered as a long aa

The Malwatu Oya is the oldest and most important of the rivers in Sri Lanka. Its history is woven into the history of the country and its culture. Malwatu Oya Soya, in that respect, is a documentary not merely about the river, but the lives of the people and the society that it touched. Directed by one of Sri Lanka’s leading historians and intellectual voices, Malwatu Oya Soya made the rounds at several film festivals, in Pondicherry, Rome, and the Hague, winning awards and accolades at them all. It will have its first international screening on the 28th of this month at the India International Centre, in New Delhi.

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Snap! Striking Snaps by an Amateur on Holiday … & at Home

Sometimes, even an ordinary camera in an ordinary amateur hand can strike pictorial gold. I present here some striking photos taken on spec with an ‘everyday camera,’  that is, an “Olympus Digital camera”,while vacationing in Sri Lanka and elsewhere over the years.

 Twilight Catch? Fishermen casting net at sealine near Negombo …. I was at the prow of a hired boat which had travelled along one of the canals towards the sea and took this snap as our boat landed on the beach 

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