Day 6 - Kandy

Our main day in Kandy was an 8 am start after a simple breakkie at our hotel Jerome picked us up and we headed out into Kandy. Today was the day before the election in Sri Lanka and as a result many roads were blocked off for security reasons, in addition to this all the ballot boxes for this area were being picked up and driven out of town in anything from buses to mini vans, as you can imagine it was chaos! the roads were packed and traffic at a stand still. Jerome thought he could possibly get a park at a church that he knew, so we went and check out the church the building was quite nice if a little plain, the art was a bit average with nativity scenes with little figurines and a dead Jesus in a glass case... mmm so we didn't stay too long. Unfortunately Jerome's plan didn't work as we were't allowed to park for security reasons. We headed back into the traffic but finding a park proved impossible and after probably an hour and us suggesting we drive out and get a tuk tuk into town Jerome succumbed and drove out of town a little and found the dodgiest car park outta town possible. After a 15 or so minute walk we arrived at the Temple of the Tooth. This temple supposedly holds an actual tooth of Buddha himself (I say supposedly because the Portuguese crushed, burnt and then scattered the tooth into a river) so Buddhists believe this crushed tooth was either a fake or if the real tooth it reassembled itself by divine powers. To enter we had to pass through a checkpoint where males and females are separated, patted down and bags checked (there was a bombing at the then entrance by the Tamil Tigers in 1998) hence the security. After this we proceeded into the temple grounds surrendered our shoes and passed over a moat surrounding the complex, from here it feels a little like being a lamb that's being led to slaughter, as in everyone is filed basically single file and herded along by the staff, if you hesitate for a few seconds either someone pushes in front or you are told to move along by staff. The actual shrine for the tooth is on the 1st floor with old wood carved columns, masses of people and a sectioned off area right in front of the relic for people with babies being all that I really remember of the building. The actual tooth is not on display only the shrine its encased in - which from the possibly 3 seconds i manged to see it for is actually quite beautiful, a gold bell shape very sparkly very bling bling! but that's it you are herded on to various other rooms with various Buddha statues and other Buddhist artwork - I would describe more here but you really are rushed through a lot of it, within reason as there are MANY people, but from memory there was an octagon room with a statue of Buddha in the center, then a 2nd shrine room with a big statue of a gold Buddha a lot of elephant tusks around him and paintings telling the story of the tooth. After this we headed out where there is a small museum showing relics of the kings palace which used to stand here and various other items from this period. Another room is dedicated to a massive elephant (Raja) which was the main casket bearer at the annual festival in Kandy who has become a national treasure since. I must add that in a lot of these rooms we kept coming across a couple that loved taking selfies and pictures of each other but not like normal people they took at least 6 or more in various poses and weren't happy till they looked hot enough and even had the shits with Bec when she was in one of their sexy pics. We crossed back over the moat grabbed our shoes and went for a little walk along the lake which is beautiful and has a stunning backdrop. Next we headed over to the Queens Hotel which is a colonial era hotel where I though hey they must have a pretty cool bar right!? Well it wasn't bad but wasn't quite as pristine and high class as I would have thought but I guess that was a long time ago now and everything ages... So we had a beer checked out the grounds a little and met up with Jerome, we walked back to pick up the van stopping at a few shops here and there nothing special just chain outlets, Jerome led us into a shopping center which was just like back home clean, expensive and devoid of anything interesting. We picked up the van and headed to lunch, our usual fare of Sri Lankan curry! Under the restaurant there was a batik factory/shop so we checked it out - batik is made by applying a wax design to cotton material, this is then dyed a color and anything the wax has protected stays white - this process is then repeated for however many colors are in the design. Its very time consuming and you would need a lot of patience but some of the pieces were really beautiful! We bought a piece which shows a moonstone to go with our mandala we already have at home. Finally we headed over to see the Kandy dancers, which is traditional Sri Lankan dancing, was a pretty good show some of it was a bit circus like with some spinning tops but most of it was interesting, at the end of the show they did some fire breathing and walking over coals etc. which the tourists loved. After this we headed back to the hotel for dinner and a few beers. Its voting day tomorrow! and then into the hills and tea plantations.