Poson trip Day 3 - Gardens, elephants, temples, crooks

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We woke up at 6:30am today and had a quick breakfast at the hotel cafe. At 7:30am, Bala (the guy who offered us a day-trip for 3800 rupees) turned up with his friend. Bala had to work later, so he would let his friend drive us to the various attractions. Before he went to work, he accompanied us to this panoramic viewpoint on the hill, where we had a bird's eye view of Kandy and the surrounding mountains. He also accompanied us to Kandy Central Market, where we bought some fruits, T-shirts, incense sticks and candles. (At the end of the day we would realise that we actually overpaid for our purchases in the market. I would talk about it at the end of this blog.)

After the market visit, Bala went to work, leaving his friend to take care of us. His friend drove us to the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, 6km west of Kandy. The park was created during the 18th century by a Kandyan king and was transformed into a botanical garden by the British in 1821. My mum and I had a very pleasant walk. Highlights of the park include a narrow suspension bridge, a huge Java fig whose branches spread out like a gigantic umbrella, huge populations of fruit bats, a wonderful orchid house, and trees planted by various political celebrities from all around the world (e.g. Queen Elizabeth II, Zhou En Lai, Lee Kuan Yew, etc).

After that the driver brought us to the Millenium Elephant Foundation, where we could ride elephants. To our horror, the elephant rides turned out to be much more expensive than we expected. In the end, we decided to go for the cheapest option - USD 20 per person for a 15-minute ride. We were very lucky to choose the cheapest option, because 10 minutes after we started riding, it began to rain. Hence we were only affected by the rain for 5 minutes. There were another couple who chose a longer ride and they started riding at the same time as us, so they had to endure the rain for a much longer time. Riding an elephant was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We could only "board" and "alight" an elephant at designated platforms, and we couldn't get off once the elephant walked away from the platform. The elephant-carer brought the elephant (and us) to a rice-paddy field and then back to the boarding platform. Those who opted for longer rides will be brought to somewhere further away. (I pitied the couple who spent more money but ended up getting more drenched, since they were unable to get off the elephant...) By the way, I never expected an elephant to be so hairy. (The hair of an elephant was thick and rough like a toilet brush, so I would advise any potential elephant-riders to wear long pants to prevent any abrasions on the legs.)

After the ride, we asked the driver to bring us the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage - home to the world's largest collection of captive elephants. Actually our main aim was to visit the Pinnewala elephant orphanage and not the Millenium Elephant Foundation, so we felt kinda "cheated" when we were brought to Millenium and were forced to spend a minimum of USD 20 per person. The driver apologized and explained that it was Bala's idea to bring us to Millenium. Nevertheless, cost-aside, the elephant-ride was an interesting experience and was definitely one of the highlights of my Sri Lankan trip.

At the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage, we were greeted by the majestic sight of 70+ elephants grazing on the field. Never in my life had I seen so many elephants at one time. Among the elephants we saw a three-legged elephant, whose loss of leg was caused by a land mine. At one corner we also saw a blind elephant minding his own business. Our visiting time happened to coincide with the feeding session of the baby elephants. 2 baby elephants were brought to the feeding shed, which was surrounded by a crowd of camera-snapping tourists (including me). The janitors brought a large number of leaves and fruits, and they allow tourists to feed the baby elephants for a small fee. I didn't feed the elephants, but I managed to touch one of them (while it was blowing its nose...) and my hand received a fair share of its snot...

After the baby elephant's feeding session, we decided to go for lunch. (It's our turn to be fed...) The driver brought us to a riverside restaurant with a splendid view of the river. There was a wedding going on, so the atmosphere was very lively. We even saw the bride and groom (dressed in traditional costumes) taking photos beside the river. Shortly after our food arrived, we saw the janitors of the Pinnewala orphanage leading the whole herd of elephants to the river for their daily bath. It was a fascinating sight to see 70+ elephants walking into the river and started bathing themselves.

After a feast for both our stomach and our eyes, we made our way back to our vehicle. Along the way, I bought a notepad made of pachyderm paper (paper made from elephant dung). Thanks to the huge amount of fibre consumed, elephant dungs can be processed into high-quality paper... (This was my first time hearing about pachyderm paper. How come no other country is doing this? Imagine the amount of trees saved when all the elephant dungs in the world are used to make paper.)

