Blogs from Kandy, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 7

D11 The Temple of the Tooth was on the menu today, but not for me I am afraid. I have already had one temple too many, as I suspect the others have. Three of us went to town and had a brew before heading off to the Botanical Gardens. Since this was National Day several shops and the gardens cafe was closed so no lunch, but I need to keep my weight under check since I am not cycling anymore for a while. National Day is the 66th Anniversary of Independence from Britain so most people were on holiday and flags were everywhere. The Botanical gardens cover an area of 150 acres and houses 4000 species of plants and was a very good visit with very unusual plants and trees and thousands of fruit bats chirping ... read more

We have spent a few days visiting the sights in and around Kandy, the second largest city in Sri Lanka. We travelled down to Kandy from the hills through miles of tea plantations on a rather old and rickety train service which took over 4 hours. The scenery was amazing and I must say it has to be one of the best train journeys I have been on. Yesterday we went to see the elephants at Pinnawala. What a sight and they are such loveable creatures. Lynne had the time of her life feeding one of those huge beasts as you will see from the photos. We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the river where the elephants come to bathe and managed to get a ring side seat to see the mass bathe in! Today ... read more

Camilas and I have agreed that he will stay with me for another two days, taking me to Nurawa Eliya, and then I will take the train to my next destination. This meant that he came with me to buy the train ticket, which worked out very well. Queuing as a concept doesn’t seem to have made it Sri Lanka. In fact even in the middle of the train ticket transaction people were pushing in and elbowing me aside from the ticket window. Camilas’ elbows work pretty well too. Imagine that concept on the roads. That is what driving is like here. I feel surprisingly calm about what would normally be multiple near-death scenarios. Camilas has avoided all head on crashes with oncoming busses and cars with split second precision timing. He has been driving for ... read more

I love trains. To me it's the best way to travel. No traffic, beautiful views, colourful people. So civilised! I have yet to go to India and experience the trains there - I have been warned I might not hold such a romantic view afterwards but today's journey from Kandy to Bandarawela was one of the best I have been on so far. It takes six hours of climbing and circumnavigating the highland region until you come out above the valleys and can see miles of tea plantations, mountains and sweet little villages. The train itself was reasonably comfortable and the carriage next to me was full of one big happy family laughing and singing the whole way. We seem to have lost our ability to stay close to our families in the west, and I ... read more

When Siddhartha Gautama finished his reincarnation cycles by a stomach poisoning, some 486 years before Christ did, his body was burnt with sandalwood along the river Chotta Gandak, in Kushinara, present state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is said, once cremation ceremony was over, eight relics from his body were distributed throughout the Buddhist world and were saved in temples and monuments built for that purpose. One of these relics was the left canine, which a monk handed to the king Brahmadatte. The relic was kept to be venerated in Dantapuri, Orissa. Eight centuries later, clashes in Kalinga kingdom recommended moving the relic to protect it. Prince Dhantha and his consort Princess Hemamali, hiding the tooth in her hairstyle, embarked at Tamralipti, in the mouth of the Ganges. Both landed in Lankapattama harbour, Sri Lanka, during ... read more