May 2000
Recent changes in the military situation in the North of Sri Lanka has necessitated the government to compel the population to direct their concerns and attention to the war with the ultimate objective of maintaining peace in the country.
As a result of the promulgation of the special regulations to maintain law and order of the country, the situtation in all areas where tourists visit and are accommodated remain calm without any changes in the situation that has prevailed. The government wishes to assure tourists extend the fullest protection to visitors and that they will not be affected in any way by the promulgation of these special regulations.
New Visa Fees for Foreigners
Visitors to Sri Lanka have enjoyed low visa fees, while Sri Lankans wishing to travel overseas have been charged higher and higher fees by the respective missions. The immigration controller announced recently that the visa fees to Sri Lanka would now be in proportion to the fees charged by that country for Sri Lankans travelling there. This new visa fee will also apply to Sri Lankans holding foreign passports and wishing to travel to Sri Lanka.
Sigiriya, the fifth century palace in the sky built by King Kasyapa and adorned with the world famous frescoes and the mirror wall graffiti, is threatned with cracks appearing in the boulder.
The high-powered Archaeological Advisory Committee consisting of Bhikkus, archaeologists, geologists, historians, Central Cultural Fund officials visited Sigiriya recently and decided on urgent steps that need to be taken to save the monument. Geological Survey & Mines Bureau and the State Engineering Corporation will together handle the remedial actions to be taken which would take about three years to complete.
Amoung the steps to be taken are removal of trees that are growing in the crevices and cracks of the rock, removal of splinters surrounding Sigiriya Rock which could cause threats in the future, monitoring and study of 50 ton rock which is causing concern, construction of a protective railing on the summit of the rock without altering the aesthetic attraction of the monument, uprooting of all unneccessary trees on the summit and immediate steps to prevent termites appearing on the frescoes, which has already been studied.
Defacing of the mirror wall is also causing much concern. A few years ago even the frescoes were defaced. AAC is of the opinion that flow of visitors, both local and foreign tourists may have to be restricted if the situation gets out of control.
April 2000
Space and Colours Gig
Check out yet another fusion music gig by Space and Colours on Wednesday April 5 at the Hilton Colombo. Space and Colours are a trio comprising Volker Jaekel – piano, Tunji Beier – drums and Itacyr Bocato – trombone, and play a blend of jazz, classical music and Indian music. The musicians come from different cultural backgrounds and with their inventive improvisations create, according to critics, startling musical textures and colours.
Pianist Volker Jaekel hails from Berlin and has had a formal study in classical and popular music, as well as with the famous Japanese pianist Aki Takase. Born in Papua New Guinea, drummer/percussionist Tunji Beier grew up in Nigeria absorbing percussion influences in that country, particularly with the Yoruba drumming tradition which he studied with the Nigerian Muraina Oyelami. He also had a spell at the Karnataka College of Percussion, in South India.
Hailing from Sao Paulo with latino roots, trombonist Itacyr Bocato Jr is a product of the Sao Caetano Art Foundation, and has played alongside popular musicians at festivals and concerts.
Be there.
March 2000
73 More Hotels
73 new hotels are now under construction to meet the targeted one million tourist arrivals in 2002, says the Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism. In the last five years, approximately 34 hotels have started operations with an investment of Rs 7,317 million.
Sri Lanka has at present 199 tourist hotels with 13,641 rooms. Accommodation capacity is the highest on the South Coast with 5,202 rooms, followed by Colombo City with 3126 and the Ancient Cities with 2,440. Greater Colombo’s accommodation capacity stands at 2119 rooms followed by the Hill Country at 543 and the East Coast at 543 as of 1999.
Ministry statistics reveal Western Europe continued to be the major tourist generating market for Sri Lanka with 275,796 tourist arrivals followed by Asia with 114,375 and North America with 18,477 tourists last year.
Theme Time
Chandra Wickremasinghe’s Connaissance Theme Hotels is an unusual idea. CT’s two properties, the Culture Club Resort in Dambulla and Le Kandyan in Kandy suggest precisely this.
The Culture Club Resort is all of 12 hectares of wooded, water-front land, in the heart of Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle, and offers the privacy of individual chalets on the banks of the Kandalama Tank. The resort is built around the concept of a village and the architecture and style support this theme. Chandra has even retained the services of a village elder “Pinhamy” who had lived here all his life, to meet and greet guests. Among its other trappings, the Culture Club is equipped with an Ayurvedic Centre. The CC even has a re-created traditional old village “Tea Shop” with mud walls and a thatched roof.
“Le Kandyan,” CT’s other theme hotel is a beautiful reality high up on the hills of Heeressagala in the hill capital Kandy. CT has attempted to recreat a bit of the grandeur of the island’s ancient kingdoms here. Some of its pillars are the original old wooden carved posts discovered by Chandra and transported to the hotel, providing an added touch of authenticity to this property.
In his attempt to present diversity to tourists, Chandra realised he needed new world entertainment, a discotheque. And so the “The Garage” was built. It resembles a modern automobile repair shop, but with the latest chart toppers booming instead of engine rev.
The Garage’s neon lights throw light on the large wall murals made of real sawn off cars, the front sections complete with headlights and grill projecting off the wall. These are surrounded by a collection of car parts like shock absorbers and silencers! Wall murals depicting figures of dancing men and women, also cleverly created out of a collection of car parts painted in luminous colours, add to the terrific atmosphere of “The Garage”.
Its tables are made of glass topped tar barrels painted metallic silver and the ashtrays made of cog wheels. The lower tables are created out of radiators and the low chairs made from a selection of old wooden bus seats which Chandra managed to salvage. The pool table stools are made of truck wheel rims and the floor tarred with a bit of sand scattered over! Just drive in.
February 2000
Maroon Town Gig
Maroon Town’s exciting nine members who combine breakbeat, ska, rap and dub in a high energy musical fusion will visit the island this week. The band takes its name from a remote upland community in Jamaica.
The multiracial band started life in Brixton, UK eleven years ago and while sticking to their fiercely independent ethos have released four critically acclaimed albumbs to world success. With a track that had only minimal distribution, MT crashed into the top five of the Spanish Radio Playlist, unseating George Michael in the process.
MT plays at the Viharamahadevi Park open-air theatre, Colombo on Friday, February 25, at the Town Hall, Galle the next day and at the Trinity College Hall, Kandy on Sunday, February 27. Be there.
Park for Butterflies and Dragonflies!
A butterfly and dragonfly park will soon be set up at Beekke, Galle under a joint venture project between the Neo-Synthesis Research Centre of Sri Lanka and Rainforest Rescue International, US. When completed, it will nurture 18-22 species of butterflies in the first year of operation and go on to expand to 130 species of butterflies and dragonflies.
“This will be the first of its kind in the world as this is the first among pre-designed biodiversity generators. What we have done is selecting a remnant tract of vegetation and build it up not only as a teaching and research centre for the people to visit but also as a venue that can generate its own biodiversity and spread it outside,” said the NRSC chairman, who is also Professor of Systems Ecology at Australia’s Monash University.
So, no cages, no barriers, no netting either, nada. Trust the Sri Lankans to love their B’s and D’s as they do their elephants.
January 2000
Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in the first 11 months of 1999 reached 396,114, up 17.9% on the same period in 1998. In its latest monthly bulletin, the Ceylon Tourist Board says tourist arrivals in the first 11 months of 1998 were 335,961. Arrivals in November 1999 were up 9.2% on a year earlier. Tourist arrivals were expected to be 17% higher for the whole of 1999 from 381,063 in 1998 and 366,165 in 1977.
