Back to the Plan

After our excitement in Kandy and our unplanned night in Negombo (in a room with the grottiest bathroom and the most dodgy wiring we had seen so far in Sri Lanka), on Thursday all we wanted to do was get to Kandy and make up for lost time.

The original plan had been to take the train for what is supposed to be a truly picturesque journey up through the mountains, but getting the train from Negombo was getting so complicated we decided to get a bus instead.

The bus journey took just over three hours and cost about a pound for three seats - one each for us and one for the bags. We were exhausted by the time we arrived - any road journey is an experience in Sri Lanka but bus drivers are notorious for their constant daredevil overtaking and sounding of their horns. They seem to have different horns for different purposes, a short sharp beep to say 'Get out of my way', a musical one to say 'Hiya mate, see you later for a beer' and a really loud one that they sound over and over and over again. I think this one was specially designed to really annoy all the tourists on the bus and give them a headache. The buses are also filthy and you get off with black dust all over your hands, your face and up your nose. Despite all this, the views were spectacular as the bus climbed higher and higher up the steep twisting road, although it paid not to have a seat right next to the window, especially if you didn't have a head for heights.

I'd read in the guidebook that Kandy's considered to be the only city in Sri Lanka, other than Colombo. Our only experience of Colombo had been the night before, when our van had overheated and broken down at the edge of the road in rush hour traffic. Everything looked grey and I had nearly choked to death from the fumes from all the traffic. Kandy was totally different - lush green vegetation and loads of colour and pleasantly cool (I have decided hot countries aren't really my thing) after the sweltering heat of the South. It was hectic and as we got off the bus with rucksacks on our back, trying to look in the guide book as discreetly as possible to find our way to the hotel we'd booked, it was the usual onslaught of locals offering us tuk-tuk rides and everything they were selling, except about a hundred times harder. There were shops, stalls and people sitting on the pavement selling just about anything you could ask for. In fact the only thing we didn't see was a hostess trolley.

We eventually got our bearings and found our hotel, the Olde Empire and indeed it was old, Gareth does believe that the owner dated back to the Raj. Our room was a bit dark and dingy but opened onto a lovely balcony with loads of comfy chairs and a view of Kandy Lake. While we were there we met Kate from Bristol, doing a couple of months of volunteering in Sri Lanka before meeting up with her boyfriend in India for another few months. It was so nice to meet someone that we could have an easy conversation with. Kate had already been in Kandy for a week and worked out the local scams, best places to eat and fastest internet connections (believe me we have found some slow ones!). She also introduced us to our first proper bar, called The Pub. It had the best toilets we'd seen since Changi airport, with a tiger print toilet seat and toilet paper. To make sure we got as much use as possible out of these gloriously clean toilets we had a few Lion lagers (and went back the next night for a few more!).

With only two days left in Sri Lanka we still hadn't seen any elephants so on Friday we decided a trip to Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage was in order. This involved another filthy trip on the bus and changing buses at some random junction but we found it alright and it was definitely worth it. The Orphanage opened in 1975 with seven elephants and there are now more than eighty elephants, with various deformities. One has lost an ear, some have wonky or missing tails and there was one with only three legs, who we nicknamed Tripod. He didn't move much. When we first arrived we passed two huge old elephants and were encouraged to approach them by the Sri Lankans working there, who also took our camera and snapped us with Raja, the oldest elephant in the Orphanage.

When we got the camera back this guy started saying 'Tip, tip' so Gareth took a 10 rupee note out of his pocket and this guy said 'No' and what sounded like 'Coins'. The coins are in such tiny denominations they're worth barely anything so Gareth went to give him a handful - and he replied "No, one hundred'. So Gareth told him to bugger off because we could take our own photos for that much. It's not a bad photo anyway...

After spending a bit of time watching them roam we followed them down to the river to see them being bathed. I have been quite restrained with the photos up until now but when I got back to the hotel I counted that we had taken 56 photos of elephants. We've shrunk this down to thirty-something now but you'll all be pleased to know that unfortunately we don't have enough of an allowance to put them all up here. You can see the rest of them when we get home!!!!

We had planned to get loads done on Saturday as it was our last day before flying to Bangkok. Best laid plans and all that. We got up early so I could try a Sri Lankan breakfast but I couldn't face fish curry first thing so we just had some bananas. We also planned to get an Ayurvedic massage and steam bath to flush out some of the dirt in our systems after those bus journeys, but the place was closed so we stayed grubby. Instead we visited the Temple of the Sacred Tooth, or Sri Dalada Maligawa, where the Buddha's tooth is supposedly enshrined. Nobody knows whether it's really there or not but I think Gareth and I both know the answer. It was an impressive building anyway.

The Temple is busy all day with locals visiting with offerings and we managed to time our visit to coincide with a service. There were hundreds of people milling about with flower offerings and me and Gareth looking a bit lost, wearing MP3 players giving us the history of the temple in English. We always try to blend in.

So our time in Sri Lanka is up and we have both really enjoyed although it has been trying at times. It's a great place to visit but not without its challenges, dirtiness being one of them. It will take me a long time to forget the filthy stinking toilet I visited in a seemingly clean cafe, after eating some short eats there.

We have seen some funny things, people walking through knee-deep puddles of muddy water in bare feet but wearing a plastic bag on their head to avoid the rain. Cyclists carrying open umbrellas as they pedal down the road. Many, many dogs, who all bore some resemblance to either Maddie or Jess. I'm sure we'll come back one day but it will be with a big bottle of Dettol and lots of wet wipes.

Aayu-bowan from Sri Lanka for now!