{"id":52741,"date":"2016-03-09T12:12:55","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T18:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=52741"},"modified":"2016-03-09T05:12:07","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T12:12:07","slug":"touring-belihul-oya-thoughts-on-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/03\/09\/touring-belihul-oya-thoughts-on-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Touring Belihul Oya &#038; Thoughts on Tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><label class=\"selectit\">By Garvin Karunaratne<\/label><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It was once a haven for weary officials<\/p>\n<p>Weary at work, attending to the chores of the people.<\/p>\n<p>They all\u00a0 emerged from the capital at Ratnapura,<\/p>\n<p>Worked the full day, inspections on hill and dale<\/p>\n<p>At the end they waded in the cool waters of Belihul Oya<\/p>\n<p>Resting their weary limbs<\/p>\n<p>And a good nights\u2019 rest, readying for the chores of the next day,<\/p>\n<p>All while the waters of Belihul Oya raged down heedless.<\/p>\n<p>Then it all belonged to the Govt Agent<\/p>\n<p>The Rest House Keepers worked spick and span.<\/p>\n<p>Everything was right- Cleanliness perfect<\/p>\n<p>Not a scribble on a wall, never a leaking tap<\/p>\n<p>Lest the Keepers\u00a0 face the wrath of the Govt Agent.<\/p>\n<p>Then he was all powerful. One word and that was all.<\/p>\n<p>It was not touristic,<\/p>\n<p>The Rest Houses served the officials on circuit<\/p>\n<p>That was the time when I served at Ambalantota<\/p>\n<p>Covering the Southern Province for paddy purchase and rice milling.<\/p>\n<p>When I inspected units in Galle,<\/p>\n<p>A hearty meal and rest at Hikkaduwa Rest<\/p>\n<p>At Kegalla, As Additional Govt Agent, in the Sixties<\/p>\n<p>When Premier Dudley ruled,<\/p>\n<p>Every Saturday and Sunday, for two long years,<\/p>\n<p>When the premier was in Lanka and he never never left our shores<\/p>\n<p>I met him at eight at the Warakapola Rest House<\/p>\n<p>A Pot of Tea and away we went<\/p>\n<p>Ready for a days\u2019 toil, attending development meetings following him throughout<\/p>\n<p>with a pad in my hand to write out his concerns<\/p>\n<p>The Rest House\u00a0 had to be perfect and it was.<\/p>\n<p>Then came the crunch<\/p>\n<p>Tourism had to be developed<\/p>\n<p>In the days of Minister Kalugalla<\/p>\n<p>He established Tourist Rests at Nuwara Eliya<\/p>\n<p>Kataragama and Anuradhapura and Bandarawela<\/p>\n<p>It was his concept to add, not to destroy what existed<\/p>\n<p>I yet remember the gleaming smile on his face, whenever I met<\/p>\n<p>But\u00a0 later, the tourist Axe fell on the Rest Houses<\/p>\n<p>They were wrested from the GA and entrusted to the Hotels\u00a0 Corp<\/p>\n<p>And later to make them\u00a0 better,\u00a0 to Galle Face.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-52742\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Belihuloya.jpg\" alt=\"Belihuloya\" width=\"341\" height=\"138\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Belihuloya.jpg 341w, https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Belihuloya-300x121.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px\" \/><\/p>\n<h1><u>The Now<\/u><\/h1>\n<p>One call to Titus at Kings Rent-a-Car<\/p>\n<p>Be it any time in the night or day<\/p>\n<p>Finds a sound reliable motor at the BIA.<\/p>\n<p>Off we get on at speed along\u00a0 the Rajapaksa Highway.<\/p>\n<p>This time we decided for Belihul Oya and Kataragama<\/p>\n<p>We had high hopes of\u00a0 Belihul Oya<\/p>\n<p>Despite its cost, well\u00a0 over eight grand,<\/p>\n<p>We all looked forward to enjoy the charm<\/p>\n<p>and the never ending cadence of the waters gurgling along,<\/p>\n<p>singing a song that we humans fail to decipher.<\/p>\n<p>When we visited last that was in the Eighties<\/p>\n<p>We had a real grand time, a very long bath in the cool waters<\/p>\n<p>eats, dinner, lunches- all sumptious.<\/p>\n<p>And we waited, enjoyed for days.