Blogs from Kandy, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia
April 24th 2012
The ladies left prior to our waking. Today was the day I had been preparing for, one of the main reasons I came to Sri Lanka, besides a spiritual retreat. Today was elephant fun day! I had my eyes set on the Millenium Elephant Foundation, a non profit housing elephants for educational and recreational purposes. A bigger sanctuary/national park was available, but I had read that it was less hands on. We walked toward downtown and met a tuk tuk driver on the way. We negotiated and hired him for the day for about 10 dollars. He was veryfriendly, as are most Sri Lankans. Our first stop was the FounDation. For 30 dollars, we were able to bathe, get showered by, and ride an elephant. Of course, we had to share the same elephant, which was ... read more
April 22nd 2012
4/21 It has been a few days since I have been able to write. They have been filled with much adventure and good times. I haven't had a chance to sit down alone and meditate on my thoughts. After waking the next morning post casino romp, David and I had breakfast at the hostel and packed our things. I was going to attempt to purchase a train ticket to Kandy, something they had done a day earlier. I had hoped there was one left for me. We met Mariom in the lobby. She was accompanied by her friend from France, Audrey, a pretty brunette with a stern look. She had been on a flight from France to Doha to Colombo. Much like my own experiences with lack of sleep prior to my arrival, she had a ... read more
Just like India ..... only nice!
Published: March 22nd 2012Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Kandy
March 22nd 2012
Well here we are again, finally. After a few cold months at home then a few lovely warm months lounging around Thailand our travels have kicked off again, and it’s somewhere we have both been looking forward to immensely, Sri Lanka. A lot of friends, including two very good ones, constantly wax lyrical about the joys and splendour of this country so we couldn’t wait to see for ourselves. A stupidly early flight from Bangkok taught us one thing new about the city, it is possible to avoid the traffic jams, you just have to drive around at 4am. We landed at Colombo airport mid-morning and after thinking, briefly, about the kind offers of taxis for the 40km journey into the city, “very, very cheap Sir, we’ll even stop at a bank so you can take ... read more
March 22nd 2012
We had been slightly at a loss as to what we were going to do whilst in Kandy, mainly because there were quite a few things in the area that we wanted to see and very little time, so we had to be selective. After much deliberation and changing of minds we decided that our destinations would be the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage, Sigiriya Rock and Dambulla Cave Temples: we hoped we had made the right decision. We were not going to splash out on a guide and driver to the elephant orphanage and instead opted for a local bus. The guesthouse owner advised us to get an intercity bus towards Columbo, as it would be less congested and more comfy, get off at Udamulla and then catch a tuk-tuk or hop on a local bus to ... read more
Buddha’s tooth? Really, maybe or no chance at all?
Published: January 7th 2012Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Kandy
January 5th 2012
by Jan We entered the new year, the one with 366 days, and it was time to move on. Our holidays in Chiang Mai came to an end and it was time to get back to 'work' (travelling). We took the night bus to Bangkok, spent the day at the airport watching movies and in the evening boarded a flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka – our next destination. Upon arriving we were in for an unpleasant surprise. From the beginning of the year Sri Lanka started charging $25 per Visa on Arrival. If we arrived just two days before we could enter the country for free, but not any more. We paid the fees, got the receipt and were sent to the immigration counter. There we got our passports stamped. I love passports stamps, I am ... read more
Kandy, rafting, golfing and having a good time...
Published: October 27th 2011Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Kandy
October 19th 2011
You wanted pictures of amazing Sri Lanka, here they are! After Colombo, our first serious stop is the hill city of Kandy. You should have seen the smile of Tiffany when we told her we are going to Kandy...but hey little girl, this one is with a K, not a C! Our first question with Mari once we reached Kandy was...but where are the tea plantations? Well, we will found out later one that the tea plantations are higher, and actually to the South. Kandy is at 562 meters high. We took the three hours train from Colombo. It's only just over 100km, so you guess it, a very leisurely ride. 1st class was full, and would have been 3usd per ticket one-way. The second class was still more than appropriate, and was 2usd one-way per ... read more
October 1st 2011
We only did a couple of things in Kandy. We were feeling pretty lazy, and Ash has been increasingly under the weather. We saw a pretty incompetent doctor. Bit of a windbag, really, who seemed to think that Ash's nausea and exastion (which she had had for over a week at that point) were due to dietary issues, even though we explained that no, she hadn't been eating spicy food, and this had started in Turkey, so it can't just be Sri Lankan cooking. His suggestion was to pop 6 Aspirin a day for muscle pain (which she doesn't have). Hopefully we can get better care elsewhere. Anyway, we saw the Tooth Temple (where the Buddha's tooth is currently stored), which was really stunning, replete with lavish wood and stone carvings, and a lot of intricate ... read more
July 25th 2011
The ‘Grease Boothaya’ had struck twice. The first casualty was an old woman who was given enough time to complete her bath by a waterfall. Later the villagers found her decapitated body by a natural pool. The second casualty was an eight year old girl. They were both murdered in a manner that was unthinkable. Low as the quiet mist that engulfed these rugged mountains at dusk, a sombre disposition greeted us when we reached the ancient village of Meemore. Situated in the dense forests of the Knuckles range of mountains in Sri Lanka, this village had a rare form of adrenaline running up its spine. Naively I drove over the valley into the village not knowing their underlying fears about strangers. Chintake, who joined me to Kabilitha was my companion for this trip. There is ... read more
Suunnitelman muutos, Aussit Baliksi
Published: July 17th 2011Asia » Sri Lanka » Central Province » Kandy
July 17th 2011
Edellispäivänä Nuwara Eliyassa tosiaan kuultiin, että koneet Perthiin on ihan täynnä eikä tulla pääsemään. Harmittaa ihan sikana, kun oltiin ihan valmistauduttu siihen, että tämän rypemisen jälkeen pääsee oikeaan kaupunkiin. Haluais olla muutaman päivän yhdessä sellaisessa paikassa, jossa on tarpeeksi tekemistä ilman että pitää koko ajan olla menossa johonkin suuntaan, muttei pitkästy totaalisesti. Tuntuu, että koko ajan on joku tuputtamassa jotain ostettavaksi tai jonnekin lähtemistä. Voisko ihan vaan olla omassa rauhassa, hiljaa paikallaan ja katsella?!?!?Eikä olis pahitteeksi nähdä vaihteeksi jotain kaunista ja puhdasta... On tullut toivottua jopa Starbucksia paikalle, pelottavaa!(tämä siis vain ilmastoinnin ja wifin takia) On tämä maa tainnut sitten aika voimille ottaa. Ensimmäinen S:n paniikkireaktio tuli eilen lauantaina Nanu Oyan juna-asemall... read more
July 8th 2011
Monday to Thursday involved all the regular duties of working with the turtles and teaching English. On Wednesday I managed to convince a group of tourists that we were doctors of marine biology and Lucy convinced them that Amy had been knighted by the queen. On Thursday we started teaching at a new temple which was quite challenging as all the students spoke only a small amount of English so we were starting from scratch. We left on Friday after breakfast for Kandy. We took the train from Colombo which was a very sceneic as it wound all through the highlands however there were some scary moments where there were sharp drops next to the railway track. We got to Kandy and then spent a couple of hours looking round the town, in the evening we ... read more
