something different Archives - GlenMyu Estate Luxury Bed and Breakfast

All I want for Christmas is……..a comfortable chair!

Holiday, Sri Lanka, Things to do on holiday in Sri Lanka / By Mikeez

All I want for Christmas is...... a comfortable chair!

What is it about a comfortable chair?

If a chair is comfortable enough its a great place to:

read the newspaper and pick up on yesterdays goings on and all the gossip

get stuck into a book and never lift your head

take in the view and just feel that you are so lucky

think without any distractions

have a conversation with a friend or loved one

have a delicious cup of tea or coffee, whichever is your poison

have a glass or two of something a little stronger

or perhaps to have a much deserved forty winks!

I really like the idea of having a chair that’s so comfortable you can just nod off.

Surely, that’s just bliss!

I have been to many hotels over the years where there isn’t a comfortable chair in the room.

Mostly there is only one chair so, being a Gentleman, my wife tends to be the recipient of the desirable object.

I have a theory that, if there are comfortable chairs in the bedroom, guests are unlikely to leave the room, and therefore provide the hotel with an opportunity to make sales.

This really makes sense but it’s just not what we are about in the Hill Country.

No compromises at GlenMyu Estate, Haputale, Sri Lanka.

An important requirement for me when furnishing the house at GlenMyu Estate was to have comfortable chairs in all the bedrooms and in the lounges.

If I wasn’t comfortable sitting in the chair, I didn’t want to offer it for a guest to sit on!

I just think that this is fair to the customer.

Sometimes we have given up a bit of style for comfort, however, I really believe that it’s a compromise worth making.

A little bit of research which opened up various rabbit holes!

As I was thinking about a comfortable chair I decided to do a few searches on the internet and see what I could find.

Well, it led me to some crazy but interesting places!

The Chesterfield

One of the most desirable sofas is the famous Chesterfield.

I found a “History of the Chesterfield Sofa” on timelesschesterfields.com

It talks about that they are one of the most world renowned sofa designs. They are defined by their large, rolled arms that are the same height as the back.

The Chesterfield design allowed gentlemen to sit comfortably without creasing their suits.

Chesterfields date back to the mid-1700’s when Lord Philip Stanhope commissioned a piece of furniture that evolved into todays Chesterfield sofa.

Lord Philip Stanhope was the fourth Earl of Chesterfield and this is where the name comes from.

For more information on the history please visit

There are several factors which makes a chair comfortable and they are outlined in the following blog.

https://www.residencestyle.com/the-types-of-chairs-what-makes-a-chair-comfortable/

Music and comfortable chairs???

The Comfortable Chair album by The Comfortable Chair

I was surprised to find that there was a California based pop psychedelic sextet called “The Comfortable Chair” which was formed in 1968 and only released one self titled album that year.

The name of the band refers to sitting in a comfortable chair while meditating.

They feature in a Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason comedy movie called “How to Commit Marriage” and played a rock group associated with the young people in the plot. They performed a protest song called “A Child’s Garden”.

Their songs can be found on YouTube.

The Kooks - The Sofa Song

Ed Sheeran - Sofa Lyrics

“The 7 Best Songs about Furniture EVER”

Now this is getting a bit silly!

Here is the link if you are interested in finding out more!

https://www.piecebypieceinteriors.com/blogs/the-7-best-songs-about-furniture-ever/the-7-best-songs-about-furniture-ever

Comfortable Chairs and Sofas at GlenMyu Estate, Haputale, Sri Lanka.

We have leather sofas, comfortable armchairs, wooden chairs with rounded backs, metal chairs

Even the metal and wooden chairs we have are comfortable.

A little bit more about GlenMuu Estate.

We would be delighted if you would spend some time at GlenMyu Estate to enjoy this unique experience with us.

For more information, rates and availability please visit our website and contact us either by telephone, whatsapp or by email.

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2022 – A good start!

Holiday, Sri Lanka, Things to do on holiday in Sri Lanka / By Mikeez

I’ll always remember that look on your face.

The start to 2022 at GlenMyu Estate has really been fantastic.

The worst time to open!

