Day 106 - Dambulla and Kandy, Sri Lanka

Day 106 – Hers.

For some reason the alarm didn’t go off this morning – not a crisis as the monkeys had already woken me up, but a bit of a worry for the next few days.....We packed, breakfasted and climbed back aboard the bus – again in our ‘temple clothes’ for another full day.

Our first stop was a wood carving factory – beautiful furniture, statues of gods ,goddesses and, most notably, elephants plus masks, household goods, etc., etc – pretty much anything you could carve from wood. We were shown the different types of wood, the natural wood dyes and the carving process.  We then had twenty minutes to explore the shop.  As usual, I was sorely tempted.....but Rob pointed out that he could carve me nearly anything I wanted – and I wouldn’t have to carry it home – so once again I refrained from buying anything.

We then drove an hour and a half to the Dambulla cave temples – a quite spectacular series of 5 caves with well over 100 carved statues of the Buddha, some dating back over 2000 years.  The Japanese have built a giant Buddha, a golden stupa and an elaborate gatehouse/museum at the bottom of the rocky outcrop.  Tourists and pilgrims pass through this and then climb several hundred steps to the cave temples, avoiding the trinket sellers along the way.  In general, the trinket sellers are easy to avoid in Sri Lanka – usually it is merely a case of not making eye contact.  At most, a “No, thank you” seems to suffice.  Perhaps it is because they are such a polite people.

We again boarded the bus for another hour and a half to our lunch stop – yet again, a pleasant ‘local’ restaurant with rice and curry.  One of the girls, though, inadvertently ate a very hot chilli – the restaurant owner quickly brought out granulated sugar that seems to have worked to cool her mouth.... How interesting; not a remedy I had heard before!

We chatted a bit to an old lottery ticket seller outside the restaurant; he told us how much better life is in Sri Lanka since the end of thirty years of war and terrorist attacks in 2009 – if for those who haven’t won the lottery.  He asked us where we were visiting and made suggestions of other places we might like to see.  It is always really nice to get a chance to speak with local people – one of the real benefits of a ‘grassroots’ tour.

 

Day 106 – His

Our next stop was in a spice garden. I know this doesn’t sound like fun and smacks of the usual pearl factory tourist trap and to a certain extent it was. However, the guy who gave the talk was a bona fide herbalist and not a little proud of the six years he had had to spend studying his subject before he got his government license. It seems herbalists here are treated with the same respect as doctors in the west. His knowledge of his subject was encyclopaedic and he was a fascinating man to listen to. Perhaps the most astonishing thing was a herbal depilatory cream that he applied to our ever ready Australian. Well just his leg – and ten minutes later it was cleaner than a razor could have made it. It was amazing. Far better than Veet and no rash or harsh chemicals – unfortunately it was about twice the price of Veet. It did put me in mind of a series of things I have been working on using green chemistry. Green chemistry is an idea that all industrial chemical processes can be done using plant extracts rather than the industrial methods currently used. A nice idea and gaining ground. Anyhow, this seemed right down that alley – so, I listened intently.

We then headed off to Kandy. Now it is a curious world full of strange and wonderful things and it turns out that my great great grandfather was posted to Kandy when he was in the British army and that my great grandfather was born here – A tenuous link I know but still I am looking forward to Kandy. The trip here was fun. We have a great group and there is a lot of laughter on the bus and a couple of the guys have bought jelly sweets that they insist on passing round – so I have to have a few – it would be rude not to.

We pulled in to Kandy late and even now I get a sense of what my family must have seen – even though we are talking about the 1870’s here. The town has a timeless feel and of course the surrounding countryside hasn’t changed in a millennium. Kandy is a tourist destination and it is easy to see why. We are going to see more of the place tomorrow – of course, and I am looking forward to it.