42 Year Old Eatery Serving SriLankan Style Pork Rice & Curry - Kattayar ...

#itaste #belihuloya #srilankanrice&curry Belihuloya is a village in the Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is approximately 150 kilometers from Colombo on the Colombo Badulla highway.

Belihuloya is situated at an elevation of 616 meters (2,021 ft) above sea level. This hillside location is a climatically transitional area, linking both the dry and wet zones and the hill and low country.

Belihuloya is derived from the Belih Oya ("Oya" being the Sinhala word for river), which flows through the area. Google Maps Location; https://www.google.lk/maps/place/Hotel+Shiroma/@6.7089765,80.7581546,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3ae38babe041948d:0x1951f76475141187!8m2!3d6.7089712!4d80.7603433 Hotel Shiroma or Kattayar Kadae as the locals call it is situated just before Belihuloya when you pass the balangoda town. In operation, for 42 years this eatery is run by its second generation owners now.

They serve dishes like the parota, kothu parota, pol roti, srilankan Rice & curry , appam etc.., They have chicken, fish and pork to chose from as side dish.

They sometimes have wild bore curry too ( wild bore meat is leagal in srilanka) The evening appam is special here, having those crispy and hot appams with a side dish is heaven. If you happen to pass by this way don’t forget to try their rice and curry.

The chicken rice & Curry is priced at 250/- llr The fish and egg rice & curry priced at 180/- lkr The vegetable rice & curry priced at 130/- lkr

                         

Worlds Most Scenic Train Route - Colombo To Badulla - Train Travel Through Beautiful Landscapes Of Srilanka

 #traintravel #colombotobadullatrain #itaste

Worlds Most Scenic Train Route - Colombo To Badulla - Train Travel Through Beautiful Landscapes Of Srilanka
The Colombo to Badulla railway is one of the most scenic railways in the world. This railway is featured in many countries' national television as part of SriLankan tourism. This railway was built by the British during their rule. It was mainly used by them to escape the heat of the capital city Colombo and travel to the upcountry.

The train starts from Colombo - pettah junction and ends in Badulla. The train stops at popular tourist destinations and the main mention is Kandy which is the 2nd largest city in the country and homes the elephant sanctuary. The train also stops near to Nuwareliya home to tea plantations and the grand hotel.

The route is complete with beautiful scenes of waterfalls, tea plantations, tunnels. You will hardly be at your seats as there is so much to enjoy outside.

If you visit this country, this train journey is a must!

                          

Resort Stay With Private Water Falls And Excellent Non-Veg Food - Wijaya Holiday Resorts - SriLanka

#wijayaholidayresorts #resortsinsrilanka #iTaste
Resort Stay With Private Water Falls And Excellent Non-Veg Food - Wijaya Holiday Resorts - SriLanka
Google Maps Location; https://www.google.lk/maps/place/Wijaya+Holiday+Resort/@6.7434574,80.2420039,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!3m7!1s0x3ae3b0d451ae712f:0x2221d51473a65db1!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d6.7434521!4d80.2441926
Website - https://www.wijayaholidayresort.com/

Located in Kiriella, Ratnapura, along the Padukka - Ingiriya - Ratnapura highway, Wijaya Holiday Resort is a 50 Acre resort with private waterfalls, boating, free bikes, garden, free WiFi, etc. Featuring a 24-hour front desk, this property also welcomes guests with a restaurant, a water park, and an outdoor pool.

The private waterfall is a must enjoy the attraction. A river that runs through the resort is blocked in many areas forming natural pools, the water that falls into the pool looks like a natural waterfall. This is a great attraction to enjoy with your friends and family.

There are varieties of rooms in different budgets with balcony that has a perfect view.
Wijaya Holiday Resort offers a continental or buffet breakfast.
I had a Srilankan cuisine lunch with rice and curry. There was deviled chicken, deviled cuttlefish (cuttlefish deep fried and then deviled), fish fry, fish curry, greens, okra fry, beans curry, dal and to finish my sumptuous lunch, I had fruit salad with ice cream. An excellent style Srilankan style lunch.

