A night on the town

We had volunteered to check out dinner venues for the group - somewhere with a varied menu and a view 

So we started with cocktails in the hotel rooftop bar to see a sunset which was obscured by a bank of dark cloud.

 However, we had a great view over the city even if the cocktails were not brilliant. 

Moved on to the Sky Lounge for dinner where they only had Lion Lager available - food was quite good but the ladies wanted more cocktails so we had a nightcap in the bar at the Queens Hotel - Kandy's old colonial hotel. 

Settled on their House special cocktail - made with Arrack - which was excellent. 

Unfortunately we attracted the attention of the three wandering musicians who entertained?? us with Neil Diamond songs. 

A day off

After yesterday's rushing around and not achieving very much, we decided to skip the tea plantation visit - already done that - and give ourselves a day off to see the sights of Kandy.

As we walked around the lake we came upon a street trader that Linda couldn't resist - after a week of rice and curry it was worth 5p to step on the scales. 

We were heading for the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya when we noticed a viewpoint called Arthur's Seat so obviously had take a detour. 

Negotiated a fare to the Gardens with a Tuk-tuk driver while declining his offer for a city tour. The city traffic seems chaotic but while they all seem determined to keep moving, there wasn't anything aggressive about it 

The Botanic gardens were excellent with some interesting plant collections and an Arboretum with many very impressive trees - an oasis of calm.

Another Tuk-tuk ride back to the centre and a quick lunch. Checked out a couple of dinner venues and retired to the hotel pool. 

Not what we expected?

Our 3 - 4 hr trek through the Knuckles mountain range turned out to be a 90 minute stroll along a mountain road between terraced paddy fields - hardly worth putting on hiking shoes - let alone full gear, walking poles and 2 litres of water.

Interesting stop to chat with a family who were planting their paddy - whole family involved including eldest daughter who was on leave from college just to help.

Learmed about 'parachute planting' which was much easier - and no bending down required.

Typical lunch in village followed by long drive through the mountains on a busy single track road which took nearly three hours and meant we had a very short visit to the Spice Garden - although there was enough time to get a head, neck and shoulder massage from a trainee ayurvedic masseur to demonstrate the efficacy of their lotions and oils.

The rush continued as we drove to Kandy and a visit to the Temple of the Buddha's Tooth for the scheduled unveiling of the relic.

 Noisy, very busy with tourists, couldn't see anything and felt like we were intruding on the lival people who had come to pray so we left early to find a meal which wasn't curry and rice.

One of our group was up early the next morning and had a much better view of the ceremony

Lion Rock, Sigiriya

1200 steps to the top of the rock - 200m gain. - some on stone steps but quite a lot on steel staircases - not good for anyone with vertigo. Definitely got the heart rate up! 

Amazing to see the foundations of the King's palace, and other buildings and  reservoirs on the top of the rock and impressive water gardens at the base with hydraulic fountains which are still working after 13 centuries. 

It was a public holiday so lots of local visitors but also bus loads of Chinese / Taiwanese tourists which destroyed the peace and quiet. Apparently, they have sometimes even disturbed the Hornets which nest on the rock to the extent that there is now a hornet-proof shelter at the mid-level. 

We visited another temple site in the afternoon - even older temple bikes this  time. Fairly speedy visit so Linda and others could get back for their spa treatments.

Sitting on the terrace with a cold beer watching the sunset

when our Met police Detective Inspector jumped up and screamed as a Toque Macaque which had climbed on the bar, while she was taking pictures, was busy sipping her Singapore Sling (??) through a straw. 😂😂

Elephants

Another early start - packed, breakfasted and on the road by 7.00 am.

First stop was a sacred site at Mihintale with 300 steps to the site and then another 100 each to the Stupa, the Buddha and the rock upon which a monk appeared to the king (in the 4th century BC).

Then we stopped at a small Eco lodge - The Other Corner - for a tour of the vegetable garden and a cookery demonstration. Picked and cooked long beans in spices and coconut milk to add to the 7 other dishes that were already prepared for lunch. Interesting to see how simple the recipe was - came away with a cook book to try at home

Moved on to Minneriya National park for another Jeep Safari - this time looking for Elephants in Mahindra Jeeps. 

Fairly chaotic set up - apparently there's a restriction on the number of jeeps in the park but didn't seem that way. Elephant sightings were few and far between and each time there was a crowd of jeeps jockeying for position.

After a couple of hours in full sun - and 5 elephants - we agreed to head home and, of course then had our best sighting. 

Think we saw more elephants along the highway than we did in the Park and we managed to get to our hotel in time for a sunset swim. 

Curry, curry and more curry

Having curry three times a day may not sound appealing but the curries here are much lighter than those we have at home.

Egg Hoppers with fish curry and fresh coconut sambal for breakfast was a great way to start as is a Sri Lankan Omelette with tomato, onion snd green chilli.

Lunch is generally a selection of spicy vegetable dishes and sambals sometimes with chicken or fish curry while dinner will often be a buffet with two or three meat curry's and 4 or 5 vegetable dishes.

Had a cookery demo at one of our stops, so have a few new recipes to try when we get back. 

Lion Lager appears to be the only beer available so far although we're promised a craft brewery in Kandy 🤞🤞

Even managed a bottle of South African Merlot from Wellington last night, not sure I'd have paid  6000 rupees (£15) for it anywhere else but a change from the lager! 

A Busy Day

The floods are still disrupting our programme with the entrance gate to the National Park still blocked. Instead of an early morning safari, we went first to the temple site at Anaradhapura - two hour coach ride with picnic breakfast - and then on some fairly ancient bikes for a ride around the site and visits to a number of Stupa and other holy sites.

Visiting on a Sunday was very busy with hundreds of people - mostly in white clothes - making their gifts and praying to Buddha.

One of the sites included the oldest recorded tree in the world - a ficus that came from Buddha's place of enlightment. Venerated in Buddhism but not hugely impressive with trunk and roots hidden in a building - made me think of Trigger's brush.

Our guide assumed - correctly - that the group was not interested in ABT - another bloody temple - and we headed back to the Wilpattu National Park via a different gate for an afternoon / sunset safari.

Slightly under-whelmed by 3 hrs bouncing around in the back of a Toyota Hilux with limited wildlife on view

until we came on a male leopard wandering along the trail in front of the truck - very calm, checking and marking his territory and apparently oblivious to the 7 or 8 safari trucks all jockeying for the best camera shot.

 Eventually he turned off and headed for the bush and we headed home, arriving at our hotel by 19.30.