Rain stops play in Kandy!

We have enjoyed our visit to Kandy, a decent hotel with a view over Kandy lake and a short walk into the centre.

We walked around the large lake saw lots of birds including pelicans and a huge water monitor lizard which is the second largest lizard after the kimono dragon. It looked very much like a crocodile lying on the bank of the lake.

We visited the Sri Dalada Maligawa - the temple of the sacred tooth relic - which is one of the holiest shrines in the entire Buddhist world. It was very crowded with tourists and people praying and making offerings. Can’t say it is the most ornate Buddhist temple we have visited.

We came across a Hindu temple as we were wandering around the busy shopping centre suddenly up popped a Buddhist monk, it turned out that there is a Buddhist temple attached to the Hindu temple! He latched on to us and showed us round a bit and then took us into another room. Somehow we knew what was coming next when he pulled out the (costly) white string sure enough before you could chant Om, we were being blessed and we had the strings around our wrists which will now stay on until it rots as we will be too scared to take it off in case some disaster befalls us. 1000 Sri Lankan rupees poorer, we left the temple.

The blessing however did make Mr C feel benevolent as he handed a few coins to a beggar we passed in the street shortly after.

It’s our last day here, today the 4th of February and it is Sri Lankan Independence Day not much activity in Kandy bar the old flag waving, but ceremonies taking place in Colombo. We went to see the big white Buddha on the hill and the botanical gardens however it has been raining cats and dogs so we got soaked!

Tomorrow we leave for Sigiriya which is a world heritage site for a 3 night stay.
















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