This place is ideal for day packages, where people come in groups to enjoy campaigning, the waterfalls, the pools, and its food.
There are camping in tents too. For more details, you can visit their website or plan your bookings through booking.com
The room will cost 15000 lkr / 81 USD for 2 adults with breakfast.
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Sunrise At Lipton's Seat - Haputale, Srilanka - Amazing View

 #liptonsseat #srilanka #itatse

Sunrise At Lipton's Seat - Haputale, Srilanka - Amazing View

Google maps location;

https://www.google.lk/maps/place/Lipton's+Seat/@6.7806575,81.0132959,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3ae46e34030893af:0x3886114faff7476b!8m2!3d6.7806522!4d81.0154846
Liptons seat is a Tourist spot with a beautiful view at the Dambatenne Estate, Haputale Sri Lanka. It is said sir Thomas Lipton used this spot to survey his tea estates which spread around 2500 acres from this place.

Sir Thomas Lipton came to Srilanka during the late 1800s and fell in love with the country. He was the reason for starting the Ceylon tea.

A lot of Indians were hired from India for working at the tea estates. These people even today are called INDIAN TAMILS in Sri Lanka.

How to get there.....
There are 2 routes to get to Lipton's seat.
1- From Haputale you have to take the Dambatenne Estate to get to Lipton's seat. This is the main route that most people take
The roads are narrow
2- From bandarawela you have to take the nayabetta estate route and come up to Lipton's seat. The roads are not that good but tourists from Ella, choose this route because it is near.

A Tuk-tuk is the best option to travel here. Or by a two-wheeler.

The view from here is amazing. 3 or 4 provinces can be seen from here. 2 or 3 lakes can also be seen from here.
The gates to Lipton's seat opens at 5.30 am. Tourists come at this time to see the sunrise. Though I went a little earlier, the gates were opened at 5.30. If we want to go earlier we can park our vehicle at the gates and trek all the way to Lipton's seat which is a 1.5 km walk.
The sunrise was amazing .. in a few minutes, mist covered the whole area and the sunrise looked amazing. To see how beautiful the sunrise was you have to view the video.
The view was so amazing and looked extraordinary
There is only one eatery in this spot. The menu is limited here. There is Lipton tea, coffee, and hot roti with spicy sambol. The roti was hot and soft and tasted amazing for the cold climate.
The place closes at 5.30 in the evening. It is a great place to come with family and enjoy the amazing view. A FEAST TO YOUR EYES.

                       

ZIPLINE ADVENTURE At Flying Ravana - Ella, Srilanka

 #megazipline #flyingravana #itaste

ZIPLINE ADVENTURE At Flying Ravana - Ella, Srilanka

Google Maps Location Link; https://www.google.lk/maps/place/Flying+Ravana+Mega+Zipline/@6.8661067,81.0598689,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3ae465767f6c6707:0x4a975162cb36da71!8m2!3d6.8661014!4d81.0620576
This flying Ravana, a mega zipline is in Ella, a town in Badulla district near bandarawela, Srilanka.
The flying Ravana is owned by 98 acres resort.

This place is not very difficult to find. It is just a few kilometers from Ella town. You can take a tuk-tuk from the town. If you are coming in a car, you will need to park on the main road and walk for a while.
Zipline is not the only attraction at the flying Ravana, they have abseiling ( climbing down a mountain with ropes) got to know this word just that day. Then there is ATV riding, Air gun-shooting, archery, and a few more new attracting coming later this year.

The cost of the zipline is 2500 for Sri Lankans and 20 us dollars for foreign passport holders. The repeat ride is 1000 SriLankan rupees.
If you go to a zipline then there is a 50% discount on all other attractions. So my suggestion would be to go for the zipline first and then choose other attractions if needed.
This zipline is 550 meters and it takes a person 35 seconds to finish.
IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE, BUT A VERY SHORT ONE.
The other thing I noticed is that only if both your hands are on the handle you travel straight, if one hand is on the handle and on the other hand you are holding something like a camera, then you tend to turn as I did, Which spoils the whole fun. So if you want to go on the zipline make sure both hands are on the handle.
There is also trekking to little Adams peak, you could try that for a great view.

