Just give me some Kandy

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On the way to Kandy we made a couple of stops. First was at a spice garden where we were taken round free of charge. It was really interesting learning how natural herbs and spices are used in products we use at home as well as herbal medicines. At the end of the tour we were offered a massage by a student masseuse. After this we were taken to the shop and realised that these natural ingredients come at a high price! (Not even the thought of some natural hair thickening shampoo for Scott Donald could tempt us into buying).

Second stop was to a waterfall after Marc had pestered Chin about it the previous day. The road leading to the waterfall was extremely windy and no fun at all. However it was worth it as we were rewarded with a cool dip in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall!

Arriving in Kandy around lunchtime, we experienced our first of many Sri Lankan bake houses. They have a huge variety of sausage, chicken, fish and veg pastries all for a very cheap price. And of course lots of cakes! We left stuffed for total of around £2.

After lunch, Chin took us to Arthur's seat, which is the prime view point of the city overlooking the Bogambara lake which was constructed by the British. This was followed by a trip to the number one attraction in Kandy, the temple of the sacred tooth relic.

The tooth is believed to belong to the Buddha and holds very high value to Sri Lankan Buddhists. It is believed that whoever holds the tooth, governs the country. It has been stolen and retrieved several times and been kept in different places throughout the Buddhist world. Sri Lankans believe it is hidden somewhere in Sri Lanka to this day.

The palace grounds fell victim
to a terrorist attack by the Hindu Tamil Tigers in 1998 during the Sri Lankan civil war which ended in 2009. The entrance was severely damaged but has now been fully recovered and its resurgence can be looked at as a symbol of how far the country has come since the end of the war.

After the guided tour round the palace, we went to a 'cultural show' in a town hall. We were very sceptical after our kathikali experience in Kochi, but this show was much better. The show consisted of drummers, horn players, dancers and fire eaters/walkers, who all attended a local arts college.

We were treated to a dose of torrential rain before dinner which we had at a local Muslim diner recommended by Chin. It was basically a manky caf and did not go down well. If anyone offers you chicken kattu roti in Kandy, turn it down!!

The next morning, before heading south to the hill country we stopped off at Kandy's royal botanical gardens and had a quick wander. We were joined by a sizeable amount of Middle aged, selfie daft Chinese folk, which turned out to be more amusing than the array of exotic fauna which was on offer!

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