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Published: February 23rd 2010
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Wednesday 17th
Hers…
6am rise n shine! Time to pack up camp and head north, back to Colombo and then train it to Kandy. Up high in the hills. A local talked the talk at Colombo railway station and offered us his guest house. Including a transfer it sounded like a good deal so we gave in… no commitment required. We arrived at Rodney’s Guest house and with a view across the valley, hot water, and within budget. We were sold.
Our location was around the corner from Temple of the Tooth Relic. With the main hoopla starting at 6.45pm we headed off down the mountain to check out what all the fuss was about… $10 bucks each for entry was a little steep, but hey, everyone was flocking here - so must be worth it, right? It certainly was a well built, shiny and a very grandiose temple. We queued up behind all the shoving tourists and caught a glimpse of the “tooth” (one of the buddha’s teeth that was stolen from his ashes after his cremation, and after several kidnappings of it, it has now been placed under heavy security in the safety of Kandy). The tooth
is thought to have great powers and many come from all over to pray and bring offerings to it. It was set in a very ornate crown, but was so far away and we were whisked past it very quickly, so not being a buddhist am not sure we felt the true value of it.
TIP OF THE DAY: Watch out for train station boys. Like beach boys they are always trying something on. The accommodations seems to be OK, and the references genuine, however these places are often out of the way or off the beaten track - hence why they need to tout at the main train stations. They also try to overcharge you on checkout, so be vigilant.
Thursday 18th
Day in Kandy…. Off to consult the tourist centre to see if our proprietor - Rodney, was offering us a good deal for the tours to Dembula and Sigiriya. At $140 it sounded a little steep and well over our daily budget. We discovered we could do it ourselves with public transport for about half. Probably takes a bit longer as you have to deal with public buses and connections but will also
ensure that Rodney doesn’t swing us past any spice markets or wooden carving shops, where he will no doubt tell us that these are the best/rarest/cheapest in Sri Lanka, then later collect his commission on whatever we are swooned into buying.
Spent the afternoon in search of giant alligators in the lake. We found one female basking in the sun, pregnant. The lake is abundant of fish, alligators, birds, squirrels, tortoise and other wildlife. I think this is mainly because there is no fishing as it is part of the temple of tooth relic.
Had a good look around the markets today for a few bits and pieces, and just for a bit of a look see. We have noticed that the peddlers in Sri lanka are a little more full-on than those in Malaysia. As soon as we show any interest in an item, it seems the whole market finds out about this and chases us around showing us their “better quality” item. We have slowly begun to lose patience with them and now we just say no and keep walking, ignoring them. Normally, walking around market places and looking at all the wares can be interesting
and a bit of fun but this ruins the whole experience and we now will only go into a market and get what we want and high-tail it out of there.
TIP OF THE DAY: Don’t eat Western food in Asia. Aside from it being overpriced and it not really being why you come here - Asians just don’t know how to cook it. Go local!
Furthermore, to add to miranda's bad luck of losing her camera, my camera's battery is dead and i did not pack the charger and i have been trying to find a replacement charger but havent been to any big towns yet and so havent had any luck. The pics in this blog and the following blogs are from the net but are of things that we have seen!! Just to give you an idea of what the places we are visiting look like and to make the blog a bit more exciting.
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Mandy
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loving your commentary, and specially the TIPS OF THE DAY. Keep em coming