The Indian Subcontinent - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 335

The hotel's environmental policy is also
designed to make it it in with the forest: waste
is minimized and recycled wherever possible,
noise is reduced and Heritance recently
purchased a belt of virgin rainforest surrounding
the hotel to prevent possible deforestation. This
also ensures there's plenty of wildlife to see - as
well as bird-, butterfly- and dragonfly-watching
walks, guests can take part in a nocturnal
snake-hike with the resident naturalist. Though
if you'd rather see snakes during the day you can
check out the hotel's own animal rehabilitation
centre and say hello to convalescing cobras and
vipers. Having seen them you'll probably want to
double-check those French doors before retiring
to bed.

458 watch
wildliFe in Bed,
sri lanKa

Propped up in bed, you're
glad you kept the French
doors to your balcony
closed - there's a veritable
crowd of monkeys out
there, tumbling about,
play-fighting, chasing each
others' tails and grooming
themselves. With such
a free floorshow each
morning, it's tempting to
phone the Heritance's five-
star room service and skip
the breakfast buffet.
The Heritance
Kandalama - designed
by Sri Lanka's leading
architect, Geoffrey Bawa
- lies surrounded by
thickly forested hills
and a shimmering lake,
looking as if it is on the
verge of being reclaimed
by the forces of nature.
Built so as not to affect
the course of the water
that flows underneath it,
and with roof-top gardens
festooned with creepers
that drape seven floors
down to the grass below, it
blends seamlessly into the
rock face into which it is
built. Despite having 152
bedrooms, five restaurants
and bars, three swimming
pools and an organic
spa, its stone facade is so
covered with greenery that
from the other side of the
lake you can hardly see it.

Need to know The Heritance Kandalama is
160km from Colombo, with the UNESCO
World Heritage Sites of Dambulla and Sigiriya
a 30min drive away. For further information on
accommodation, dining, activities, prices and
getting there visit W www.heritancehotels.net;
T [phone].

459 Go Further, slower on a
Keralan houseBoat

If you spend just a couple of minutes surveying
the waters from the grassy banks of a Keralan
river, all sorts of boats will pass you by: small
wooden canoes ferrying people from one bank
to another, long cargo vessels laden with sand
and stone, and sporadically, the vessel for
which Keralan tourism has become best known
- kettuvallam houseboats.
In 1991 Tour India launched the first tourist
houseboat - converted from an old kettuvallam
barge ( vallam means “boat” in Malayalam, kettu
refers to the way the boats were made using
no nails). Today it has six boats, each with up
to three cabins with attached bathrooms, their
windows peering out like rows of heavily lidded
eyes from the distinctive woven-palm roof.
Unlike many other companies which stick to the

(From top) A parakeet; The view from Kandalama Hotel;
Monkeys peering into the bedroom