Stunning Srilanka: COLOMBO

Colombo Skyline from Galle Face Green

Colombo is the international gateway to the island of Sri Lanka, and so almost all visitors arrive by air. Luxury cruise ships berth here briefly, and at this time there is a ferry operating here from South India.

Major airlines that touchdown in Colombo include Sri Lankan Airlines, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Jet Airways, Qatar, Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Thai Airways, among others. Flights to Colombo are available from Europe, the Far East, and South Asia.

Whichever route you take, you will arrive at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake, which is the only international airport in the country. The airport is located approximately 32km to the city center.

We took Mihin Lanka from Mumbai to Colombo. The journey started from the airplane itself with those Sri Lankan ladies as very caring and courteous air hostesses. That surely makes you very happy. The journey lasted for close to 2 hours and 30 minutes from Mumbai. Once landed and done with visa and all, we first exchanged our dollars to Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR). Then we hired a taxi to the main city which came to Rs. 3000/- LKR including express-highway flyover. Now the main drama starts. The city is changing so drastically, including the names of lanes that its very difficult to locate the exact address until you ask some hundred people. And every-time they say a different route. But we booked ourselves a home-stay via air-bnb, so may be that was causing the issue. But finally we reached our first home-stay in the upmarket Cambridge terrace.

We stayed for three days in Colombo city. It was very welcoming to see a city close to India in such 'perfect' condition. Well mannered people. Excellent infrastructure. Planned roads. Great traffic sense. It was truly love at first sight although the weather was hot.

Whenever a trip to colombo is mentioned, the standard response is “you MUST make time to visit Paradise Road”. This lovely little cluster of peace located within the hustle and bustle of central Colombo has a retail outlet, gallery shop and restaurant, all housed within the former offices of world renowned Sri Lankan architect, the late Geoffrey Bawa (Geoffrey Bawa Trust No: 11,33rd Lane, Off Bagatelle Road, Colombo 03.

And after a spot of shopping there is no better treat than coffee and cake at The Gallery Café on Alfred house road….heaven! And before you head there do take a peek at Bare Foot Cafe store, gallery and its cafeteria which is in the same neighborhood. Truly beautiful.

On a sunday we took the Tuk-Tuk to Colombo Fort which is the old city to say so. Here we have the Dutch Hospital opposite the WTC. We enjoyed walking around the Dutch Hospital area, but were sad to notice that it was much smaller than we had anticipated. This consists of just a few shops, a handful of restaurants, and not much else. We were not impressed with the amount to do, but the Dutch Hospital area is certainly worth a visit as it has a very charming old world look. Do not plan to spend the whole day shopping here as we only saw about 3-4 stores open. It had great restaurants and nice shops such as a LUV SL store that sells nice tourist items that are similar in style to what they might sell at Colaba causeway in Mumbai. This is near the World Trade Centers and very close to Galle Face Green which is very clean and good to have an evening stroll.

Colombo is also your gateway to Sri Lanka. So, spend a day or two, and enjoy the blend of East and West.

Things to do:

1. Visit National Museum
2. Shop at Paradise Road (not the name of a street/road but of a store)
3. Buy sarongs from Barefoot Cafe.
4. Escape to tea heaven at t-Lounge in old town
5. Dine at Park Street Mews on Park Street
6. Buy souvenirs from Odel LUV SL store
7. Go for a sundowner at Galle Sea Face Hotel
8. Take an evening stroll at Galle Face Green
9. Explore Pettah market on a sunday
10. Visit Saskia Art Gallery to catch their current art show

Life size banner of a bridal store

Pigeon on the roof of Dutch Hospital

Heladiv Tea Club at Dutch Hospital

Mosque at Dutch Town

Barefoot Cafe

Porcelain at Paradise Road store

Aesthetics inside a Colombo house

Quirky door at Paradise Road store

A tastefully done-up house in Colombo

Pelican on a  light pole at Galle Face Green

Mosque reflection in the World Trade Centre Towers

A hotel in old town

World Trade Centre

View outside Odel LUV SL at the Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct 

