Extensive range of fascinating things to do and see
Disadvantages:
None
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Our decision to travel up to the ancient capital city of Kandy turned out to be an excellent one. My wife, daughter and I had quickly tired of our beach hotel in the south western tourist trap at Brunewela, with its security fencing and lurking beach bums (see my report on this resort for further details) and jumped at the suggestion from our Kuoni Rep that we should hire a car and local driver and head up country for a complete change of scenery.
As it turned out our driver, Dev, hailed from Kandy (a Kandy Man?) and with his good English, ready smile and fund of local knowledge he proved to be an invaluable guide as, for the first time we began to experience and explore the real Sri Lanka.
For the first couple of hours of the trip we beat our way north up the heavy traffic of the Galle road, along the flat coastal plain towards Colombo but once through that teeming metropolis we turned east and began the 115 kilometre climb up into the mountains towards Sri Lanka’s second largest city.
As we climbed away from the coast we also began to leave behind the oppressive heat, humidity and dust and made our entrance into the cooler, greener, lusher world of the Hill Country. Urban sprawl gave way to rice fields and then as we continued higher, to seemingly endless tea plantations which stretched as far as the eye could see. For much of the time the main road follows the route of the Colombo railway line (or maybe that should be the other way round) and judging by the views from the road I would guess that is one train journey that is worth making.
From time to time we passed through villages, sometimes stopping for tea (it takes nerve to ask for a coffee in this area!) and maybe it was because we were with Dev, who seemed to know everyone along the route, or maybe it was just the nature of the locals but we started to feel welcome and comfortable for the first time that we had entered the country.
Mid way we stopped for a visit at a spice and herb garden although, as it turned out, those were not the only attraction. The owners had an elephant, which patiently allowed the three of us to climb onto its back for a photograph before taking my wife off for a solo ride – straight into the river! She arrived back, on foot, soaking wet but with sparkling eyes having just achieved a lifetime ambition to actually ride an elephant– and certainly I will never forget the touch and texture of the elephant’s skin or the way that it moved under me with such controlled, harnessed power as it walked when my turn came. Luckily, as things turned out, this was not to be the only time on the trip that we met up with these superb beasts.
On the outskirts of Kandy we stopped again, this time for a visit to a working tea plantation and factory. Dev was clearly a regular visitor here, not only bringing tourists such as ourselves but also as a customer. It appears that, as in India, the best teas are exported, so the only way that Sri Lankans can obtain the best is to buy export quality tea direct from the plantation. Tea is not indigenous to the area but was brought to Ceylon (as the Island was then known) by the British in the mid 1860’s. (Actually I could say that it was first grown by James Taylor on the Loolecondera Estate just to the south east of Kandy in 1867 – but I would just be showing off). We were given the full tourist bit, being shown how the bushes are picked (they would grow to a height of ten metres if left to their own devices … yes, I know, showing off again) by female pickers (all Tamils) selecting only the newest leaves and buds. These are then ‘withered’ by blowing temperature controlled air over them until they are partially dried, at which point they are crushed, which starts a fermentation process. The critical decision then comes as to when the tea is ‘fired’ which stops the fermentation and sets the flavour. Fascinating, eh? Needless to say, we came away clutching a number of samples. I asked Dev if there were any vineyards in the area – but there aren’t.
Finally, towards the end of a long first day, we arrived at Kandy itself.
Although home to 100,000 people, this ancient city, capital of the last Sinhalese kingdom, appears to be much smaller. It is dominated by a central lake (actually artificial – created in 1807 by the last ruler) which has a small island in the centre– the building on the island is said to have been used as the King’s personal harem, accessible only by barge. When the British took over they used it as an ammunition store. (I made a number of comments to Dev about bangs and banging – but they went over his head)
On the north side of the lake is the magnificent Temple of the Tooth, which contains Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic, a sacred tooth of Buddha, said to have been snatched from his funeral pyre in 543 BC. (OK, I admit it, I looked that bit up). The Kandy Temple dates back to the mid 1600’s and has an incredible aura surrounding it. Visitors are welcome to enter the Temple and to take photos (at a price), although certain dress restrictions apply - no shoes and no shorts (you are allowed to remove your shoes and leave them outside the Temple but don’t try the same thing with your shorts). If you can, visit at night. You don’t actually get to see the tooth, only the caskets said to contain the tooth and even they are guarded by a couple of Buddhist monks who look as though they have not taken vows to remain as pacifists. If possible, go from the temple and try to catch a performance of the Kandy Drummers and Dancers – awesome.
After a very comfortable night in a hill top hotel with outstanding views down onto the town and a quick visit to the newer concrete statue of Buddha which looks down on the town centre from the west, we set off for the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, which at 60 hectares, is the largest on the island. Its main attraction is a huge, spreading fig tree whose main branches have to be supported by baulks of timber and which is said to be hundreds of years old, although my main memory is walking over a modern ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ style of suspension bridge into the gardens (and swinging it madly from side to side when my wife reached the middle – I know, a childish thing to do).
Sri Lanka still has a very active precious and semi precious gem mining and trading industry, especially in rubies and sapphires, most of which are not actually found in commercial quantities on the island and therefore we followed the gardens with a visit to one of the many gems merchants which operate in Kandy and especially Ratnapura. The visit comprised of an interesting audio visual presentation on the techniques used in gem mining, followed by a fairly hard sell of the products themselves. After our experience in fighting off the touts at Brunewela, these professional salesmen never stood a chance and we left empty handed and with unsullied credit cards. Dev looked disappointed – I suspect he was on commission.
The highlight of the trip was, however, still to come.
One of the most famous places to visit on Sri Lanka has to be the elephant orphanage at Pinnewala, near Kegalle, a few kilometres north of the Kandy – Colombo road. This government run nursery takes in wild elephant orphans, cares for them and trains them for a working life. It is one of the few places in the world where you are able to mix fairly freely and in comparative safety with elephants. Several times each day the babies are bottle fed (my daughter treasures photographs of her holding the bottle for one hungry guzzling youngster) followed by a trip down to the river for a bathe. I’ve seen this several times on TV but that simply doesn’t capture the sounds, smell and atmosphere of being there in person, yards away from these wonderful animals, all of us having a whale of a time. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
Dev drove us back down to the coast by a roundabout route, away from the main road, taking us through some real rural backwaters. Most villages were clearly pretty poor but wherever we went the locals smiled and waved at us as we passed by and one of my strongest memories is seeing lines of bare foot children piling out of school, laughing and chattering, all dressed in immaculate white shirts and blouses. That is the spirit of Sri Lanka, not the exploitation of Brunewela.
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