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Published: November 19th 2007
10th November - 18th November 2007
Kandy - Pinnewala - Nuwara Eliya - Ella - Haputale
First day in Kandy, we thought we would visit the 'Temple of the Tooth', forgetting it was a Sunday and the whole of Kandy had the same idea. Decided to do it the next morning instead. So we just had a general wander around and watched some traditional Kandyan Dancing in the evening. Our last introduction to traditional art was Kathakali in India so we were a little apprehensive. There was no need as it was very enjoyable. About eight different types of dance were performed (by men and women this time) involving drums, acrobatics, balancing acts, singing and some fire breathing/walking at the end.
Second day in Kandy we did get to see the Temple of the Tooth arriving just in time to see the golden casket where the tooth is held. They only show it at certain times of the day and you are only allowed the briefest of looks as you shuffle past. Apparently the tooth was rescued from Buddha's cremated body in 543BC. Over the centuries the tooth has moved around a lot before arriving at Kandy and
in the 16th century the Portugese actually stole it. They then crushed it, burnt it and flung it into the sea. However, the clever Sri Lankans had let them escape with a decoy tooth and they still had the real one! The alternative explanation given is that the tooth magically reassembled itself and flew back to Sri Lanka - much more plausible!!
The temple was badly damaged in 1998 when the Tamil Tigers detonated a massive truck bomb outside the entrance killing over twenty people. There is a fascinating museum with pictures of the devastation and subsequent restoration work but what we found intriguing was the complete absence of any mention of anyone dying. Surely loss of life is more important than some old moonstones and paintings that were painstakingly pieced back together?
The other oddity is the Raja Tusker Museum which pays homage to the famous elephant that worked here for over fifty years. Its' reward for this loyal service was to be stuffed after its' death in 1988 and put on display - very weird!
Went to Asigiriya Stadium after lunch where we hope to see England play cricket in a few weeks. We had
a good nose around as the gate was open and we are hoping that some work is going to be done on it as it's not exactly looking international standard yet!
The next morning we were very excited as we were off to Pinewala Elephant Orphanage where we could see about eighty elephants (adults and babies) feeding and bathing. Its about 40km from Kandy (1 1/2 hours by bus) and just before we got there we saw the biggest iguana/lizard thing we have ever seen in the middle of the road! It must have been over 5ft long and that's no lie!
We arrived just in time to see the end of the first bathing session which involved about thirty to forty elephants paddling in the river - a truly remarkable sight! We headed back to the orphanage where we were able to watch them roam around, eating and the younger ones being bottle fed from huge milk bottles! We were allowed to get very close and even touch them which Claire did too after plucking up enough courage. Then back down to the river for the afternoon session - its a hard life being an elephant! This
time we were ready to watch the stampede of elephants cross the road and go past the shops to the river. A siren is sounded to stop traffic and warn the shopkeepers of the oncoming herd (many pull down shutters). It was an amazing sight watching elephants go shopping! A few got quite inquisitive on their way past and came to say hello before the keepers called them back. We couldn't get enough of them and took way too many photos. Without doubt our best day since leaving the UK!
On a more serious note (we like the blog to be informative too!) elephants are under threat due to over forestation in Sri Lanka. As they search wider and wider for food - they eat 180kg of vegetation and crap on average 16 times a day - they come into conflict with farmers and many elephants as well as people have been killed. An innovative initiative has been to make paper from this huge amount of elephant dung and help educate the farmers to co-exist with the elephants.
We remained in Kandy a total of four nights, one of our longer stays, until moving on to Nuwara Eliya.
Another comfy a/c bus but a very windy mountainous road and a driver very keen to get to his destination equalling a sick feeling again! We are now well and truly in tea plantation area. The town itself is very small but has an English feel to it mainly due to its' very pleasant temperature. We are also staying at a guesthouse that reminds us of being in a typical B&B in the English countryside - very cosy!
Claire got to see some of the scenery she missed the previous day (due to having her eyes shut to stop feeling sick) as we took a bus back about 20km to Labookellie Tea Plantation. We had a free 30 minute tour of the factory and a free cup of tea (and a free piece of chocolate cake courtesy of a family from Bradford)! The tour was both informative and interesting and not like the 'most important' tour of India!
Day was still young but we had nothing else planned - also not planned was Claire falling in a drain (only pride hurt and Claire heroically saved the camera from any damage). We had lunch in an English type garden
and just relaxed. The afternoon we did a steady climb up a small mountain where we had good views of the surrounding countryside and tea plantations. We also watched a lot of TV in our room as apart from one night we have not had the luxury for about five weeks!
Next day we left by train to a place called Ella. The train ride meandered through tea plantations and the mountains for four hours - very picturesque. We were expecting Ella to be a very quaint English village (as this was what had been described to us) very similar to Nuwara Eliya but even nicer. We never got this feeling and despite Ella being very relaxing and cool we were a little disappointed. We did enjoy a reunion with our Dutch friends from Sigiriya and sank a couple of beers in the evening together. The following morning we arose early to meet one of said Dutch friends (Baz) who guided us to the top of 'Little Adams Peak' a small mountain with excellent views of Ella (it was his fourth climb). We parted company at the summit as he had a train to catch but we saw him
again in the afternoon while taking a walk towards a waterfall (it's a small place). The waterfall was pretty but less than spectacular.
In between the mountain climb and waterfall I had my haircut at the local salon. I think the guy was a little unsure of the style as we had to keep telling him to cut more off. I was feeling brave so I had a cut throat razor shave. I also had a severe head massage which I really enjoyed but Claire thought looked funny. I was charged the tourist rate of Rs400 (less than 2 pounds), the guy before me had the same treatment (and a lot more hair cut off) for Rs80. It was worth it though.
In the evening we bumped into Thierry who we met in Anaradhupura. We had a catch up over dinner and said goodbye. The next morning we got up very early - 5.45am. We caught the 6.44am train to a place called Haputale (Ha-pooh-ta-lee) from where we caught a bus to Dambetennee and then a tuk tuk and a 1.5km walk to the summit of yet another mountain - this one called Lipton's Seat. It was worth
the effort as we could see for miles and the journey there through lush tea plantations and steep mountain paths was stunning. We were the only ones there for about 45 minutes until we heard the faint sounds of a French guy on a motorbike. It wasn't a real surprise to see Thierry as we had discussed it the previous night. We stayed for another 30 minutes and said goodbye again and made our way down to the bus stop 7km away.
This was to be our last day in 'hill country' as the next morning we had a 5-6 hour bus journey planned to take us to the beaches of south west Sri Lanka!
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Alex
non-member comment
Eyes wide shut?!
Well done on saving the camera Claire!! Not sure how you managed to fall down a drain - were your eyes shut then too!!? The elephants look fantastic. Loving the walk to the shops - must have been an amazing site. It all sounds great and a fabulous experience.