                   

Travel Vlog - Beach Resort With A Beautiful Sea View - Ypsylon Resorts - Beruwala, Srilanka

 #ypsylonresorts #beachresorts #itaste

Travel Vlog - Beach Resort With A Beautiful Sea View - Ypsylon Resorts - Beruwala, Srilanka
Google Maps Location; https://www.google.lk/maps/place/Ypsylon+Tourist+Resort/@6.4547263,79.9756543,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!3m7!1s0x3ae22e4656f61d4d:0xde100cf7a4731e5!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d6.454721!4d79.977843
How To Get There-
The resort Ypsylon is situated in Beruwala, the southwestern part of Sri Lanka

One hour and 40 minutes drive from the Bandaranaike international airport.

The resort can be easily reached from Colombo if you take the Galle bus and get down at beruwala. From Beruwala the Tuk Tuk will charge you 200 Srilankan rs to take you to the resort.

The resort is well maintained with comfortable rooms and a swimming pool. The view of the sea is amazing and you can keep staring at the horizons.

If you like you can also take a dip in the sea, but the waves are strong so you have to be cautious.
The Breakfast was a simple one because of the lockdown. There was bread, butter, and jam. Egg of your choice and fruit plate. Even though it was simple it was amazing to taste.
The swimming pool is amazing and has a max depth of 10 feet. It was refreshing to swim.
A great place with a fantastic view which I definitely recommend to visit.

                          

Travel Vlog - LOWER DIYALUMA FALLS - A Visit To The SriLanka's 2nd Highest Waterfalls

 #diyalumafalls #diyalumawaterfalls #iTaste

Travel Vlog - LOWER DIYALUMA FALLS - A Visit To The SriLanka's 2nd Highest Waterfalls
Google maps location;
https://www.google.lk/maps/place/Diyaluma+Falls/@6.7331496,81.0292286,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3ae46c352d6455e3:0x28c362117103a1b1!8m2!3d6.7331443!4d81.0314173

Diyaluma falls, the 2nd highest waterfall in Sri Lanka, and the 361st highest waterfall in the world. This place is situated in the central UVA province of Sri Lanka in the Badulla district. The easiest way to reach the lower section is from Beragala junction.
I went to the lower section of the falls, to get here we can take the Badulla to Colombo highway. At the Beragala junction if we travel 24 km towards koslanda we can reach Diyaluma waterfalls. This is the lower section of the waterfalls.
To go to the upper section you have to go from poonagala village, which I will try to do in some other video.

The best way to reach the lower section of the falls is by a Tuk-tuk from beragala junction. If you are staying in Ella you can take the three-wheel from there. From Ella, you can either go through poonagala village or come through Beragala town.

On reaching the lower section of the falls you will have to trek to the falls which I found a little difficult. The view of the falls was amazing. The water fell from a height of 220 meters. The view around was great. There are hotels where you can stay near the falls. The towns of haputala, bandarawela , Ella are filled with hotels in all kinds of budgets for the tourists. I would recommend staying in Ella because that is the most happening place around these areas..


                  

Travel Vlog - Barbeque Dinner At A Private 35 Acre Tea Estate

 #travelvlog #srilanka #itaste

Travel Vlog - Barbeque Dinner At A Private 35 Acre Tea Estate

A family friend invited us to his Tea estate to spend the evening
The estate is situated near Hatton, central parts of Sri Lanka. It's a 35-acre private tea estate with a guest bungalow. They have organic vegetable farms, many fruit trees, and a big pond that is currently under construction. There is a small waterfall to bathe too.
The food was delicious with items like chicken barbeque, sausage barbecue, rice, dhal, tin fish curry, roti, etc..

