Day 107 - Kandy, Sri Lanka

Day 107 – His

We seem to be having something of a Buddhist holiday. So far we have been to Buddha’s birthplace, the site of his first sermon and now we have been to the great Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka. Here they keep one of the only relics of Buddha – his tooth. It was stolen from his funeral pyre by a Sri Lankan king and is a big deal round here as it is said that no true king of Sri Lanka can be king without having Buddha’s tooth. Apparently, all through Sri Lankan history several powers have vied in order to get and keep this thing – including the Indians, the Portuguese and the English. Mostly, to no avail as it is still here in a golden casket in Kandy. And this morning we went to see it. It is one of the holiest of holies as far as the Sri Lankan people are concerned and they take it very seriously. So, it was temple clothes and respectful manners as we trooped around the temple and gathered together for the drumming ceremony that hailed the opening of the inner shrine when we could view the casket. You can only view the tooth once every six years and when that time comes around – quite literally millions of people descend on Kandy – and it is a small town. Every year they cart a replica around the town on the back of an elephant in a procession consisting of 150 other elephants – it must be quite a sight. In the temple grounds there is a museum to an elephant that carried the tooth for something like 60 years. The poor beast died in 1988 and they stuffed it and built a little mausoleum to it where you can see it – which we did just prior to the opening of the inner shrine.

The Inner shrine is a small gold covered room where the faithful are able to walk past the casket and catch a glimpse - actually it was all pretty cool as we did this the drummers pounded out a rhythm in the courtyard below and as everyone was so respectful and holy it had quite an effect. After the seeing the tooth we went on to see the library and another shrine to the Buddha before collecting our shoes.

We have so far done three majorly touristy things – the first was a trip to a wood carving factory, the second was to a spice garden and the third was to a gem museum. The gem museum was today, right after the shrine of the holy tooth. I have to say this about the Sri Lankans – they give good value for money. Of course, the reason these places host so many tourists is that it is a chance to get you into the shop and stress you into buying something. In Sri Lanka, however, the ones we have been to have been interesting and informative and the gem museum was no exception. They had a model mine, a video explaining the gem mining process and a good display of cut and uncut gems, precious metals and minerals from around the world – as good as any natural history museum exhibit. Of course, the Sri Lankans are held back a little from their tourist exploitation by a culture of politeness that stops them from hassling you too much and it is quite easy to just walk through the main shop area where they want to get you to buy something. Having said that quite a few people did buy something and more often than not at £200 a pop.

After the museum we drove a short way to the botanical gardens and spent an hour or so walking round the orchid houses and fan displays of different grasses and bamboos. Botanical gardens are not really my thing and though I admire them and the work involved I am happier admiring them from afar. Still it was a pleasant walk and I am sure I would have learned something if I had listened. Unfortunately, I didn’t and spent most of the time wondering where I could get a decent coffee. As luck would have it the place for decent coffee turned out to be our next stop. After the gardens we were on ‘free time’ so Patti and I headed off for the centre of Kandy and a charming place called the White House. Sri Lanka has a surprising cake culture and very very very good bakeries litter the streets of which the White House is one of the best according to trip advisor. The cakes and snacks looked very appealing and the coffee arrived in a huge pot along with sweetened thickened milk, after which I was most happy.

Day 107 – Hers.

After our coffee (and a samosa thingy and a delicious piece of almond and chocolate tarte), we set off to explore Kandy a bit.  Kandy is a quite laid back, attractive city.  The palace, the Queen’s Hotel (the British officers’ quarters in colonial times) and the commercial district lie alongside a beautiful reservoir, framed by hills dotted with large colonial style homes, hotels and guest houses.  It is a very safe city – and it closes up early: shops at 5:30, restaurants at 8:00 and even wedding parties (there were two in our hotel today) no later than 10pm.  Restaurants do not serve alcohol – and market traders are just as happy to point you where you actually want to go as to entice you into their shops.  We wandered around the market and bought a couple of little things, then strolled along the banks of the reservoir and climbed the hill to our hotel, returning just in time to shower and get ready for our ‘cultural evening’.

The show we went to see was clearly put on only for tourists, but still very interesting.  Accompanied by a conch shell trumpet and five different traditional drums, we saw a good selection of Kandyan and low country dances – some involving elaborate costumes with masks or suits made of bells, a couple with plate spinning and gymnastics and some representing the movements of animals, particularly the cobra and the peacock.  The entire ensemble gathered on stage just before the short interval to sing the National Anthem.  It was really quite sweet.  The two acts after the interval were nothing short of spectacular.  First, two ‘artistes’ passed lit fire batons over their arms, torsos and tongues.  Then, after a prayer to the goddess Pathini, they walked over a four metre long bed of hot coals three times, throwing burning powder into the air as they walked.  (At this point, I was very glad we were up in the dress circle, not in front row seats – it looked a bit dangerous down there...)  Rob said that he would like to have a go at fire walking....hmmm.

After the show, most of the group went to a restaurant that had a good mix of Western, Chinese and Sri Lankan dishes.  I had a very interesting dish called ‘kankun’ with rice.  It was a bit like spinach, cooked in a garlic and soy-based sauce.  Rob had sweet and sour pork with chips – a bit odd, I thought, but he said he’s had more than enough rice to last him a lifetime.  A few of the younger members of our group then went to try to find a pub to have a drink. (Both of the Aussie guys had bought white linen shirts they needed to show off – our ‘rock star’ had even bought matching trousers....)  The rest of us walked back to the hotel – more or less in time to wave the last bride and groom on their way.