Sri Lanka: Kandy

I was released from the hospital just in time, and before I knew it I was on the BTS headed to Suwarnabhumi Airport to catch my flight to Sri Lanka. (Pretty ridiculous...) I met Andrea at the airport about an hour and 10 minutes before our flight left. The lady at the check in counter took twenty minutes to check us in. She wanted both of our credit cards (which Andrea didn’t have any more because she was robbed in Cambodia). After Andrea was finished checking in she told her to “run” to the gate. Then she told me, alone, “bpit laow” which means “the flight is closed.” Andrea had already left, and she knew that we were traveling together! I called out to her, “ANDREA!!!” She came running back and we both put up a fight. Long story short, we made our flight. We were the last ones on it, and we were really lucky that there was no line at customs.

On the flight we both watched the movie “TED,” which was fun for me because I was an extra in it last summer! Before we knew it, we were in Colombo. We took a taxi to the hotel in Negumbo that Andrea had pre-booked. It was raining and late, and we waited outside the gate on a dark alley for 10 minutes waiting for someone to let us in. We were both rather miserable haha. The man who eventually came to let us in was so weird too hahaha. At one point when Andrea went out to use the bathroom he told her, “Oh you again! I forgot you were here!” He also liked to mime things to me that I didn’t understand. For example, when I turned off the light after using the bathroom, he tried “miming” to me to leave it on. I didn’t get it. The two of us were happy to be on our way the next day.

Straight away the next day, the two of us walked to the local bus station where we bought a cheap bus ticket to the UNESCO World Heritage city of Kandy. It was only about $1.25 for our tickets! The ride was long though, and very uncomfortable (much worse than any other buses I’ve taken so far…worse than CHINA!) When we arrived, we (stupidly) had nowhere booked, and it was downpouring rain. We took shelter inside a post office before agreeing to let a tuk-tuk driver help us find a room. We went to several before finding one with a vacancy. By this time it was already the evening. We spent the entire day travelling (always needs to be accounted for when planning a trip). We then took the longest walk around Kandy Lake looking for food. It was really ridiculous that there was nothing! Finally we found a Mom and Pop shop where I stayed safe with rice and an egg, and Andrea had traditional food. Just like in India, Sri Lankan tea is creamy and sweet J

The next day it rained again. Neither one of us wanted to explore haha. We hired our tuk-tuk driver Suresh’s brother, Vicky, to take us around Kandy for the day. Our first stop was a tea factory and plantation. At the factory we got a tour (pretty interesting to see the production on such a large scale) and then we wandered around the plantations- just beautiful. The rain had stopped for a little bit, thankfully. From then we headed to Gadaladeniya Temple. There was no one there but us, and it was so old and beautiful. There was a temple keeper there, who was not a monk, but who seemed to be a very holy man. He showed us around and explained many different things to us. Afterwards, he took us inside his separate room where he showed us some amazing artwork drawings that he creates in his spare time. Although they were expensive, I splurged on one because I liked him so much and they were so incredibly drawn and meaningful. He also gave us a book on Buddhism as a gift, which Andrea has.

We then had a slight detour when a cow blocked us in the road (the locals thought we were crazy to be taking pictures of a cow haha), before heading to a different temple. Again, there was no one at this other temple, but we didn’t really feel like exploring inside (templed out for the day).  However, there was a wood carver working at a nearby shop, and we stopped to watch him work and explore his store. I ended up buying a little cow-horn and brass box that I really like J We then had a late dosa lunch and headed to see the famous “Kandy-Dance” at 530pm. While Kandy Dance shows traditional dances from Sri Lanka, Andrea and I both found it extremely touristy. It was, however, cool to see a few of the performers walk on hot coals after the show.

After the show, we headed to the Temple of the Tooth Relic with a guide we’d picked up right outside of the Kandy Dance show. I don’t remember the exact conditions, but Andrea and I both felt hustled/bad feelings when we thought his asking price was too high and he looks at his friend, rolls his eyes, and goes, “But you’re from America…very rich.” I hate that, because while it’s true, it’s also not entirely true for us at the moment. Our whole trip in Sri Lanka was like this. (I think that it also had to do with the fact that it’s high season, so locals are extra greedy now). Our tour was very rushed, but it was incredible to see the 7 gold caskets that housed the sacred tooth of Buddha, behind bulletproof glass, amongst hundreds of Buddhist pilgrims. I thought of Mahh Lahng and many of the Thais I know, and how much it would mean to them if they were here. I am so lucky! Andrea and I were both hoping to see the tooth though haha. (Like a kid though, I was a little bit disappointed to not see the actual tooth!)

