What I love about the type of hotels (cheap!) I usually stay at is that they are usually built, owned and run by people who are from the area and not professional hoteliers. As they are not professionals, they avoid the common pitfalls that the chains make (like offering bland, washed ...

What I love about the type of hotels (cheap!) I usually stay at is that they are usually built, owned and run by people who are from the area and not professional hoteliers. As they are not professionals, they avoid the common pitfalls that the chains make (like offering bland, washed out, often boiled western food that their cooks barely ...

(click here to see more reviews of burgers in Sri Lanka) (click here to see more reviews of fast food places in Sri Lanka) Naming conventions are an odd thing in Sri Lanka. Many shops have rip off names, taking a well known name and modifying it just a little bit. Whether it's a little guy running ...

(click here to see more reviews of burgers in Sri Lanka)(click here to see more reviews of fast food places in Sri Lanka)Naming conventions are an odd thing in Sri Lanka. Many shops have rip off names, taking a well known name and modifying it just a little bit. Whether it's a little guy running a pastry shop called Move'n'Pick ...

(Click here for more posts about hotels in Sri Lanka)(Updated Sep 2010) We visited the Chalets at Victoria Golf Course last year as a one night stopover on the way from Dambulla to Nuwara Eliya. We needed a place to stay in Kandy and we just didn't ...

(Click here for more posts about hotels in Sri Lanka)(Updated Sep 2010)We visited the Chalets at Victoria Golf Course last year as a one night stopover on the way from Dambulla to Nuwara Eliya. We needed a place to stay in Kandy and we just didn't want to stay in the usual city hotels with their abundance of cement and ...

Driving on Sri Lankan rural roads is heaven. The main roads are usually carpeted, well maintained and traffic-free. But I also mean it in an aesthetic sense: rural roads here are surrounded by lush greenery, ancient trees, flowers (which I struggle to grow in my own ...

Driving on Sri Lankan rural roads is heaven. The main roads are usually carpeted, well maintained and traffic-free. But I also mean it in an aesthetic sense: rural roads here are surrounded by lush greenery, ancient trees, flowers (which I struggle to grow in my own garden) growing wild, lakes, sea, beach, cloudless blue skies and sunsets.But what is usually ...

In my previous existence in New York City, we used to go to the most upscale restaurants and see how we could come out with the lowest bill. We used to call this game 'Being Broke.' Or 'Being Poor.' Here in Sri Lanka, the way to do this is to go into a posh hotel ...

In my previous existence in New York City, we used to go to the most upscale restaurants and see how we could come out with the lowest bill. We used to call this game 'Being Broke.' Or 'Being Poor.'Here in Sri Lanka, the way to do this is to go into a posh hotel and eat at the coffee shop ...

(Click here for more posts about hotels in Sri Lanka)(Updated Sep 2010)Many hotels in Sri Lanka have evocative names that they do not live up to - "beach" hotels with minimal, unswimmable beaches, "resorts" which barely meet the criteria of a single star and ...

(Click here for more posts about hotels in Sri Lanka)(Updated Sep 2010)Many hotels in Sri Lanka have evocative names that they do not live up to - "beach" hotels with minimal, unswimmable beaches, "resorts" which barely meet the criteria of a single star and "eco" lodges which are eco only because the plumbing doesn't work.Rock View Hotel (Motel?), near the ...

88 Chinese looks like the usual Sri Lankan Chinese restaurant with fried rice and hot butter cuttlefish galore. When we go to 88, however, we do not order the usual. We order "chicken rice." I suppose it's Hainanese Chicken Rice but that's not what we order. We order "chicken rice" and that's what we get. Chicken ...

88 Chinese looks like the usual Sri Lankan Chinese restaurant with fried rice and hot butter cuttlefish galore. When we go to 88, however, we do not order the usual. We order "chicken rice." I suppose it's Hainanese Chicken Rice but that's not what we order. We order "chicken rice" and that's what we get.Chicken rice is a plate of ...

The hotel trade in Sri Lanka is an odd business. Down south, cookie cutter hotels with blue pools and blah buffets next to a sliver of beach are full every weekend while one in gorgeous low country tea land, right next to a waterfall in an intensively green, landscaped environment languishes, ...

The hotel trade in Sri Lanka is an odd business. Down south, cookie cutter hotels with blue pools and blah buffets next to a sliver of beach are full every weekend while one in gorgeous low country tea land, right next to a waterfall in an intensively green, landscaped environment languishes, empty.Bopath Ella Rock Chalets Hotel is in Kuruwita, just ...

(Click here for more posts about hotels in Sri Lanka) (Updated Sep 2010) Judging a hotel by how you get to it is like judging a book by its cover. The drive to World's End Lodge, Lower Ohiya (drive on the A4 past Belihuloya and turn right at Kalupahana Junction and keep going up, up and up) ...

(Click here for more posts about hotels in Sri Lanka)(Updated Sep 2010)Judging a hotel by how you get to it is like judging a book by its cover. The drive to World's End Lodge, Lower Ohiya (drive on the A4 past Belihuloya and turn right at Kalupahana Junction and keep going up, up and up) was excruciating. When we turned ...

Quick, where does anyone stay in Puttalam district? Apart from Dhammika Holiday Resort which does not overcome its unpromising name and Puttalam Rest House, there's pretty much nothing. Just before a monitoring visit to Puttalam, however, a friend told me about the Mudhouse which is in Anamaduwa off the Puttalam Kurunegala Rd. The way there is promising, beginning ...

Quick, where does anyone stay in Puttalam district? Apart from Dhammika Holiday Resort which does not overcome its unpromising name and Puttalam Rest House, there's pretty much nothing. Just before a monitoring visit to Puttalam, however, a friend told me about the Mudhouse which is in Anamaduwa off the Puttalam Kurunegala Rd.The way there is promising, beginning with a massive ...