The Kandy Man
Last weekend was the Sinhalese and Tamil new year in Sri Lanka, meaning a long weekend for all to enjoy. Nima came over from Singapore to spend the weekend with me exploring the paradise island. It was my first chance to get out of Colombo, and everyone here tells me that the beauty of Sri Lanka really does lie outside of the capital. With that in mind, Nima and I headed off for a weekend journey through the lush, beautiful central region of the island. I will have several entries from the weekend trip, but this one starts off with Friday's journey to Kandy.
We started off at 10:00 Friday morning with our fearless driver/guide Harry and his Toyota Corolla. Our plan was to end the day in Kandy while hitting some key spots along the way. While Colombo is scorching hot at this time of year, the central region of the country is a perfect comfortable temperature, great for visiting in April. Traveling by road also allows us to see the countryside and pick up tidbits about Sri Lankan culture along the way.
The first stop we had was the roadside pineapple stands en route to Kandy. Best. Pineapple. Ever. We bought a fresh, juicy, ripe pineapple for 35rs - about 1/15 the price I'd pay back home. The gu
y even chopped the pineapple into bite-sized pieces for us and packed it to go. In addition to pineapple, Sri Lanka has amazing coconut, guava, mangoes, and even avacadoes.
Our first "real" stop was at the Pinawella Elephant Orphanage. Its the largest elephant orphanage in the world and it is particular about ensuring the site is truly for the benefit of the elephants residing. They dont do tricks, rides, shows, or any sort of labor. There are over 40 elep
hants there, ranging in age from 6 months to over 60 years. Three times a day they do a public feeding, which we were lucky enough to catch, followed by a trip down to the river to bathe/cool off. Nima and I easily passed over an hour watching the elephants and then having a snack at a riverside cafe during the bathing. I'll let the photos do most of the talking.
After the elephant orphanage we made our way to the Cave Temples at Dumbulla. This sight consists of 5 Buddhist temples that were built within caves on the side of a mountain. Inside are dozens of statues, carvings, and paintings of The Buddha, including impressive frescos on the ceilings. Despite the overflow of European tourists there with us, we got a good look at all the temples and had a pleasant walk up and down the mountain. Once again, the photos do the talking here.
By this time it was late afternoon and we decided to forego any other activites (shopping) and head to Kandy. My colleague Rajitha recommended Earl's Regency as a nice place to stay in Kandy, so I had my travel agent Sri book the weekend for us. The hotel is situated a short drive from the center of Kandy on a majestic mountain overlooking the river. From the reviews I read, and the price, I was expecting a 5-star experience. Un
fortunately we had about a 2-star experience. The hotel only has one choice for dinner, the buffet, so if you don't want that you're stuck with mediocre room service. Since we checked in late in the evening our room was probably the worst one on premise, as we didn't have proper size sheets and there was a hole in the wall that allowed the crying baby next door to keep me awake all night. I was pretty pissed about the whole deal and planned to complain in the morning (cliffhanger blog, I know). Anyhow, we got to bed early to rest up for our big day ahead on Saturday.
We started off at 10:00 Friday morning with our fearless driver/guide Harry and his Toyota Corolla. Our plan was to end the day in Kandy while hitting some key spots along the way. While Colombo is scorching hot at this time of year, the central region of the country is a perfect comfortable temperature, great for visiting in April. Traveling by road also allows us to see the countryside and pick up tidbits about Sri Lankan culture along the way.The first stop we had was the roadside pineapple stands en route to Kandy. Best. Pineapple. Ever. We bought a fresh, juicy, ripe pineapple for 35rs - about 1/15 the price I'd pay back home. The gu
y even chopped the pineapple into bite-sized pieces for us and packed it to go. In addition to pineapple, Sri Lanka has amazing coconut, guava, mangoes, and even avacadoes.Our first "real" stop was at the Pinawella Elephant Orphanage. Its the largest elephant orphanage in the world and it is particular about ensuring the site is truly for the benefit of the elephants residing. They dont do tricks, rides, shows, or any sort of labor. There are over 40 elep
hants there, ranging in age from 6 months to over 60 years. Three times a day they do a public feeding, which we were lucky enough to catch, followed by a trip down to the river to bathe/cool off. Nima and I easily passed over an hour watching the elephants and then having a snack at a riverside cafe during the bathing. I'll let the photos do most of the talking.
After the elephant orphanage we made our way to the Cave Temples at Dumbulla. This sight consists of 5 Buddhist temples that were built within caves on the side of a mountain. Inside are dozens of statues, carvings, and paintings of The Buddha, including impressive frescos on the ceilings. Despite the overflow of European tourists there with us, we got a good look at all the temples and had a pleasant walk up and down the mountain. Once again, the photos do the talking here.
By this time it was late afternoon and we decided to forego any other activites (shopping) and head to Kandy. My colleague Rajitha recommended Earl's Regency as a nice place to stay in Kandy, so I had my travel agent Sri book the weekend for us. The hotel is situated a short drive from the center of Kandy on a majestic mountain overlooking the river. From the reviews I read, and the price, I was expecting a 5-star experience. Un
fortunately we had about a 2-star experience. The hotel only has one choice for dinner, the buffet, so if you don't want that you're stuck with mediocre room service. Since we checked in late in the evening our room was probably the worst one on premise, as we didn't have proper size sheets and there was a hole in the wall that allowed the crying baby next door to keep me awake all night. I was pretty pissed about the whole deal and planned to complain in the morning (cliffhanger blog, I know). Anyhow, we got to bed early to rest up for our big day ahead on Saturday.
posted by SM at
4/18/2006 05:25:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home