Travel

Pasikudah beach Paradise in shades of blue

Lakshmi DE SILVA in Batticoloa

They were enjoying the cool waters without boundaries, uninhibited, free from fear in their hundreds. The sunny beach and the clean sea around them added to their enjoyment. Some had come from as far away as Colombo and others from all parts of the country. The curved shell shaped Pasikudah beach with different shades of blue pleased the eye .

With the dawn of peace people in Sri Lanka had now started to move about freely without fear after three decades. There were Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people from many parts of the country enjoying the beach without any differences.

Though there were many checkpoints at various points before you reach the Pasikudah beach all the officers at every checkpoint were friendly and smiling bringing a close relationship with whoever they checked. There were young boys on bicycles in groups, there were buses, vans, cabs, jeeps and cars and there were enough space to park the vehicles near the beach.

Ice cream, gram, hand made reed hats, handbags, and other hand made materials sellers, fancy ornaments sellers and even dry fish sellers were seen gathered to earn a living selling wares under tree shade before you reach the beach.

There were security personnel, army, police and home guards were seen on duty who remained in the background without interrupting the visiting crowds but keeping a vigilant eye on the crowd.

Some of the children were enjoying the shallow waters of the Pasikudah beach while some children clung on to their parents and were screaming in fear. But some of the young boys were in a different world playing shouting and swimming. Most of the Muslim girls were seen in their long Salwar Kamiz hand-in-hand enjoying the placid waters and breathing the freedom gained after many decades from terrorists.

There were also a number of fishing boats on one side of the beach and a boat service for visitors to take a short boat ride on the calm sea opposite the beach and the boatmen had brisk business as there were a lot of people who wished to take a boat ride.

They knew the art of marketing their living and were very friendly to their customers though they could hardly speak Sinhala words.

Priyantha a 37 year old fisherman from the area said they reap a good harvest from the sea these days but within a months time when the rains start the sea gets rough. A kilogram of Hurulla fish was only 50 rupees on Sunday morning and the big fish was around 200 rupees a kilo at the Pasikudah beach, he said.

There were more Sri Lankans and a few foreigners but the disheartening matter was that visitors to this beautiful beach had polluted it with discarded polythene bags, plastic bottles, empty ice cream cups and wrappers making this nature's gift dirty so that there could be a threat to tourism though it held much promise to be developed as a tourist resort.

There were no sanitation facilities to cope with the large numbers of holidaying people and the people had to be educated about the importance of keeping it clean. There was no sign of a local body or some authority to look after Pasikudah beach and the local authorities should take immediate steps to stop the pollution of the area and improve the facilities even if a nominal fee could be charged, most visitors said.

Some security personnel said there were local tourists who had consumed liquor on the beach and fought on it and a number of vehicles were also damaged in an incident last week. Still a large number of people were coming to Pasikudah and the authorities should take some action to ensure that elements who disturb the tourists were prevented from creating such incidents.

THAI Airways will promote new package tours

Text and picture Ganga ILLEPERUMA

In a development that will greatly enhance connectivity between THAI'S international and domestic operations in Bangkok, all THAI flights will, from this summer, be directed solely through the Thai capital's ultra-modern Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Thai Airways commenced its Sri Lanka operations in 1976 and has remained a very good market in their network. 'We never cancel our flights and we always give great service to our passengers. Now we have only four flights and next year it will be increased and passengers can fly conveniently. All our flights land in Bangkok and it is our base. Like Sri Lanka, Japan is also a good destination in our network. We have four destinations in Japan such as Tokyo etc,' said Thai Airways International's General Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Weerawath Swasdhibutra.

The airline will promote new package tours between Sri Lanka and Nepal and the airline has already negotiated with travel agents in both countries. Thai Airways will organise Familiarization (FAM) Trips for the Travel Agents from both countries soon. These two countries are one of the key areas that could be promoted for religious tourism.

THAI currently operates to 8 key destinations throughout India, covering major commercial centres, tourist gateways and winter seasonal pilgrimage travel to important Buddhist and Hindu religious sites. THAI passengers flying to and from Bangkok can enjoy special discounts during this summer when purchasing a wide range of duty free goods.

In response to the dining preferences for its many Muslim passengers, THAI has a special flight kitchen in Bangkok devoted exclusively to the preparation of Halal in-flight meals. Till October 31st 2009, Royal Orchid Holidays will be offering this massive special promotion, giving passengers the best of value for the best of Thailand, with lower prices.