The driver then took us to the 3-temple loop, a collection of 3 Kandyan-era temples lying 10km west of Kandy. The first temple is the Hindu-style Galadeniya temple, which dates from the 14th century. A very helpful janitor (who spoke very little English) brought us around the site with great enthusiasm and showered us with flower petals at every shrine. The second temple is the spectacular hill-top Lankatilake temple, which also dates from the 14th century. To get to the temple, we needed to walked up a series of slopes and stairs. To make the hike more interesting, I walked barefooted. (After taking off my shoes and walking barefooted at Galadeniya temple, my feet was wet and I was too lazy to wear my shoes back, so I decided to stay barefooted.) The walk turned out to be more challenging than I expected, because there was a lot of pebbles on the ground that provided a "climatic" sensory experience... The third temple is the Embekke Devale. Compared to the previous 2 temples, the third temple was not as exciting, but nevertheless the wooden pillars of the main shrine was impressively decorated with fine carvings.

In the evening, the driver brought us to the YMBA (Young Men's Buddhist Association) for a Kandyan dance show. The show was pretty interesting, with beautiful ladies and muscular men dressed in elaborate Kandyan costumes, dancing and performing acrobatics to the rhythm of Kandyan drums. After the show we were treated to a bonus performance of fire-dancing.

Once the fire-dancing ended, Bala came to us and led us back to the hotel. Along the way, he claimed that his wife's mother just passed away and he needed a sum of money (USD 10). My mum told him that we had no more money, because we spent too much at the Kandy Central Market and we were forced to spend minimum USD 20 per person at the Millenium Elephant Foundation. Bala kept pestering us, until my mum finally lost temper and gave him a scolding. Despite the scolding, Bala still asked us for USD 10. My mum gave him 500 rupees (around USD 4.5), but he said "I don't want this! I want USD 10!" Unable to stand his greed, my mum took back the 500 rupees and said "You don't want this? Fine!" Then we walked away. Bala became desperate and began to plea and beg, but we ignored him and we walked straight into Queens Hotel, leaving him outside. As we went up the stairs, my mum said "Serve him right. He already asked for so much and he still asked for more. He doesn't deserve a single cent more..."

Later at night, we went to the nearest supermarket to buy some drinks. In the supermarket, we were shocked when we saw the same incense stick that we bought at Kandy Central Market. While we paid 150 rupees for one packet at the central market, the same packet costed only 40 rupees in the supermarket!!!!! The stall-owner in the market charged 375%!o(MISSING)f the supermarket's sale price! (Somemore we bought over 20 packets!)

After buying some drinks and snacks, we headed back to the hotel, packed our luggage, and slept early, as we expected the main group to arrive on the next morning... (According to schedule, we would be making offerings to monks in Kandy Tooth Relic Temple on the next morning.)

[Epilogue: It's not a happy ending for the greedy stall-owner who overcharged us for the incense sticks. My mum happened to return to Sri Lanka again in the last week of June, because the Mahakaruna Buddhist Society organised a 2nd wave of offerings and donations in Sri Lanka. After making offerings in northern Sri Lanka, my mum brought her friend to Kandy for sightseeing, and returned to Kandy Central Market. Many stall-owners recognised my mum and chatted with her. The greedy incense stick stall-owner also saw my mum, but instead of greeting her, he stood quietly with his head turned away. After some time, he finally had the courage to approach my mum, but my mum ignored him. So he asked "why do you avoid me?" Then my mum began scolding him and spilling out the entire story (on how he overcharged us) in front of a big crowd. Feeling ashamed, the stall-owner admitted that Bala asked him to overcharge and Bala himself extracted 40% of the revenue. He admitted that Bala was a jerk, but he had to depend on people like Bala to bring business. He thought that ripping tourists off is a "one-time" thing and most tourists would never find out the truth, but he never expected my mum to find out the prices in a supermarket, return to Sri Lanka, and expose him in front of a large crowd. To make up for his "mistake", he gave my mum several packets of incense sticks, free of charge. But no matter what he does now, he has already lost his reputation and it will take a long time before he can rebuild his reputation.

The moral of the story is - never ever cheat somebody. Buddhists strongly believe in "cause and effect". If you did something bad, something bad will happen to you...]

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Photos

My mum posing in front of the spice stall
Minutes later we would be overcharged by the owner of this stall

Sri Lanka Pond in Peradeniya Botanical Gardens
The pond follows the shape of Sri Lanka...