I will never forget the smell of coconut oil in the women’s hair at the temple of the Sacred Tooth. Thanks for the memory and your beautiful photos.

I'm so glad you're enjoying my very belated photo report! I do remember the smell of coconut oil, too - lots of memories come up with scents!

More to come soon! We have more places to go and things to do in Kandy!

And the superb photo journey continues!

Loving it!

How was the weather? Its look ok but can't be sure.

Larry

Larry,
Thank you for still following this! I'm so glad you're loving the report & photos!

The weather in Sri Lanka was all over the place! Or, more to the point, every location had different weather. Very different! From very hot and humid to chilly and needing a warm jacket - surprisingly diverse for such a relatively small island. India's weather in the south was much more uniform.

Kandy Cultural Show
I am a sucker for cultural dance and theatrical performances, even when they are considered "touristy". I'm a tourist and proud of it -- and seeing a cultural show, even if it is a "touristy" experience, is still getting introduced to dance, performance, dress and costume that I'm unfamiliar with at home. And Kandy is the cultural capital of Sri Lanka, and so, the cultural show is a popular performance to attend. There are several venues and we attended the hour-long show at the Kandy Cultural Centre. It's a plain setting, and it was filled with tourists. Our driver purchased the tickets a day earlier and I was surprised how busy it was. The seats are on one level and not on a rise, so closer is better! Our seats were decent, fortunately, even though they weren't front row seats.
There was a performance by couple of fire eaters after the dance and drumming, but it was damp outside and in a parking lot -- not my favorite part of the show, but the rest was delightful!

Kandy - Central Market
And visiting the Central Market in Kandy is a must! I always love visiting markets wherever we go, and this one was a lot of fun - active, vibrant, colorful. You can find pretty much anything you want!

<<annhig, perhaps you can appreciate the sentiment a friend of mine had many (many!) years ago when she would set people up on blind dates, me included -- she would say, "If it works out, I take responsibility, but if it doesn't, I take NO responsibility!" >>

An excellent attitude, Progol! I must adopt it pronto .

Funny that apart from seeing the Temple of the Tooth our experiences in Kandy barely overlapped. Looking at your great photos I don't remember the Temple looking much like that but we went on the evening of our arrival there when there were fewer people I think and it was getting dark. After that we went to look round the town and were accosted by someone offering to show us some shirts - the next thing we knew we were being led across the busy roads to a market area where we were shown so many shirts we were dizzy. Anyway Bill bought a classic shortsleeved white cotton shirt which I always loved to see him wear so it wasn't such a disaster as it might have been. Even though we thought that we'd paid over the odds, who cares? Then we went for supper in the iconic Queen's hotel and ended up having toasted BLTs and a pot of tea! The next day we visited the botanical gardens in the morning, rested and swam in the afternoon, and in the evening we went to a cricket match! The noise was amazing.

Looking forward to see where you go next!

Thank you for the reply.

I too love cultural dances. Our neighbor teaches the Indian style of dance know as Kathak. In fact her daughter is in the Guiness book of world records for most Kathak knee spins in one minute, a dizzying 74! Wow!

annhig, I love your description of buying a shirt with your husband! It reminds me of so many experiences we've had in our travels, but the good news is you were able to enjoy and appreciate the results of the shopping adventure! Michael is a lot more resistant to shopping pressure anywhere, although remind me to tell you about the necklace we purchased in a shop in Morocco....actually, the story is probably in my MoroccanTR - the art of sales pressure was perfected in this particular shop!
Our experiences of Kandy might still overlap -- we did go to the Royal Botanical Gardens and I'll be getting there shortly in this report. Going to a cricket match sounds so much fun -- in many ways, that's really participating in a place, attending the events that are not geared just for tourists. I'm sure that is a special type of experience, especially since it's something that you enjoy to begin with. The best travel memories seem to come from a personal connection to people and places.

jacketwatch, your neighbor's daughter sounds amazing to enter the Guinness book of records! That's an accomplishment for sure. I'm going to Google Kathak knee spins to see what that's all about now. I'm glad we both share an appreciation for the cultural dances.

Kandy - Royal Botanic Gardens

The Royal Botanic Gardens is another very popular destination for tourists, and deservedly so. It's the oldest botanical garden in Sri Lanka and the Guardian once listed it as "one of the 10 great botanical gardens around the world". I'm not exactly sure how that's determined, but it is worth a visit. We visited on a Sunday and what I enjoyed, too, was seeing families and groups of friends just enjoying the atmosphere. It's a few km outside of Kandy, so our driver did pick us up and take us back. It's very comforting, though it also feels indulgent, to have a driver at our beck and call all the time!

The Orchid house is especially popular, and deservedly so.



Show and tell!

But the most amazing yet bizarre experience was seeing and hearing the thousands of fruit bats that are flying around and hanging from the trees!

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com...-in-one-minute
It was actually 77!

Love those flowers and those bats look rather large.

Jacketwatch, thank you! I’ve been looking for a video of the record breaking spins, but can’t find on. But there are videos of her and I thought this one, with her mother, was especially sweet. How wonderful to have such lovely neighbors!

Hmm, it looks like the above video is unavailable, at least on my device. It’s a lovely video of jacketwatch’s neighbors, mother and daughter performing an Indian dance. Lovely!

Oh yes, those bats, progol - amazing just seeing them hanging from the trees like fruit.

So glad you went to the gardens too - I particularly loved the orchid house so those photos are a great reminder. I have my own photos somewhere but goodness knows where.

jacket watch - that's a great feat by your neighbour's daughter.

The link does not open for me either.

yes she is really something isn't she. She and mom are so talented!

annhig, We enjoyed the gardens - a nice place to be for the afternoon - but those bats were something else!

jacketwatch - I don’t know why the link doesn’t work, my guess is there’s some protection on the video. I just did a search for videos and it came up. It’s lovely - 2 talented and beautiful women!

We left Kandy after breakfast as we had several stops planned before we took the scenic train ride to Ella.

The first stop was at Glenloch Tea Factory, on the way to Nuwara Eliya, in the very heart of Sri Lanka’s Hill Country, with gorgeous emerald-covered hills that are studded with tea plantations. The fog rolled in and out while the sun poked its face out from time to time.

The tea factory visit tour was moderately interesting and enjoyable and the sales pitch was low key. Of course I loved sampling the tea at the end, and of course we bought something there, though 2 years after the fact, I can’t recall which one we bought.

We took a walk through the lush grounds after the formal tour, and took photos of the workers in the tea fields. After taking a few shots, the workers we focused on came up to us and asked for money. And, though I was momentarily taken aback, we more than willingly paid.

We then drove on to Nuwara Eliya, also known as “Little England”, where British residents settled in the early 1800s when the country, then known as Ceylon, was under British rule. In the mid 1800s, it became the a commercial center for tea, thanks to its climate, and continues to be a major part of Sri Lanka’s economy today.

Glenloch Tea Factory and Tea Center

Nuwara Eliya




The local lunch place - where we ate with our driver






The Grand Hotel - built in the mid-19th Century by the British governor of Ceylon at the time, "Barnes Hall" is classic "British Colonial architecture", and is a place where people still go to for High Tea.