7.Seven, Seitse, sat.

Kandy

Another bus journey to remember.  From sigiriya we got the tuk tuk to Dumbulla where almost immediately, and in (hindsight) blind faith that it was the right bus to Kandy.  the packs went in the boot, which was kept closed with a plastic lemonade bottle wedged between the door and the bumper bar.  It started raining, so the driver obviously drove more slowly, carefully, and to the conditions.  Naaaah! You go faster to out run the rain, and if you honk your horn more you can go faster.   About 4 ks from Kandy we stopped very suddenly, and we had hit the car in front.   by good luck only there were no injuries and manageable damage to the bus...not that you'd notice the distinction, and after about 20 minutes we kept going.quite a bit slower this time.  Trusting the water-tightness of the storage area of these busses is also a mistake.  That will teach us to expect a bit of preparation time before we get onto our busses.

The traffic in Kandy is about the worst I have seen in Asia.  Not as busy as Bangkok, or fast  as KL, but there are busses everywhere trying to out honk each other, knowing full well it is gridlock.   The drivers here do not have the patience or skills of other places, the roads are narrower, and the pollution is horrid.   Walking from our guesthouse to the city centre, about  2 ks we went faster than the traffic.  

Yes that's the conductor shooing people (on the foot way) away from the front of the bus

This is the renowned centre of Sri Lankan Buddhist culture.  Kandy has a temple which contains the left canine tooth of Buddha.  This sacred relic is surprisingly kept at the Temple of the sacred Tooth Relic.   It is a very holy place for Buddhists.    As temples go, it is not so incredibly ornate, ancient, nor large, but apparently pretty important.  We were there during the moving of the shrine, to its bed.  The tooth is never visible, just the golden stupa it is encased in.   It was something to see.   

The temple........yes the temple.

Apparently we should see the Kandy dancers, who walk on hot coals, and cut themselves etc, but we think not....we've seen the real thing elsewhere...but if one more tout asks us.......

The Royal Botanical Gardens, (entrance $12.00 ea locals 50 cents.) is a lovely place peaceful and relatively quite in a bezerk city.  Obviously the highlight was  the world  famous CeylonIron wood tree planted in 1892 by Crown Prince Nicolai , who was of course the last Czar of Russia.

The Ceylon Iron wood tree.

There were also very naughty monkeys in thiese gardens.   There is a big sign at the entrance warning that there is a r9000 fine for picking  flowers......

But the sign did not mention eating them.

   The taxi driver tried to take us to a 'western' restaurant for breakfast, but we insisted he take us to where he would have breakfast.  A huge local meal of hoppers, samosas, curry, tea, $4.00 for two.  

We have a business concept.  Tuk-tuk transport for Dandenong.  Nathalie has experience at driving.  It    was frightening for all.  Now these whizzy little things, cheap to run, don't take up much room....and NJC can be the driver.

Maybe not for Melbourne.

For afternoon tea we 'dined' at the Kandyian Muslim Hotel, mango lasses and pineapple juice we had, and despite the inherent sense of adventure, we did, however, pass on the'chicken gizzards, even if they were only r100 a serving.

Nathalie has always wanted a sari.  A real sari.  The overwhelming contention was that her skin tone was just not right....couldn't put my finger on what it was but....

Camellias 

What is it about the Sri Lankan people, they have thousands upon thousands of acres of little camellia bushes   all through the mounyains around Kandy.  It's not as if there is any evidence of a floral trade..... Ah, Apparently they are tea plants....that explains everything.   From Kandy for 6.5 hrs on the third class carriage journey to Budulla, was almost exclusively tea plantations.

More camellias than you can poke a stick at.

  Scenery from the train was scenic.

Scenic.

There were a bunch of high school students on the train for much of the journey, and they brought a packed lunch, rice, curry, and dhal, wrapped in newspaper, and then they started singing...what we have no idea, but they were having fun, and it was not unpleasant.

Lunchtime.

Postprandial snooze

One week to go.....wifi not a big deal yet in these parts, ( bottom right hand corner)so communications may be sketchy.  We've already had to change NJCs phone provider, as the original one was not reliable.  Now using dialog, rather than airtel.  Not that it really matters to youse.