Kandy

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Our journey to Sri Lanka began bright and early in Mumbai; at 6.45am we hopped into a taxi and set off for the airport. Unsurprisingly our flight was delayed by an hour or so but eventually we boarded the plane and headed off to Chennai. Our flight from Chennai to Colombo, Sri Lanka left at 12.15…we touched down at 12pm - uh oh. Fortunately there were another 10 or so tourists on our flight which were catching the next one to Colombo so we were assured with a head wiggle that we would make it (or was it that we were already completely screwed so there was nothing they could do to help us?). We assumed that we would be rushed through immigration etc however no such luck, we were still clearing security (which was as laborious and inefficient as it always is in India) as they were announcing over the PA system that it was the final boarding call for our flight. How inconvenient that the first time our flight into/out of/within India hadn’t been delayed was the one time we actually needed the extra hour or so! Apparently the pilot was in a good mood though and waited until every single one of us had boarded the plane before taking off.

You know how sometimes you get to a place and you instantly like it? Sri Lanka was a bit like that for me. We cleared immigration, collected our bags and passed through customs all within 15 minutes of hopping off the plane (via a skybridge rather than walking across the tarmac…wow). The taxi company staff were helpful, friendly and read the taxi price off a list AND the porters were wearing high visibility vests with the prices on them…wow! We decided to get a taxi straight to Kandy as we had heard/read that there really isn’t that much to see in Colombo (the capital).

The three hour drive to Kandy was really enjoyable. The beautiful lush green scenery was a massive contrast to the Rajasthani desert we had left in India. Our drive took us through heaps of prosperous looking towns with people selling lots of fresh produce and a significantly smaller quantity of rubbish covering the streets than anywhere in India. The only glitch was the 20minute stop at a ‘Spice Garden’ which our driver decided we needed to make despite us telling him we weren’t interested. After a short tour the staff member took us into the shop to try and sell us stuff…however when we said we didn’t want to buy anything he didn’t pressure us or ask for a tip! We arrived at our hotel just after dark and spent the night chatting to other tourists about what they had seen so far and what they did and didn’t like.

The next morning at breakfast we ended up chatting to a Colombian guy and two Finnish girls about their time in Sri Lanka so far. They had also just arrived in Kandy so we decided to set out as a group to explore the town. Our first stop was the Temple of the Sacred Tooth which allegedly houses one of Buddha’s teeth. We followed the streams of Sri Lankans to a smaller temple opposite the main one and spent a while people watching and patting the baby elephant inside. From there we made our way to the side of the temple and were all quite disturbed to see three massive male elephants with gigantic tusks chained and looking very distressed. The elephants were tugging on their very short chains and rocking back and forth; it was probably the worst conditions I have seen elephants housed in and it was very upsetting so we quickly made our way over to buy tickets for the Sacred Tooth Temple where we had our first experience of the extreme double pricing for Sri Lankans and foreigners. They were charging an outrageous 1000rupees (10AUD) per foreigner while the Sri Lankans got to enter the temple for free. We decided that the money probably wasn’t worth it given the number of temples we have already seen and decided to go for a (free) walk around the lake instead.

The lake was surprisingly clean; in fact it was so clean that I wouldn’t have completely freaked out if I had fallen in. There were heaps of birds, frogs and monitor lizards enjoying the water and sunshine. The lake is right in the centre of town, so after our exhausting walk (about 20minutes at a very slow pace) we made our way over to a little restaurant to have some cool drinks. Just about everything in Sri Lanka seems to have a ‘maximum retail price’ printed on the label…and things actually get sold for that price! No bargaining needed…just another reason to love Sri Lanka.

By the time we finished our drinks it was probably about 1pm and hot; perfect weather for a climb up a hill to the Buddha on top..hmm. The walk would have been really easy if we hadn’t attempted it in the middle of the hot, humid day but by the time we got to the top we were all covered in sweat and really really hot! The view from the Buddha was worth it though as you could see the whole of Kandy and the surrounding green hills.

The following day we hired a van with our new friends and set out to explore the area around Kandy. We ended up being driven almost to Nuwara Eliya via numerous waterfalls and tea plantations. We stopped off at one of the tea plantations for a tour of the factory which was quite interesting. They were still using a fair bit of the original equipment brought over by the British. We learnt all about how they make the different types of tea (turns out green tea isn’t a different plant…it is just unfermented black tea!) and got to taste a cup without being pressured to buy any or tip the tour guide. After our little tour we walked through the tea plantation and made it back to the car just as it started bucketing down with rain. From the plantation we drove to a restaurant overlooking two waterfalls, including the biggy for the area, Ramboda Falls. There was definitely a surcharge for the view as the meal was extremely overpriced and not that inspiring.

That night, back at our hotel, we met up with Emma who we met whilst in Laos doing the Gibbon Experience a few years ago. Emma lives about twenty minutes away from us in Melbourne but we have never caught up at home. Through the marvels of Facebook we discovered that we would all be in Sri Lanka at the same time and decided to catch up. We had a nice dinner together and caught up on everything that’s happened since the Gibbon Experience. We had arranged to share the van with the Finnish girls and Colombian guy the following day for an overnight trip to Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa so we invited Emma along too.

However, when I woke up the next morning it was clear we wouldn’t be going anywhere! For the second time in a week I seemed to have ended up with a stomach bug. I spent all of that day and most of the next two days recovering in bed while Scott ventured out for food (occasionally accompanied by me). By the end of the third day I was feeling well enough (or determined enough) to head to Sigiriya the following day.

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Photos

Ambulance
Now how the hell do I get it out?