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| Sunday, 30 May 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Luxury train travel : Hitched to Hitachi by Chanuka Mannapperuma It travels through the mountains slowly like a snake, but roaring as if the sound of the engine and the horn notifying the people a train is on the way in this single track leading to the central mountains of Sri Lanka. But this train is very different from others. It's not an ordinary passenger train running from Colombo to Badulla (the end of the railway on the central hills). It is designed to cater to a group of people looking for joy in railway travel away from the often crowded trains. Travelling by the Hitachi train will no doubt be a good opportunity for local travellers, as it is becoming increasingly popular.
When we travel around the world, not only the places we visit but the mode of transport is also important. Introduced to Sri Lanka half a century ago, Hitachi was first patronised by to foreigners visiting the island. The train is fully air conditioned with rotating seats. The train was a gift from Germany to Sri Lanka in the sixties.The 50- year- old train is now fully owned by the Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) and is mostly operated through a tour agency. The cost of travelling in this train will depend on the journey.Seats can be reserved by way of railway warrants.Locals can now make use of this rail facility. The train has two sets of four engines. One set can accommodate about hundred passengers while the other caters to sixty passengers. It has a small kitchen, dining room and bathrooms. About ten staffers travel on the train for the convenience of passengers. The train was initially powered by steam engines before it commenced running on diesel. Now the authorities plan to use electricity to operate the train, a guard said. This train runs from Colombo to Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Badulla. Suburban services are more profitable, he added. When I was inside the engine room I saw, drivers using both the tablet system and colour light system. During its journey from Colombo to Badulla, the colour light system is used from Colombo to Rambukkana while the tablet system is used from Rambukkana to Badulla. This particular system prevents two trains running from opposite directions, which in turn helps to avert collisions. The Head guard and his deputy are available to answer questions about the tour. With well experienced drivers, you can even get a chance to learn how the engine works. While travelling, if anyone is interested they can enjoy a ride in the engine driver's cabin which would certainly be a memorable experience. ######## Giant bats, exotic butterflies and multinationals by Shanika Sriyananda A few kilometres off the commercial Subic - the port, factories and commercial establishments and we came to the natural Subic with beaches, the hidden Apaliin Trail with the rain forest and mangroves and the Bataan forests, the waterfalls and steams. It is not only the monkeys on the road and the fruit bats at roost during the day but the Bats in flight at sunset above the 'Bat highway'. It is also the sea eagles, the orioles, kingfishers and wild ducks in Triboa Bay that make it so exotic.
" Stop ... stop... ", Gemma Ragadio, ordered the van driver to stop near a huge old tree. The tourists were looking up the tree and tried to click their cameras. It was unbelievable. Giant bats, was hanging upside down by its hind feet wrapping their wings around their bodies like blankets. The tourists tried to capture a picture of a giant 'flying fox' - a Philippine Giant Fruit Bat, the largest of all bats in the world (Gemma told us) - that they were seeing for the first time in their lives. We stopped at the Triboa Bay - the Mangrove Park, which has a high biological diversity and in which the forest ecosystem meets the marine ecosystem. It serves as nursery, breeding and spawning ground for diverse of aquatic and terrestrial species. The Ilanin Rain Forest, which is of immense scientific importance, is a symbol of successful economic development combined with care for the world's rainforests that is a model for the 21st century.
The Philippines indigenous Aeta folk are the guardians of this forest, with rich bio-diversity. This is also a home for a wide variety of birds such as the Sea Eagles, the Philippines Hawk Eagle, Hornbills and the Luzon Bleeding Heart and many other flora and fauna. A total of 34 species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians can be found in Subic Bay. According to her, Subic Bay has been a popular diving site since the 1990s and is one of the best wreck dive sites in Asia. Trained by the Navy Seals in the early 1960s, these Aetas are now served as forest rangers and guides to eco-tourism attractions in the Subic Bay. They also teach survival techniques and other secrets of jungle life. Subic Bay Butterfly Garden is one place that children can learn to care about the wonders of nature. The Subic Bay Miracle and Camayan Beaches is one of the nesting sites for three of the endangered marine turtle species in the world. The Green Sea Turtle, Hawksbill and Olive Ridley can be found in this beach. Macaque monkeys, which exist only in Asia, live in the Naval Magazine Area of the Subic Bay Freeport and were there to say 'bye' to us at entrance of the Subic Bay Industrial Park. ########### International coverage for 'Elephant Corridor' The Conde Nast Traveller magazine, a prestigious upmarket travel magazine worldwide, a subsidiary of Vogue, has within a year featured "Elephant Corridor" Hotel, Sigiriya for the second time, in its latest issue. In its drive to be a one of a kind, small, luxury, designer, lifestyle hotel of truly international dimension, the "Elephant Corridor" has been fortunate that the time of peace has resulted in it being featured internationally both in the electronic and print media and helped the hotel in bringing out its uniqueness. BBC, World, London Observer, International Herald Tribune New York, Vogue Japan, Ha Wa Yu Japan, London Times, Mariee, Lun de mile, France, Design and Reise, Germany, Threesixty Degrees (360), UK, Globetrotter, Japan, Go now, India, Blue Travel Portugal, are some which have given coverage to the hotel among many others, together with national electronic and print media in all three languages who have carried the hotel forward as a national cause. Reaching into the next generation of hotels, as will be known internationally is a set goal, "Elephant Corridor" hotel is achieving, as it develops to reach its full potential in every way. It showcases more of Sri Lanka's biodiversity, art, history, and tradition than being just another hotel. It is a lifestyle for the truly discerning local and foreign traveller.Where the flight of the peafowl, pug marks of a leopard and shadow of an elephant blend with the backdrop of a 1500 year rock fortress, 1000 year old tourist graffiti celestial maidens painted on the rock surface, again 1500 years ago which widens into the mystique of Sri Lanka's past and present rural lifestyle, where kingdoms flourished over a few thousand years, have left their mark in a wider circle in a magical island. |
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