Sri Lanka - Part one 🫖
To give ourselves a little break from planning we booked a tour in Sri Lanka, so a company books your accommodation, provides a driver, and advises stuff to see and do. As we only have a week here, and getting around on public transport isn't the easiest, we thought this the best way to see as much as possible. However, the break from planning did not mean a break from stress as we had very little communication from the tour company right up until we arrived in Sri Lanka, despite us pestering them. We enjoyed a sunset over Negombo Lagoon on our first night and in the morning, to our relief, our driver arrived right on time and away we went!
Once on the road we were very glad that the idea to hire a car and drive ourselves around didn't stay in our minds for very long. The roads are crazy, it appears everyone thinks they have right of way in every situation. On the way we stopped at some herbal gardens, which grew lots of plants for medicines and herbal remedies. It was very interesting, and a guide gave us a very good tour but it then gets awkward as they want you to buy stuff before you leave, and there was nothing we wanted to buy. From there we carried on into Kandy, and saw a Cultural Dance show. It was really good, some bits were more theatrical, like one called the Tea Picking dance. The majority of it was inside but the last part was outside which involved lots of fire and walking on hot coals, which just makes me feel a bit weird really.
We then stopped in Kandy for night, at a place owned by a super friendly man called Leslie. His wife made a lovely dinner and breakfast for us and we were right of the edge on the jungle. Leslie warned us that if wanted to go on a walk to take a long stick to warn the stray dogs away (theres loads everywhere), and that they are more likely to attack us because of our lighter skin (I don't think this is true, but we weren't going to find out).
Next day we were down in Kandy, viewing the Lake and visiting the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Reloc or Sri Dalada Maligawa. The temple houses left canine tooth of Buddah which was retrieved from the funeral pyre after his cremation in 543 BC. Buddhism is the largest religion in Sri Lanka and you could tell, as it was very busy there but super calm and pieceful at the same time. Below is a selfie of Matt, me, and Mohan our driver, we were viewing this country as as a three and we really enjoyed having him as our travel companion. His local knowledge was often very useful and interesting.
Once on the road we were very glad that the idea to hire a car and drive ourselves around didn't stay in our minds for very long. The roads are crazy, it appears everyone thinks they have right of way in every situation. On the way we stopped at some herbal gardens, which grew lots of plants for medicines and herbal remedies. It was very interesting, and a guide gave us a very good tour but it then gets awkward as they want you to buy stuff before you leave, and there was nothing we wanted to buy. From there we carried on into Kandy, and saw a Cultural Dance show. It was really good, some bits were more theatrical, like one called the Tea Picking dance. The majority of it was inside but the last part was outside which involved lots of fire and walking on hot coals, which just makes me feel a bit weird really.
We then stopped in Kandy for night, at a place owned by a super friendly man called Leslie. His wife made a lovely dinner and breakfast for us and we were right of the edge on the jungle. Leslie warned us that if wanted to go on a walk to take a long stick to warn the stray dogs away (theres loads everywhere), and that they are more likely to attack us because of our lighter skin (I don't think this is true, but we weren't going to find out).
Next day we were down in Kandy, viewing the Lake and visiting the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Reloc or Sri Dalada Maligawa. The temple houses left canine tooth of Buddah which was retrieved from the funeral pyre after his cremation in 543 BC. Buddhism is the largest religion in Sri Lanka and you could tell, as it was very busy there but super calm and pieceful at the same time. Below is a selfie of Matt, me, and Mohan our driver, we were viewing this country as as a three and we really enjoyed having him as our travel companion. His local knowledge was often very useful and interesting.
From there we were back on the road towards Nuarawa Elyia. This is in the central province's and all around are tea plantations. We then stopped at a tea plantation and factory where we had a tour and then tried lots of teas. We enjoyed this a lot. After this we saw Ramboda Falls, which were pretty impressive, and although only a short walk from the road there wasn't anyone else there at all. We then spent the night in Nuarawa Elyia.