Kandy

18.03.2015

Got a lift into Dambulla from our guest house with our Dutch friends and caught a bus straight away for the two and a half hour journey to Kandy. Pretty, lush scenery. The auto rickshaw driver at Kandy station had problems finding our homestay - no name on building and only half built! - accommodation level one completed but second storey (where breakfasts/meals served on request) more like a building site. We stayed 4 nights in two different rooms - the first had the room number upside down at the bottom of the door and the second room had the number on the inside of the door!!! That sort of place ... but very friendly owner and wife, quite okay overall and just about the nearest place to town close to the lakeside.

Kandy is the 2nd city of Sri Lanka and "majestic Kingdom of the hills" as the welcome sign says at the railway station. It is pleasantly cooler - in the evening at least - being 600 metres above sea level. Busy, bustling town plus a pretty lake to stroll around with large leafy trees for shade.

The lake is a good place for spotting wildlife - large warans and terrapins (check photos!) as well as plenty of birds (particularly cormorants and various herons/egrets) with large nesting colonies in some of the trees on the far side of the lake. Only problem, watch out for the "caca" under those trees. Also, on the way into town there is a particular area where thousands of crows rest for the night. Walking under there you hear the regular splat splat of bird shit hitting the ground close by and the one night we forgot to take an umbrella for protection one splat was straight between Alan's shoulders!

The main site in Kandy itself is the Temple of the Tooth but it is also worth visiting the four devales (temples) (three in the grounds - free entry - adjoining the Temple of the Tooth and one in the middle of town). These are both peaceful and very interesting - and good to see religions closely mixed together: Buddhist + Hindu.

The botanical gardens - a 20+ minute bus ride out at Peradeniya - is also a great place to spend a few hours. Magnificent trees and gardens, beautifully kept, plus monkeys and, in one part, thousands of large fruit bats hanging out (literally!) in the trees.

Kandy still retains quite a few buildings from the colonial days and one place we would particularly recommend for a beer is the Royal Bar and Hotel. Very well maintained with lots of old posters from the Ceylon days. The upstairs bar is particularly pleasant with old pictures of a very young Queen from coronation times at each end of the bar, gently whirring ceiling fans, jazz music quietly in the background, chilled glass awaiting your cold beer ... ...

Very enjoyable few days ...

Temple of the Tooth - from across lake