Escapades in Sri Lanka

Every establishment needs good employees. All individuals require a committed confidante. Every household needs a watch-person and every family needs a guardian. They could be your parents, grandparents, a relative or just any other person that one might be comfortable to be taken care by…. In short, a Caretaker. In a different context and in relation to the industry of hospitality, he or she is akin to a custodian for a specified period. This custodian, in this narration, transforms into all the above as a caretaker at this place that one might be inclined to call, a peaceful holiday bungalow in the hills of Sri Lanka. His name is Janaka. Janaka, a prematurely retired Special forces guy from the Sri Lankan Army, has taken it upon himself to enhance his army training, quite boldly, towards the hospitality industry by undertaking a holiday home in the hills of his hometown named Moragolla, in the district of Kandy, at a place called the “ATT’s Eagles nest.” His Missi...

The sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight part is the least of any passenger’s worries. It is an excess of other setbacks that tends to be troublesome. The nightmare is everything else. Ticket prices that keep changing, visa requirements, fees for excess check-in bags, frequent delays, long queues, indignities of security and border controls, inadequate staffing at gates, and the constant scuffles at airports.  Yes, he might be the king, but certainly not at the aircraft door.  Thereby, arrives the Service aspect as the value addition.   What is service. Service is nursing. People come with problems and service personnel need to listen, understand, attend, and care. Fulfilling these basic requirements would create happy moments. In short, reassuring that the consumer receives what is expected. Service entails an element of engagement. Through research, pundits believe that “one off” customer service will cease to exist and shall be all about consumer engagement; the art...

16th of March 2019, designed by a group called “Art of Travel,” my son and I embarked on a venture to conquer the sixth highest mountain of Sri Lanka as a part of a quest to fulfil our objective of achieving the task of climbing the ten highest mountains of this beautiful island that we so cherish to call home. Peaking at an elevation of 2212 meters “Great western” has nothing significantly or remotely related to any western film but situated amidst the tea plantations in Talawakelle named the Great-western tea estate rather perplexingly. One must take a left turn at the Talawakelle town to a point that has only a walking path to the GW railway station at the foothills of this mammoth massif. The access from the town consists of a 14 kilometres drive plus 1.5 kilometres walk to the station and is the last place to fill up on your non-elaborate essentials for the hike. A two-kilometre walk along the railway track took us to a methodically paved Kovil stairway on to our l...

“Cycling is a blissful diversion; one would realize its pleasures only through indulgence and not otherwise.”   The big fellow was a muscle builder not ridden for 12 years. Two more purchased their push-bikes the day before, and a few found rusting two-wheelers from some sort of refuge.   As confusing as it may sound, the four ladies and the five guys were gearing for a never before accomplished adventure in their lives. The bikers, from ages of 17 to 50 years, capitalized on an opportunity to cycle from Nuwara Eliya to Gampola on machines they were not too comfortable with. A new venture for this team.   At three in the morning on the 7th of August, expressing enthusiasm, the bikers left Colombo in a minibus to Nuwara Eliya whilst the bicycles were dispatched carefully stacked onto a lorry. On the way, breakfast heavy and yummy was at Pussellawa rest house and the presumable riders reached Nuwara Eliya at nine thirty. The weather chilly at 12 degrees Celsius, breez...

One never encounters its true beauty.   In retrospect, it is known to be the misty village on the slopes of Piduruthalagala and therefore, seclusion from the regular traveller.   The trip, limited to two guys, in an ancient SUV on a bright August morning. The sun was blissfully shinning, blessing us to enjoy the journey despite the forecast of constant misty rains at our destination. Setting towards Kandy before sunrise, diverting from Peradeniya to Galaha, Rikillagaskada and turning right towards Nuwara Eliya was an absolutely pleasurable drive. To one’s left far away were the Knuckles Mountains and then the forests of the Loolecondera tea estate with the Piduruthalagala mountain range to the right. A four-hour drive with breakfast at a thosai kade (eatery) in Galaha and another one and a half hour drive to the village of Mandaramnuwara were filled with exhilaration coupled with adventurous mindsets. Our route to Nuwara Eliya was known to be used by bullock cart...