After the show, our guide led us to a shady street to exchange money, where he pressured us to drink with him. It was yet another weird story involving a Sri Lankan man. Andrea and I were creeped out and went home.

We had a rough start to Sri Lanka haha. These posts are delayed because the internet in Sri Lanka wasn’t very good. Now I am in Burma and it is such a fascinating place. It is also a beautiful day here at Inle Lake J

Laundry machines and guitars for sale at the Colombo airport haha

Andrea's first taste of Sri Lankan tea!

In Kandy at the tea factory

So many tea leaves!

Well this is an interesting sign

Machines in the tea factory

Working hard in the tea factory

Exploring the tea plantation

My favorite shot of us

How beautiful are the tea plants?!

Gadaladeniya Temple

(Hundreds and hundreds of years old)

One of the Buddhas inside

Sri Lanka is a Buddhist State, but the Buddhism here

has hints of Hinduism. For example, many of the Buddhas

have the Indian "dot" on their foreheads, whereas in Thailand

they do not. Absolutely fascinating after living in Thailand :)

A little lily pond

The temple keeper, explaining this Buddha to us

Purple water lilies :)

This carving reminded me of Angkor Wat

Chilling out with an 800 year old carved elephant

A mystical creature with many different animal's body parts

These beautiful old doors!

The sun at the top is a symbol of Buddhism

Describing the paintings on them

Someone had beautifully arranged little white flowers :)

The dragon-looking creature at the top is

Chinese-influenced (you don't really see this in 

Thailand,but you do see this creature in Burma!)

Buddha with some very long earlobes!

After reaching enlightenment, some physical changes

occurred to Buddha: All of his fingers became the same

length, while his earlobes and forehead grew longer.

Different angle of the flowers...I'd never seen it like this :)

Very old door knocker and keyhole

One of the temple keeper's amazing drawings!

Here he is, showing us his work

More drawings

But wait...there is a cow blocking the road!

Oh heyyy

I have an affinity for cows, apparently

We pulled over to take some pictures haha

Another sleepy temple, with a sleepy dog in the road

From the outside (we didn't go inside)

The wood carver

Carving an elephant

Here it is! Amazing

Green rice paddies (I've seen this before!)

Dosa!

In the Coca Cola can are pieces of newspaper...napkins!

Blowing the conch shell at the introduction of Kandy Dance

Kandy Dance

I can see how tourists would eat this up.

The spinning plates were cool

The Temple of the Tooth Relic

Beautiful flowers!

The chamber of the tooth (straight behind the little door). 

Everyone was quickly rushed through, but you can see one

man (straight center) with his hands highly wai-ing. In the enclosed

area directly in front is a Sri Lankan family that has been waiting 

to be close to the tooth relic for years.

As the "normal" visitors are ushered out, the special 

family for the day gets up to enter the relic's chamber.

Downstairs, there is a collection of Buddha's from all over the world

An image showing Prince Siddhartha being born, and taking

7 steps North on lotus flowers. Siddhartha later became Buddha.

Prince Siddhartha, sitting under the Bodi tree.

He would become Gouthama Buddha.

An Indian King and Queen escape to Sri Lanka

with the holy tooth relic!

An incredibly glittering golden Buddha

This picture didn't turn out very well, but the 

language is so squiggly and cool!

Lovely :)

Again, there is that Chinese dragon head atop!

I don't remember the different animals represented in 

this mystical creature, but I believe that pig, crocodile, 

and lion were a few of them!

Very loud drummers as we exited the temple

Beautiful entrance/ exit hallway

One of the paintings. You might notice the 

slight discoloring at the bottom. This is from the

LTTE terrorist bombing that happened when 

Prince Charles visited in the 1990s.

A beautiful sculpture outside

A far away temple at night. Wow!