                       

15000+ வருடம் பழமை வாய்ந்த சிவலிங்கம் சிலை - 15000+ Years Old Siva Lingam Statue - 200th Video - Travel Vlog

 #shivalingam #shivalingamstatue #iTaste

15000+ வருடம் பழமை வாய்ந்த சிவலிங்கம் சிலை - 15000+ Years Old Siva Lingam Statue - 200th Video - Travel Vlog

Temple Location where the Statue is kept ; https://www.google.lk/maps/place/Rathneswaram+Sivan+Kovil/@6.6792549,80.4055491,19.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x3ae3bf0b0f14eadb:0x9b0868f97e85b667!8m2!3d6.6792039!4d80.4068246

Over a conversation with Mr.Mahesh of Mahesh Gems, he told me that three years back they found a lingam structured stone that was discovered while mining for Gemstones. so I met Mr.Arunachalam the temples ex-president where the statue is presently kept, and had a discussion with him.

And so an idea for my 200th video was born.

It so happened in the village of karapincha, 7 km from Rathnapura in Sri Lanka, the men while mining for gemstones happen to find this statue at 60 feet depth.
They brought the statue to the surface by using bocklin trucks. When Mr.Arunachalam heard of this, he went to the spot with the temple priest and they knew it was a lingam. They made arrangements for it to be taken to the temple at Ratnapura.

Mr.Arunachalam says since gemstones were found above and below the statue, the statue should be more than 15000 years old since a gemstone takes as many years to be formed. He also says that this has to be a lingam statue because there is a round base carved out of the same stone so that the statue can be placed firmly anywhere.

For now, the statue is placed outside the temple and a place for it is yet to be decided.
Few other Gem entrepreneurs suggest that gemstones take more than 15000 years to form and so the statue has to be very much older than that. And for the gemstone to get its colour it takes a hundred thousand (lakhs) of years
So the age of this Siva Lingam statue and its period remains a mystery !!

                              

Buffet Breakfast At Srilanka's Expensive Hotel - The Grand Hotel - Nuwara Eliya

#thegrandhotel #srilanka #itaste

Buffet Breakfast At Srilanka's Expensive Hotel - The Grand Hotel - Nuwara Eliya
Nuwara Eliya is a tourist destination for many because of its lovely climate and its beautiful view. Nuwara Eliya is situated in the central parts of Sri Lanka.
The Grand is a posh hotel built in the year 1860s, situated in Nuwara Eliya. We booked it on a Bed & Breakfast basis. The lobby was very posh with magnificent interiors. They have a classic bar, pool, snooker area.

They have a tea lounge where a variety of tea is available to be tasted.

The Buffet breakfast was fantastic with both SriLankan and continental cuisine

There were sausages, bacon, bread items, jams, fresh juice, and fruits in the continental menu and items like noodles, chicken, vada, Srilankan roti, Katta sambol, fish curry, idiyappam, appam varieties in the SriLankan menu. The food tasted great.

                        

KATHIRGAMAM TEMPLE - Few Interesting Facts About Kataragama Dewalaya

 #kathirgamamtemple #kataragamatemple #itaste

KATHIRGAMAM TEMPLE - Few Interesting Facts About Kataragama Dewalaya
In thisvideo , you will get to see the kathirkamam and Chella kathirkamam temple.
Also, you can hear about a few interesting facts about the temple.
I met a temple priest and he said few facts about the temple which you hear. Kathirgamam was the place where Lord Muruga came to worship lord shiva. Here he met Valli, where he fell in love with her.
The specialty of this temple is that there are no idols that you commonly see in other temples. There is a wooden box that contains powerful scripts( in Tamil they are called ENTHIRAM). This box is not shown to the public. It's just a screen with a picture of the Lord Muruga that people worship. The box lies behind the screen and the pooja is done to the box.
There are no mantras or archanai's done here at this temple. The priests cover their nose and mouth and show the fire lamp (theeparthanai) and ring the bell.
Though lord Muruga is a Hindu God, you will notice a lot of Buddhist people coming to the temple and worshipping him. Here in kathirkamam or Kataragama as the Sinhalese say, the temple is not only for the Hindus but the buddist as well !!