<\/p>\n<p>Alas, as we turned in,\u00a0 the looks looked forbidding<\/p>\n<p>The waters had lost its charm<\/p>\n<p>With the opening up of the other shore, replete with shops and a road<\/p>\n<p>The stream no longer &#8211; a hide away, a lone retreat<\/p>\n<p>We stepped in, it was\u00a0 in the evening<\/p>\n<p>We were shown a room, with scribbled walls,<\/p>\n<p>Unkempt, not swept and dusted<\/p>\n<p>Not even an easy chair to sit on,<\/p>\n<p>We did complain and were shown an equally unkempt room<\/p>\n<p>It was clear we had lost; not worth\u00a0 eight grand<\/p>\n<p>We stepped in for dinner at eight hundred<\/p>\n<p>The table cloths that should be spotless were dirty<\/p>\n<p>Rice that was cold, perhaps the lunch left over<\/p>\n<p>A few specs of veg and a measly bit of meat<\/p>\n<p>A Perera &amp; Sons lunch packet would be far better<\/p>\n<p>Harking back to the GA days<\/p>\n<p>One report from a staff officer<\/p>\n<p>And the Keeper will not know where to run<\/p>\n<p>We kept wandering why we ever came<\/p>\n<p>All while the waters of Belihul Oya raged down heedless<\/p>\n<p>The Rests are now to serve tourists<\/p>\n<p>Tourists that would run a mile away from them<\/p>\n<p>The occupancy is low; The Rest has chased them away<\/p>\n<p>It is only a hungry passer by that stops for a meal<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the waters of the Belihul Oya can shake it all<\/p>\n<p>If it is to flow\u00a0 Tsunamilike,\u00a0 through the Rest<\/p>\n<p>All while the waters of Belihul Oya rage down heedless<\/p>\n<p>It was not worth another day\u2019s stay<\/p>\n<p>Our Lancer took on the winding Haldummulla road with ease<\/p>\n<p>We took the Koslanda Road one of the few roads Ruler Rajapaksa missed<\/p>\n<p>The road was narrow, through hill and dale<\/p>\n<p>We gazed at the waters cascading at Diyaluma<\/p>\n<p>Shimmering white and the silvery waters raging through<\/p>\n<p>Our tallest water fall<\/p>\n<p>The road needs\u00a0 to be built up to attract tourists<\/p>\n<p>We ploughed on via Wellawaya<\/p>\n<p>The pepper belt, pepper creepers everywhere<\/p>\n<p>Down through Tanamalwila<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>At Kataragama we marched into the Tourist Guest<\/p>\n<p>One of the Kalugalla Rests<\/p>\n<p>We were cordially greeted<\/p>\n<p>We were entering a well kept rest.<\/p>\n<p>We were shown a room, well swept, equipped with arm chairs,<\/p>\n<p>Not a scribble on the walls, not a spec of dust to find<\/p>\n<p>Only query- why no hot water.<\/p>\n<p>We had a tasty traditional meal<\/p>\n<p>Off to the Police Station<\/p>\n<p>Where often we get chased away,<\/p>\n<p>Not this time<\/p>\n<p>Seargent Abeywickrema\u00a0 gave a kind ear to my request<\/p>\n<p>A Car Pass to KiriVehera via Sella Kataragamea<\/p>\n<p>For ancient old people to visit the dagobas and worship with ease<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to the Police.<\/p>\n<p>Its all sad<\/p>\n<p>Belihul Oya is no longer what it was<\/p>\n<p>It is a hell hole now; its charm has gone<\/p>\n<p>And as I write Kitulgala tourism is dead<\/p>\n<p>With the building of a Hydro Power Project<\/p>\n<p>That will destroy the White Water Rafting on the Kelani,<\/p>\n<p>The only White Water Rafting in Sri Lanka and known world wide.<\/p>\n<p>All to grab 45 Mega Watts<\/p>\n<p>Why Kitulgala;\u00a0 Many more sites to grab more Mega Watts<\/p>\n<p>My circuits up hill and down dale in Kegalla, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya<\/p>\n<p>Can easily find sites for far more Mega Watts.<\/p>\n<p>But none for White Water Rafting.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But\u00a0 the waters of Belihul Oya\u00a0 gurgle on, heedless<\/p>\n<p>And the Kelani Waters rage on rocks, the doyen of white water rafters<\/p>\n<p>Both waters lament loud on how development is sabotaged<\/p>\n<p>The doors of tourism are being closed, shut<\/p>\n<p>By an unseen hand<\/p>\n<p>Destroying what we have<\/p>\n<p>All in the craze to make something else,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We creep on in quest of\u00a0 a mirage<\/p>\n<p>Ignoring or rather Devouring what we do have<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Garvin Karunaratne<\/p>\n<p>Former Government Agent, Matara<\/p>\n<p>4 th March 2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Garvin Karunaratne It was once a haven for weary officials Weary at work, attending to the chores of the people. They all\u00a0 emerged from the capital at Ratnapura, Worked the full day, inspections on hill and dale At the end they waded in the cool waters of Belihul Oya Resting their weary limbs And [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-garvin-karunaratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52741\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}