Post #6 - October 5
Today we’re off for Kandy but not before we have our standard leisurely breakfast. I’m a big fan of the egg stations where you can have your eggs cooked any way you want. I usually order a one egg omelette, but I have varied it up. I tried having it easy over once, but the cook deliberately broke up the yolk before he flipped it. Recently, I also had it cooked sunny side up in a thin crunchy crepe. It’s called a Sri Lankan Egg Hopper and I think that could easily become my new favourite way to enjoy eggs.
At our hotel (Amaya Lake) there are many tour buses and the breakfast area is very large to accommodate these people. Most of the people are from continental Europe as I think I hear German, Dutch and Belgian. There are many Chinese traveling these days as well although they seem to be in smaller tour groups.
We arrange for a golf cart to come pick up our bags and get them up to the lobby area for loading into our vehicle. Somewhere in my travels I left my baseball cap behind. It was my new Dittyville.com hat that I got this summer from the musical duo Carl Jones and Erynn Marshall. I checked with reception on the off chance I left it while having a meal and find they don’t have it. Dang, I’m not happy about that.
Our day will comprise of a drive to Kandy, about 2.5 hours. The drive is the same as the others; congested motorways, passing with on coming traffic, road work, and interesting sights including dogs laying in the middle of the road, Buddhist shrines just about everywhere and my favourite thing to look at, food vendors. On our way we stop at a myriad of stores including a silk shop, natural herbal centre, wood carving store, and a gem store.
The Lanka Silks is located in Kimbissa about 20 minutes from our start. We get welcomed and shown a video on how silk is made and then we’re each followed into the store area by one of the sales reps. Both of us were impressed with the saris that the sales staff were wearing. They all looked beautiful. Judith is on the hunt for gifts; although I feel that I must do the same thing, I resist. I really wanted a new tablecloth but nothing spoke to me. However, we both end up buying stuff and head back to the van.
Our next stop was Heritage Spices & Herbs Garden in Matale. We learn about Ayurvedic (Hindu) medicine where you can heal ailments through organic herbs. We walk through some extensive gardens to learn about ingredients: cocoa, sandalwood, cinnamon, aloe vera, coconut, bee pollen, red pineapple and many many others that are too numerous to list or I can’t remember. We get a listing of their 28 products that can heal everything from high blood pressure to cellulitis to high cholesterol to migraines and beyond. We go into their pharmacy where all 28 products are being sold in various sizes to suit your needs. Admittedly, it’s hard to say no to buying something when the person who just spent the last hour teaching you their methods is showing you their products. This time, I am pleased that Judith decides to buy something there as it takes the pressure off me.
Showing us a sample of a plant that they use in their remedies.
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We get on our way again and Sura suddenly pulls over as he spots a vendor selling durian. This is a fruit that has a terrible reputation for having a foul odour and one that Judith has been keen to try since the last trip I’ve been on with her when we went to Cambodia and Laos. At this road side stand, you have to buy the whole durian. Fortunately they were small. We had the vendor crack one open and we all ate a piece. I only had durian one other time many years ago. Although I only have this one time to compare today’s experience to, I can confirm this durian wasn’t very flavourful at all. It wasn’t sweet and tasted pasty to me. I was disappointed with it. Durian is normally in season May/June but there are varieties that go into September and beyond but these were not in their prime. I did have high hopes for tasting durian again but these didn’t taste anywhere as delicious as the previous time.
We drive for another hour and arrive in Kandy. It’s time for lunch so we stop as at the Aloy Restaurant located on the 3rd floor of a 5 storey building. Parking is tight for this building. In the front, there are 8 spaces so we wait about 5 minutes until one frees up. Sura does a very impressive job of maneuvering the van into the spot vacated by the brown car using the narrow driveway beside the building.
We are seated by a window overlooking the Mahawli Ganga (river) that runs through Kandy.
View from the restaurant balcony.
And I learned a new word from reading the menu.
After lunch we went to a furniture and wood products store. Oak Ray Wood Carvings was located in the basement of the Oak Ray Hotel in the middle of Kandy. It was a two level store with all sorts of interesting furniture, art and wooden housewares. We had a fascinating demonstration on how natural dyes are made. I wish I had video of it.
The showroom was crowded with pieces of furniture ranging from very traditional items to more modern and even abstract. I liked looking at the joinery on the furniture. It appears that filler is often used where the joints come together. Most times it’s not noticeable… I really liked some of the wall hangings but not enough to spend any money or deal with getting it home.
I thought this was an interesting wall hanging for using up scrap wood. It’s always a challenge what to do with off cuts so I took this picture for future reference…
After our cruise through the wood carving store, we went to see a gem store. Amith Gems (PVT) Ltd. was a short drive away. On our tour there was an interesting display of gems types, mineral vs rock, gem cuts, hardness, semi-precious vs precious, etc. Next we had a display of faceting a gemstone and setting a stone into a jewelry piece. Then we went down to the showroom and our sales rep entertained us by showing us several loose sapphires. It really was fascinating to see how the facets caught the light. Then he slipped one of deep blue sapphires into a ring setting and slipped it on Judith’s finger.
It was fun for me to watch the sales banter and how he got a reluctant Judith to try on a ring. It was good fun but we both left without buying anything. Judith indicated we were going to a temple later and she would ask for advice there.
One of the information panels showed the different ways a stone can be shaped.
After the gem tour, we went to the hotel to check in in Kandy. We are staying at a 30 room boutique hotel, the Radh. We have another place to see so we quickly get our bags in the room and get ready to go back out again.
Our room in Kandy.
Our designation is the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth Relic). This is a Buddhist temple where they believe they have enshrined a tooth of the Lord Buddha, rescued by monks from his funeral ashes in 483 BC. It was handed to the King of Kalinga in eastern India. When the Kalinga kingdom was facing imminent defeat from a neighbouring state, the relic was smuggled into Sri Lanka in the 4th century. The tooth’s golden casket is revealed to many awaiting pilgrims twice daily.
The temple was started in 1687 and completed in 1782. There are three levels. The most important part of the temple is upstairs on the second level where the tooth is kept.
The sacred tooth relic is stored in a vault behind a door in the centre of the photo. There are rumours that the real tooth is hidden somewhere secure and that the tooth kept here is a replica.
Sri Lankan Buddhists believe they must make a pilgrimage to the temple at least once in their lives so this is an important temple in Sri Lanka.
We explore other parts of the complex. The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other buildings around the site includes a World Buddhism Museum that contains lots of displays illustrating Buddhism around the world and a display of how Buddhism began. By the time we leave, it’s dark. We do manage a picture outside of the temple.
The main temple
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