The longest chandelier in the world at a museum in old town

Various types and flavours of tea at t-Lounge by Dilmah

Cargills, the oldest supermarket in old town

Pantry at Milk and Honey Cafe at Barnes Place

A devotee offering flowers at Gangaramaya Temple

Buddha statue under a banyan tree at Gangaramaya Temple

School kids marvelling the array of Buddha statues lining the Gangaramaya Temple

Sunset as seen from Gangaramaya Temple

A sculpture at Paradise Road store

A heritage structure built in 1910

Town Hall

Buddha statue outside the National Museum 

The National Museum

Interiors of a restaurant called The Commons

Colombo Parliament Building

Insides of t-Lounge by Dilmah

Reclining Buddha against the Colombo sunset

Paradise Road store

The towering WTC peeping out from behind Cargills

Old-styhle architecture being re-used in new constructions

Our first train journey was from Colombo to Nanu Oya with Expo Rails. Amazing 5 hours of journey passing through the tea estates, hills, rivers, waterfalls and some 30 odd tunnels, is a memory I am going to cherish forever. The Train leaves by 0945am from Colombo Fort and drops you at Nanu Oya by 0430pm. Nanu Oya is the closest station to get down to do a 45 minutes taxi ride to the british town, Nuwara Eliya.

Next: Nuwara Eliya.

Stunning Sri Lanka!

Sri Lanka for many might be the adventurous, sultry and exotic destination, but then one can definitely get surprised once they start to explore it themselves. No doubt the country offers many packages to suit your mood, from beaches to hill stations to tea estates to rafting to snorkeling to partying to just chilling. You name it and they offer it. I, along with Inder, decided to do otherwise. We did everything little of everything.

1. Exchange your Indian currency into Dollars in your respective city.
2. Once you land at the Colombo airport look for the counter and exchange the dollars into Sri Lankan rupee.
3. Always book the taxi from the airport to the main city.
4. Remember the city is drastically changing so it might be difficult to locate the address if you are doing home stays.
5. Book train journey online itself.
6. Its better to take the local train from Colombo to Hikkaduwa/Galle or Unnawatuna.
7. Carry enough water when stepping out.
8. Also use a very good sun screen.
9. You may hire a two wheeler easily across any city. Research on the net before hand.
10. You should definitely try String Hoppers or one of the many variety of Hoppers (egg, honey, banana etc...) along with sambol and chutney for breakfast. Yum yum!!!!
11. Sri Lankan's eat lots of bread and maida. So prepare yourself.
12. BARGAIN with the tuk tuk fellows beforehand. They don't ply on meters.
13. Make sure to tip well.
14. Keep your words/conversation clear. A lot of them don't understand Indian way of speaking english. Think you are talking to some european!
15. lastly please smile and say hi/hello when you enter any store/restaurant/home as people over there are very courteous and friendly.
    
    
    
    The fishermen in Welligama. The Paradise Road store. view from the train.
    
    
    
    Nuwara Eliya sunshine. Temple of Tooth in Kandy. Helga's Folly.
    
    
    
    Tea Estates. A pony relaxing in Nuwara Eliya. Wall mural in Kandy.
    
    
    
    Wax for Batik. Tea Estates. Sculpture in Hikkaduwa.
    
    
    
    A view of Church, street and sun set in Galle Fort.
    
    

Very soon I shall be doing each city, with respective pictures, that we visited during our 11 days holiday.

Nir Arieli Brilliant!

During my regular 'art-artist' browsing, I came across this brilliant photographic series. Wish I can paint some of them.

Presenting Nir Arieli.

He launched his career as a military photographer for the Israeli magazine Bamachane, before receiving a scholarship to pursue a BFA at New York’s School of Visual Arts; he graduated with honours  Nir's photographic passion is within the portraiture and dance fields. He is an admirer of beauty and gentleness, these qualities are the heart of his work.