Opening in 2021, in the middle of a global pandemic, with very few tourists coming to Sri Lanka and interprovincial lockdowns. It made it difficult for local tourist to discover us, was a real challenging start.

We were delighted however to host the guests that were able to come.

And we learned a lot from the experience that they had.

A place for families

We originally didn’t think that the Estate would be a place for children.

How wrong we were!

The families that have stayed with us have just loved the freedom of space. Our guests also loved, the animals (primarily our seven dogs and varying number of ducks), and how comfortable that they have been here.

People are starting to get it

The Estate is a place where you can get away from busy lives. A place to take time out to spend with people you love and are great friends.

An exciting new offering to discover and explore.

We have lots of seating areas around the five acre estate. There are great places where you can just sit, enjoy the surrounding nature and spend time with each other. It will be a place of tranquility without the distractions of everyday life.

Swimming in the refreshing Natural Spring Fed Infinity Swimming Pool. It is a great place to create memories with the family.

Ru’s food has been wonderfully received and there have been plenty of compliments from our guests.

It’s really hard to explain what we have here - you only really get it when you stay a few days.

We have had several guests that have stayed one night. They wished that they had stayed longer. We also have had guests that have extended their stay as they have enjoyed it so much here.

Ru and I are also pleased that we have already had some returning guests despite having only been open for a short time.

It just makes us feel so good and puts a smile on our faces.

We even did Christmas

We had originally decided to close over Christmas so that we could spend some time together.

However, we had a call from a returning guest who wanted to book Christmas at the Estate. We are so pleased that we received the call. Both of us had a great time looking after two families for the festive period. It made the end of 2021 very special for us and will remain in our memories for many years to come.

New guests in 2022

We had a great start to the New Year!

Ru and I consider ourselves were blessed to have a couple who just got the vibe of the place so quickly. Ru and I just love having guests who love GlenMyu Estate and get what we are trying to do here. A 2 night stay was extended to 3 and we were so happy to spend more time with them.

New Countries for us to learn about.

We received our first bookings on booking.com and were so happy that people have started to find us through this platform.

We had our first guests, spread over the first ten days of January from Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia.

Ru and I learnt so much from these guests who just loved it here.

Our knowledge of these countries were limited before they came and we were so much better informed when they left for their next destination.

There was political issues in Kazakhstan when our guests arrived. It was heartbreaking hearing how it affected them personally and the challenge that they would find getting home as airports started closing down.

We found them to be a lovely couple. I will always remember the husbands face as we took him down to our hidden waterfall and he was able to jump into the cold, cold water delivered from the streams around the Estate.

The other guests were more relaxed and also loved it here.

When the couple from the Ukraine left there were (almost) tears in ours and their eyes. They just loved it here so much and really bonded with our dogs.

The Russian couple stayed for three nights and had a great time, really appreciating the surroundings and the view.

A highlight for us was when a French couple made a late booking. Both parties bonded and friendships were started when they did a trip together to Horton Plains National Park.https://amazinglanka.com/wp/horton-plains-national-park/

We now have a brief respite before a busy holiday weekend.

It is a long weekend as Thai Pongol https://www.sangam.org/CULTURE/pongal.htm is on Friday and there is a Poya (Full Moon) day on Monday.

We had so many enquiries about the holiday weekend. Unfortunately we were disappointed that we were not able to host as we already are fully booked.

Book early... or you may be disappointed.

We are recommending guests to book early if there is a National Holiday. There tends to be a large demand for these dates from local tourists.

You can find the National Holiday dates for 2022 on the following website. https://www.officeholidays.com/countries/sri-lanka

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Our Hike to BD Naketiya School, Koslanda

Charity work in Sri Lanka, Hiking in Sri Lanka, Things to do on holiday in Sri Lanka / By Mikeez

Our Hike to BD Naketiya School, Koslanda

Why go?

Ruwanthi is a local representative for the Wildlife Nature and Protection Society locally in Badulla district. https://www.wnpssl.org

It’s something that she has recently gotten involved in and is keen to do what she can to support this worthy institution.

