Kandy and Nuwara Eliya

Sean’s grandmother was from Kandy so it was on our ‘must see’ list. We had a walk around Kandy Lake and the surrounding street markets. We decided to skip the Temple of the Tooth as it was Poya and the place was packed. Poya is a Buddhist celebration that happens every full moon. As there are two in August this was extra special so the place was just packed with Sri Lankans from neighbouring towns and villages.

The road to Nuwara Eliya is like the road to Walcha on steroids. I don’t think we got out of 3rd gear and Sean handled it really well. There was a close call with a dog who had a death wish and just wandered across the road in front of buses and our tuk-tuk. Not sure how we missed him but we’re super glad we did.

We passed through beautiful tea plantations and the scenery is lush and green now. I had to buy an extra jacket in Nuwara Eliya as it was so cold. If you want cheap hiking brands this is the place. I got a Northface jacket for $30 Aus. We see the weirdest stuff here and no one bats an eyelid. We were sitting having a beer watching the street life and a random horse walks down the street amongst the traffic. At least he used the pedestrian crossing.

We had a home-stay which cost around $19 Aus for the two of us which included breakfast and our own bathroom. It was clean and had a great bed, which is all you need really. Google maps lead us astray here and tried to tell us to go up a near-vertical hill. Two local school girls hat happened to be walking past at the time now have a hilarious tale to tell at school of two crazy tourists trying to drive a tuk-tuk up the steepest hill in the village. We decided from now on if the road looks sketchy we don’t go on it. Google maps is not always reliable and tends to give you the shortest route and not the most practical one.

Not five minutes after arriving we heard loud bangs like fireworks and it turns out it was a funeral procession for the guy next door with the poor person paraded down the street in a half-open coffin.

There is a definite German/Swiss vibe going on in this town, with lots of Swiss-style buildings which really looks out of place.