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Published: December 3rd 2006
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Buses and Kids
This little girl spent the 2 hour bus ride staring at me. I finally got a smile from her when i took her photo. After the monstrous climb to Adam's Peak there was no real reason to hang around Dalhouse as it's a fair distance from anything. So after breakfast (and mind you i'd been up for 7 hours already), a shower, it was time to hit the road again, the road to Sri Lanka's second biggest city Kandy. This time no taxi, no tour guide just the public bus system. The funny part is I’m not sure who was more shocked, me or the locals on the crammed bus. I was getting the strangest stares as if to say, 'what on earth are you doing'. Basically I was traveling with some of the poorest workers, such as the tea plantation farmers, mostly women. I think they were honestly shocked to see me riding on the bus with them, but for me the experience provides a real insight into the day to day culture of the Sri Lankan people. People here are the most un-courteous I’ve ever seen and the men are the worst for it. Pushing, shoving to get in or on first just so they get a seat, while the women are left to stand. I keep offering my seat to children and
Kandy Lake
Kandy's center piece women and I get the strangest reactions from people, as if this has never been done before. It's quite amusing actually. The kids are great though, their inquisitive and curious at least they point, laugh, squirm, they react. Where as the women are the strangest to figure out, there reserved, proper, their entire persona can be judged solely on their eyes. These women say and control everything with their eyes, death stares to husbands, children and apparently foreigners too. I've got used to it now, I either stare back or smile, although most of the time during the day I just wear sunglasses to ignore the looks.
Admittedly though the frustrating part to the bus (as with the train) it takes so long to get anywhere, and when they say 1 hour from A to B it normally mean 2 hours plus a stop to C+D. But I guess that I’m not in a hurry anyway so it's not really a problem. You truly know your on holiday when you don’t know what day it is and time is inconsequential.
So anyway we spent the next two and a half hours winding down the mountain, changing buses at
Kandy
The city of Kandy nestled between the hills high in the country. different villages until I finally made it to Kandy. The city is the second largest in Sri Lanka and many believe that it is the true cultural heart of the nation. It is a fabulous city nestled in a valley between the hills of the country side. There is an ambience here like no other place in S.L, the city seems to have a certain pride as if it belongs to the people, and relates to it's history. It's also a clean (-ish) city, which appears to be unheard of here, I actually saw people cleaner the city streets each evening. The city has it's own architectural undertone, with high pitched roofs and large open veranda's set among lush green hills, surrounding the center piece to the city, the large man made lake. It’s quite a quirky but beautiful setting. Again though the city is slightly marred by the ambitious touts and con artists preying on tourists in an effort to make a quick buck (these guys need to pulled aside and shot).
The biggest problem I’ve had so far is that I haven't allowed enough time to see and do as much as I wanted. Partly due to
Temple
The main temple of the Sacred tooth Relic. lazing on the beach, partly because it takes sooo long to travel anywhere and finally because there’s so much to bloody see. Initially I had intended being in Kandy for 3 days or so and doing days trips from here but I’ve ended up with only 2 half days and 1 night. But I guess now I have a reason to come back. In the extremely short time I have been in Kandy though I have managed to take in a couple of sights and adventures. I saw the traditional Kandyan dance show at the local cultural center where, although aimed at the tourist market, it provided a glimpse into the festive nature of Sri Lankan dance and costume. No doubt when the festivals are on the event would be truly amazing. Another major tourist attraction in Kandy is another sacred pilgrim site, the ‘Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic’ (Sri Dalada Maligawa). The Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha is the most venerated object of worship for Buddhists and is considered the foremost sacred place of worship in the Buddhist world. Although once again after wandering around a ‘guide’ attached himself to me to explain the history and story
The Sacred Tooth of Buddha
The chamber containing the tooth. behind the relic, providing no greater information than the research as written in ‘lonely planet’ but that still didn’t stop him demanding a fee for his (useless) time and efforts.
With an early flight to India the next day I daren’t not risk the supposed 3 hour train trip from Kandy so decided to head back to Colombo to be on the safe side. Although there was 1 highly anticipated stop that I still had to make before my departure from the country and that was a visit to the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, a short distance from Kandyan Hills. It was established 1975 by the Sri Lanka Wildlife department and covers 24 acres of land contain the greatest herd of elephants in captivity in the world. The center was set up to help endangered, injured and orphaned elephants and is now also a breeding place, and while there I was lucky enough to see the latest addition to the herd, a baby 2 weeks old. I managed to get within 2 meters of the baby under the watchful eye of the mother only centimeters away, while patting other elephants as young as 1 and 2 years old. The Orphanage now
Temple
Around the grounds of the main temple. has over 70 elephants that they care for, and is an amazing place to watch as the elephants roam and feed in the massive open park, where people are free to walk around (with the watchful eye of professional carers). The high light though is the bathing sessions that the elephants get twice daily, where they walk approximately 40 elephants down the street, past cars, bike, shops down to the river(no shit). They are then free to swim and bathe in the river for 2 hours or frolic in the mud flats on the other side of the river. You can basically then watch from the banks or in the luxury of a café while these gigantic animals lap up the afternoon. It certainly was a spectacle and the highlight of the Sri Lankan trip and I hope the photo’s show the true nature of the experience.
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