'Australia and Myanmar are also our good destinations in our network. For long destination we offer meal vouchers to our passengers. Along with destinations such as Japan and China we also have 6 such as Hongkong, Chengdu, Beijing and Shanghai etc.

The airline has a thrice-weekly service to Beijing via Bangkok, and also flies to Hongkong three times a week. Specially in Beijing flights have on board trained Chinese Passenger Assistants. The airline has enhanced awareness of Sri Lanka in China by carrying out publicity campaigns in three provincial cities with each attended by over 100 Chinese travel agents.

Travelon concludes their 2nd successful tour to Egypt

The September tour to Egypt by Travelon Ltd was a resounding success and due to the huge demand will venture on their 3rd tour during February'10.

The tour took place during 19th to 28th September with the participation of Sri Lankans & a U.S expatriate residing in Sri Lanka. The group travelled from Colombo to Alexandria via Sharjaha on Air Arabia which is a UAE based company which deploy brand new A 320's with an average age of not more than 3/5 years.

On arrival the group was accorded a warm welcome by Mr. Ahamed Marmar of Egypt Travelonline, a destination management company based in Cairo.

Alexandria

The group visited the most important sites of Alexandria namely the Citadel (with the submerged Light House - which is one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World) Montazza Palace, Catacombs, Pompei's Pillar, Roman Amphie -Theater and of course the renowned Alexandria Bibliotheque (Library) which has even characters from the Singhala alphabet.After a brief stay at Alexandria which has the Mediterranean sea frontage the group reluctantly said good- bye to this bustling city with over 5 Million population & headed south to the Capital city of Cairo.

In Cairo the highlight was of course the 3 Pyramids, Sphinx & the Cairo Museum which contains the Tut An Khamon Mummies & the Treasures. After shopping at the Papyrus factory & perfumery the group boarded the " Nile Express- Sleeper Train" from Giza station at 8 p.m. to spend the night in a luxury train, which would take them to Aswan by 10 a.m. the next morning. Needless to say tasty meals were served on board for dinner& b'fast & the conductor turned the seats in to cozy & comfortable sleeping quarters in a matter of minutes.

This was a welcome change for the Sri Lankans who had endless " horror stories" experiencing Indian trains on their " Buddhist circuit" tours to Bodgaya.

At the Aswan station the group was welcomed by the tour guide Mr. Zakaria with a coach based in Aswan & the group had the opportunity to see the world's longest dam the " Aswan High Dam " with 4 km in length across the mighty Nile & built during President Abdul Nassar's era in 1960's. They also visited the unfinished Oblix and Nubian Village.

Sahara Desert

After checking-in to our luxury Nile Cruise " Nile Crocodile" the group undertook the most important site visit of the "Upper Egypt" Abu Simbel temple which is dedicated to King Ramses 2 and Queen Nefertiti. Abu Simbel which is situated about 250 km from Aswan across the Sahara Desert is reached by a vehicle convoy with Army & Police escort. It is reported that at least 5000 tourists visit Abu Simbel daily.

With the Nile Cruise sailing away from Aswan to Luxor & the river flowing towards the Mediterranean via Cairo the group visited Komombo Temple dedicated to God Horus, Edfu & Esna water lock which is an engineering marvel used daily to cross the river Nile by the vast number of Cruise Ships.

Valley of Queens

When the ship docked at Luxor the visit to Karnak temple was the highlight (night - sound and light laser show)along with Valley of Queens ( for Mummies ) and Queen Hatshepsuts Temple on the West Bank of the Nile .

Luxour shopping was a highlight with the Sri Lankan group & the final departure from Egypt was from a remote town called Assiut which operates only a Military airport, but however serviced by Air Arabia.

With the group travelling from Luxor to Assiut to connect the flight the group was able to experience a whole new concept of rural living in Upper Egypt and according to Assiut airport authorities it is the first time that a Sri Lankan tour group has ever travelled through this airport. It is also probable that the Assiut ( ATZ) airport saw the 1st ever foreign tour group through their doors.

The next full comprehensive tour to Egypt will be during 18th to 28th Feb 2010.The tour group is seen in front of the Pyramids and Abu Simbel.