Dambulla to Kandy

Monday, July 20, 2015
Kandy, Sri Lanka
We woke up on Monday morning well rested and relieved that our calf muscles were not too sore from all those stairs yesterday.

After another lovely breakfast including my new fave - Dahl curry (I have fried rice in Thailand), we were ready to set off again .

First stop Dambulla caves. It was with some horror when I realised we had to climb another mountain with more stairs....but this was only 1/3 the height of Sigiriya. This site is an active sacred site so shoulders and knees have to be covered. There are 5 caves that are covered in paintings of Buddha and of Buddha statues. The Buddha images were created over 2000 years ago, however it has been a place of worship since 1st century BC.
 
As is the case with tour guides all over the world, we are taken to places where you can use the bathroom in exchange for a sales talk on various things. First up was a spice garden. It was quite interesting and if you believe the salesman there would be no ailments in the world if you bought their products. They cure baldness, varicose veins and diabetes. Amazing! Tim even got a face massage from an ointment that cures wrinkles. I'll see what he looks like in the morning. 

Some interesting observations:-

- school children wear white and they finish school at lunchtime .
- Sri Lankans love cricket. They also love Michael Clarke.
- tuk tuks are regarded as being very dangerous. This is kind of obvious.
- the biggest thing on the road has right of way. See above as to why tuk tuks are dangerous.
- a big city like Kandy has takeaway foods eg KFC and Pizza Hut.

we arrived in Kandy for a late lunch. The traffic was horrendous but gave us plenty to look at from the car. Our guide took us to a great place for lunch overlooking the mountains. We sat near an extended family with children who made the biggest mess on 3 tables (and on the floor) I have ever seen. It took 4 staff 15 minutes to clean it up. (They were not Sri Lankan to clarify).

we then went to gem shop which was actually quite interesting and saw all the gems that are found in Sri Lanka including the topaz - which of course has a special place in our heart for some reason! Princess Diana's engagement ring (that is now worn by Kate) is a blue Ceylon sapphire - from Sri Lanka....so we saw some of those too.

Our guide then suggested we just go to the hotel early and miss the evenings cultural dancing. We were pretty happy with that as the last few days have been very full on. And after the Mon dancing on the River Kwai - Tim has never been a fan of cultural dancing even though that was probably the worst example of it you could ever find.

So, here we are relaxing by the pool in Kandy with a few beers. It's really not hot enough to swim here (for me) but it is warm enough to just wear summer clothes. Life is good.
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Comments

Rachel
2015-07-21

Can you bring back some of the ointment for wrinkles?? Of course will wait to see if Tim finds it a success!

beco70
2015-07-21

Rach, I woke with some trepidation wondering if Tim of yesteryear would be next to me. Maybe you need the ointment on a prolonged basis?

2025-02-06

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