Nir received the Silas H. Rhodes Scholarship (2009-2012), SVA's Photography Department Award (2009, 2011) and the 5th Year Award by Gotham Imaging and FotoCare (2012). He was chosen as one of the 2013 talents to watch by "Next" magazine, won 1st place in the PDN "Faces" portrait contest, and the Curator Award in Rolling Shutter Film Festival (both 2012). Nir was nominated for the Tierney Fellowship (2012) and PDN’s 30 New and Emerging Photographers (2013), was a finalist in the Google Photography Prize (2012) as well as in W. magazine's “In A Fashion Minute Video Contest” (2010) and a semi-finalist in the Adobe Design Achievement Awards (2012). His work has been published and exhibited in the USA, Europe and Israel, and his New York clients include the Juilliard School, The Alvin Ailey school, The School of Visual Arts, Time Out NY, Pontus Lidberg Dance, MADboots dance, Company XIV and The People Movers Dance Company, among others.

Nir is represented in NYC by Daniel Cooney Fine Art gallery and in North Carolina by MoNAgallery. His solo show "Inframen" will open on January 16th 2014 at Daniel Cooney Fine Art gallery in NYC.

Four Towers of Hyderabad

We all know Charminar. We all love Charminar. Its a landmark and prestige for Hyderabadis like the Eiffel tower for Paris. Its a status symbol.

Built on the east bank of Musi river in 1591, Charminar in english means four Towers; the eponymous towers are ornate minarets attached and supported by four grand arches.

The Charminar is a square structure with each side 20 meters (approximately 66 feet) long, with four grand arches each facing a fundamental point that open into four streets. At each corner stands an exquisitely shaped minaret, 56 meters (approximately 184 feet) high with a double balcony. Each minaret is crowned by a bulbous dome with dainty petal like designs at the base. Unlike the Taj Mahal, Charminar's four fluted minarets are built into the main structure. There are 149 winding steps to reach the upper floor. The structure also known as profuseness of stucco decorations and arrangement of balustrades and balconies.

The structure is made of granite, limestone, mortar and pulverised marble. Initially the monument with its four arches was so proportionately planned that when the fort was opened one could catch a glimpse of the bustling Hyderabad city as these Charminar arches were facing the most active royal ancestral streets.

There is also a legend of an underground tunnel connecting the Golkonda fort to Charminar, possibly intended as an escape route for the Qutb Shahi rulers in case of a siege, though the location of the tunnel is unknown.

A mosque is located at the western end of the open roof and the remaining part of the roof served as a court during the Qutb Shahi times. The actual mosque occupies the top floor of the four-storey structure. A vault that appears from inside like a dome, supports two galleries within the Charminar, one over another, and above those a terrace that serves as a roof, bordered with a stone balcony. The main gallery has 45 covered prayer spaces with a large open space in front to accommodate more people for Friday prayers.

The clock on the four cardinal directions was added in 1889 and there is a Vazu(water cistern)in the middle with a small fountain for Ablution before offering prayer in the Charminar Mosque.

Here are some pix that I took when I climbed it for the first time. Inshallah I will take better pix when I go there next.

Nashik here I come

...and finally I travelled to Nashik.

I've always wanted to visit this place since I heard about it from my partner who was born and raised in this historic and holy land of the Kumbh Mela, the River Godavari, sanatoriums and more recently, the wine industry.

The train journey from Dadar to Nashik Road is a little above three hours with many trains to choose from, most departing every half hour from each other. Many Nashikars come to Mumbai every day for work and there are several trains dedicated to this bunch of inter-city travellers. We chose the ever popular Panchavati Express that departs from CST at 18:10 hours.

Located on the northern side of Maharashtra, Nashik is surprisingly cooler and cleaner and feels like a massive tank of oxygen, especially to the lungs of a city dweller. During our two-day stay it rained and night temperatures plummeted to 6 degrees.

Besides exploring the crowded and dirty Godavari we also got a chance to do a quick detour to the Sanatoriums. The magnificent houses are built and owned by Parsis. They are worth a treat to take a leisure evening walk and admire the british style construction. It's said Nargis Dutt came and stayed at Nur Sanatorium while she was undergoing treatment for cancer.

Here are some pictures clicked by me.

The Sanatoriums