2 April 2013

We had a great breakfast at the hotel. There was local and Western fair served. We had the local food; the only thing Western we had was orange juice and coffee. We had hoppers called appams, dosai (pancakes) and rice accompanied by mutton curry, sambols (coconut, mint, onion), sambar (soupy gravy with dhal) and other dishes. We really ate. All for Rs575 which is under $5.

We engaged a driver/guide and car for the rest of our trip in Sri Lanka from the Travel Desk at the hotel. The driver Jagath, had picked us up from the airport too when we arrived and will also take us and drop us off in Jaffna and come back to pick us up.  Jagath is a affable man of Sinhalese descent.  He is very polite and courteous.  We had lots of fun with him and learnt a lot from him.  

Then we drove to Kandy, which is only 120km away but took us 3 hours to get there. The traffic with trucks, tuk-tuks, cars and motor cycles was out of this world. They all have an understanding, an unwritten rule that you need to know. Foreign drivers will struggle because we have a different way of thinking.

On the way, Charles had the urge to taste the local coconut called king coconut.  They were yellow/orange in colour. So we stopped for a coconut drink.

Kandy was the home of the last kingdom of Sri Lanka. Many came and were not able to conquer it because it sits high in the highland. The British, somehow managed to banish the king in 1815 to Mauritius.

We visited the famous Tooth temple which holds the tooth of Buddha. We were in shorts which is not acceptable attire and so we had to hire for Rs200 ($1 = Rs135) sarongs to cover our hairy legs.

Entry to the temple was Rs1000; we bought flowers for offering and hired a guide. The temple dates back from about 1700 years ago. Behind the temple is the castle where the last King of Kandy lived and next to it is the royal court.

The inner temple is made of wood that is decorated by old paintings.

 

The inner temple was reasonably crowded with school children and pilgrims.  We came at the wrong time to see the Kandyan dancers and the elephants being paraded.  The performance takes place 3 times a day at specific times.