Kandy

There is something magical in waking up from a restful night’s sleep to see a troop of monkeys, their long, dangly tails swinging, casually sitting by the bedroom window. As soon as they caught my eye they were gone like the wind. We had breakfast at our inn, then hopped into a tuk tuk we had booked the night before and took off for our first and only whole day in Kandy.

Aisling is an 18 year-old Australian volunteer currently working at the Nuwara Eliya Tea Leaf Vision school, whom I first met last Friday during the mock interview day when she came down to Maskeliya. We were both hoping to see a bit more of Sri Lanka than the schools and agreed to meet in Kandy, second largest city in the country and home to a unique cultural heritage. The city in itself is home to the most important religious shrine, the Temple of the Tooth, a few great viewpoints and some funky cafes, which we did not miss out on! On Saturday, though, we decided to make a trip outside Kandy to visit a spice garden and the Millennium Foundation elephant sanctuary. We drove for about and hour, the wind in our faces a welcome relief from the tropical heat, making occasional stops at mechanics’ and viewpoints where our driver insisted on taking an unnecessary amount of pictures.

We were guided through the spice garden and given explanations about the benefits of each plant and root, as well as a sample to smell and look at. Just as we thought the tour was coming to an end, we were invited to sit down and test out the various oils and ointments as well as try some of their spice tea (cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, coriander and vanilla essence), which is meant to “stimulate the body”. We then got face, head, shoulder, lower back and arm massages with different oils and creams, all amazingly soothing and tension-releasing. We got back into the tuk tuk, our skin dewy with sandalwood oil and our hair sleeked back with coconut hair tonic, ready to see some elephants. On our way there we drove past a woman walking three porcupines on leads, double took and smiled at her nonchalance.

Our driver recommended the Millennium Foundation instead of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, not only because it is cheaper but because of the proximity to the animals and the intimacy of the experience. The charity is the only one in Sri Lanka for captive elephants, be they retired or privately owned, and strives to provide a safe and caring environment where they can interact with each other. The MEF offers bareback elephant rides (as opposed to howdah/seat rides, which crush the elephant’s internal organs and bruise their skin due to rubbing) and the opportunity to wash them with the mahout. There were a few information boards to read, one of them stating that an elephant’s trunk lodges 40 000 muscles, another that an elephants eats up to 200 kg of vegetation and drinks 200 litres of water per day. We then peeped into the poo-paper factory where elephant dung is boiled and added to waste paper to make relatively thick, eco-friendly paper. Driving back to Kandy in the bustling traffic, we felt the urge to stop and treat ourselves to a king coconut each, which we happily sipped on for the rest of the way back.

Later that afternoon we walked up the steep road to the immense white Bahiravakanda Buddha statue, which overlooks the city centre from its hilltop perch. We stood up on the stone benches and enjoyed the peace of the warm afternoon sun, marvelling at how distant the hustle and bustle of the city seemed. The lake was perfectly flat and mirrored the pink-toned sky as we passed it on our way back to the inn, so we bought some mango, sat on a bench, and did a bit of people watching.

Yesterday morning we decided to attend the 9:30 puja at the Temple of the Tooth, during which the room housing Buddha’s legendary tooth is opened to the public gaze, accompanied by loud drumming. All Buddhists attending were dressed in white and came with offerings of beautifully arranged flowers, rice and incense. What struck me were the people sitting, hands joined in deep prayer, completely shutting out the eager crowd, camera flashes and wailing babies, lost in their mumbled words.

Across the street from the temple, Aisling and I spotted the Empire Cafe, a western-style, brightly painted cafe where we headed for breakfast and smoothies. We dozed off in the bus back to Maskeliya and admired the countryside, which never ceases to amaze me.

Sascha xx