An initiative was put forward recently for each area to submit a project to restore and protect endemic species in Sri Lanka with the generous sponsorship of Hemas Group.

We met a principal of a remote school in Koslanda and, after a long discussion about two potential projects, we decided we had better visit the preferred site to see if it was worthy of submitting a proposal.

The school historically served a Tea Estate which has now closed.

There was a landslide in 1996 and most of the villagers were relocated expect the ones who were determined to remain.

The children of the remaining villagers attend the school up until Grade 4 where they move to a new school.

The total number of pupils …..18!

The school is set within three acres of grassland and is abutted by a small stream and therefore, with careful planting, there appeared to be an opportunity to replant a small area with a variety of plants which would grow into a small patch of forest which would draw wildlife to the area.

The principal of the school, Anbu, warned us that there was a four and half kilometre hike to the school which he does every day.

Where is it?

BD Naketiya is located around four and a half kilometre hike from the main Koslanda Road and can be found on the map below.

Fit enough?

Anbu’s word of warning were there for a good reason. He looked at us, and me in particular, and was a little concerned that the hike would be too much.

A 7 a.m start

Anbu came to GlenMyu in the early morning and we followed his motorbike in our car to the start of the hike.

There is a road that can get to the school, however, Anbu has gone by motorbike and felt a little bit sick at the end of the journey due to the rough road.

It may be attempted by a good four wheel drive vehicle but when there is rains it would be quite treacherous even for the most experience 4 x 4 driver.

The start of the Hike

We had a beautiful sunny morning commencing the hike and we thought we were lucky because we were sure that it was going to rain on the day.

Well, I got a quick wake up call to my fitness level as the first part of the hike led us up quite a vertical rough stone walkway.

Here is how I sound as I attempt to keep up with the others on the hike.

As we walked we had some fantastic views of the landscape of the Hill Country.

Anbu loves nature and wildlife which is evident even after a short conversation with him.

Outside his school work he spends time as a guide on walks in the area and certainly has a really good knowledge of all the well known and lesser known places to visit .

Here is Anbu talking about a potential hike (24 km – way to much for me at this stage).

The first part of the hike is completed - phew!

You can see the beautiful scenery in the video below (sorry about the heavy breathing!)

Catching my breath and enjoying the view

An outline of the project

Here is Ruwanthi talking about the project that she hopes to submit to the Wildlife Nature and Protection Society.

Beware of the Elephants!

Elephants regularly can be seen in the area and there is evidence of them on the roads and also from the damage that has been done to various buildings as highlighted by the local villagers.

They advised that one elderly lady had been killed by an elephant when she was startled to come across the animal one evening.

The Human – Elephant conflict is a serious challenge in Sri Lanka and the Wildlife Nature and Protection Society are a key stakeholder in trying to protect the elephants and the people.

Some of the people we met.

Evidence of Elephants.

Elephant damage to buildings.

Here is Anbu talking about the elephants that can be seen in the area.

Still on the Hike!

A few friends that we met on the way.

Here I stop and take a short video of the line houses where some of the children live and have a long hike to their school.

The last part of the Hike - almost there but still breathing heavily!

Boy, I was pleased to be getting close to the school. I definitely need to improve my fitness if I’m going to do more of these hikes!

The school is set in the most beautiful place and although it has been a tough climb for me it was certainly worth it.

Probably - the school with the most beautiful view in the World.

Here is the splendid view from the school.

I’m sure that you will agree – it is just wow.

Murals on the school walls.

Hanging around on a rock

Hiking in the Hill Country

If you are interested in hiking around the Haputale area including Lipton Seat, Horton Plains National Park, Bambarakanda Waterfall, Diyaluma Waterfall, Pilkington Point or other hikes we can connect you with Anbu..

Stay in the beautiful Hill Country

A stay at GlenMyu Estate in the Hill Country, near to Haputale is a new experience as we only opened in 2021.

We have three fabulous bedrooms which have spectacular views of the hills towards the Southern Coast.

A refreshing swim in our natural spring fed swimming pool is a great way to ease those tender muscles from a hike.

To find out more please visit our website or and see our customer reviews on google.

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