Kandy

 Well it's not stopped raining whilst we have been here. The locals say it is really unusual and we are a little disappointed. It's a bit like the lake district. Amazing on a sunny day but a bit of a damp squid in the rain

 The scenery around here is amazing but under grey clouds and low cloud it's not at its best. Still we are in rain and cloud forest so we shouldn't be too surprised.  It seems like the weather is a little hit and miss all over Sri Lanka these past 2 days. Storms off Borneo and Sumatra have sent rogue weather west across the India Ocean and messed it up a bit.

It goes with the territory of the tropics and hopefully will improve as we head south.

The weather didn't stop us visiting the Old city Palace of Kandy and the temple of the tooth. Tomorrow is full moon and a big thing for Buddhists. The temple was heaving. Hundreds of people taking offerings to the tooth relic. We were lucky the small sanctum where the tooth is kept is only opened for viewing on special occasions and even then for a few minutes at specific times. The time we were there was one of them. We joined the lines of the pilgrims and worshippers and filed past a small viewing window. The tooth is kept within several solid gold caskets shaped as the Buddha. A little like a very expensive Russian doll. The largest outer casket is about 4 feet high and drapped in gold chains and precious stones. 

 The Temple itself is very impressive and originally stood within the palace grounds. The palace is now a museum dedicated to the old kings of Ceylon. It's very interesting and details their decline after the Dutch East India company arrived in the late 18th Century. The Portuguese had been here since the 16th century but kept there business in the West near Negombo.  It was us the British that eventually over threw the weakened Kingdom and turned Ceylon into a British Colony in 1815. I often wonder what modern Sri Lankans make of us as British when we are stood side by side reading the same exhibits. The same applied in Malaysia and Singapore when we visited museums there.

The rain didn't stop so we went for lunch and then found a really nice Old Colonial hotel that's now a bar and resteraunt. It was typical. Balustraded upper terraces, teak wood bar and floor. Photos of the queen and old posters of Cricket and Tiffin. I felt I should have been wearing a white suit and Panama hat. 

We Drank beer and played "sheethead" before hailing a tuk tuk and heading back to our home in the forest.

Tomorrow we once again start up.our trust steed and climb 4000 feet to Neura Elya. The highest point in Sri Lanka before descending south and to the plains and ocean. It's supposed to be outstanding being the center of the tea plantations. If its raining I'm not sure what we will do apart from beer and more "sheethead". 

We had planned on being there a couple of days to do a small trek but if the weather is poor we might just have the one night and head south.

We will see.......

Local adverts in the newspaper

Shrine of the tooth relic ( no photos when it's open)

Crispy showered and doing a little business in our sitting room before bed

Bare and Crispy signing off Kandy Sri Lanka