Tour de Sri Lanka (Part deux!)

Leaving Sigyria we stopped off at Ritigala on our way back to Dambulla. It is here that an ancient monastic settlement was discovered during the British Colonial era. With over 70 caves discovered it was quite large. Ritigala is now a nature reserve. Walking through the dense vegetation towards the ruins, only adds to their mystique.

Day 4 meant leaving Dumballa and the gorgeous Thilanka resort. Although it was really out of our budget zone, it was a nice spot of luxury! We hit the road for Kandy, stopping off at Nalanda,where there is a famous site where a Stupa and temple were excavated, which illustrate a rare combination of mixed Buddhist and Hindu style. Here we discovered Tony's true passion – gardening – we must have spent as much time strolling around the various fruit and spice trees as we did around the historical site!

A short distance further along the road, we stopped at a small family home, where a mother and son showed us how they make use of the coconut from its husk, fibres, flesh, juice, sap, leaves, bark, trunk, absolutely nothing goes to waste. There is an entire cooperative industry built up around the lowly coconut. Someone grows and harvests them, someone else buys the husks, someone the shell with the flesh, someone else the empty flesh, another the processed fibres, and so on – and each makes a living.

We had a sample of coconut juice. Its an unusual flavour, I expected it to be, well, coconutty! Its not, its slightly bitter, but incredibly refreshing! This kept us going for the journey on to Kandy. We arrived on the second day of the Exposition of the Tooth Relic, which takes place at the Temple of the tooth every five years. The Temple houses the infamous tooth relic, the tooth of the Buddha. As we arrived into Kandy, it was also the poya celebration – the two events combined resulted in a mass of thousands of white clad pilgrims queueing in the pouring, lashing, torrential rain for kilometres, for a glance at the sacred tooth relic. We decided to seek out shelter in the hotel, from both the rain and the chassis!

Next morning we headed to the temple. It opens at one for the exposition of the tooth, so early morning was essential if we wanted to see it. It was still insane though. I have a very rudimentary understanding of Buddhism, but it was certainly a lesson that regardless of religious beliefs and practices, human nature is the same – when people have spent time queuing to see someone, they will push you out of the way to get a better look. To be fair, its hard to be annoyed about it. It is their temple (the buddhists), what right have I to get in the way of their worship, just so i can have a good auld gawk at the object of their reverence!

The temple seemed beautifully ornate and intricate, although we didn't really get to spend much time really savouring it due to the crowds. I would think that from the point of view of a curious tourist, rather than a Buddhist devotee, it would be better to visit when the exposition of the tooth relic is not taking place, to allow you the chance to really observe and take your time. So, the Temple of the tooth in Kandy is on the list for my next visit!

After seeing the tooth, we escaped to the relative calm of the botanic gardens. Due to the bombing down south the previous day, security was stepped up a gear or five. I imagine Belfast felt like this at the height of the troubles. Regular police and army check points, mirrors checking under Tony's van before we entered car parks and a generally visible armed presence.

Wandering around the gardens for a few hours, it was easy to forget the bedlam we'd left behind in Kandy. Tony was fantastic to have with us. His knowledge of plant life is immense compared to my own and he was able to point out many plants we had heard of but would not necessarily have recognised, like the cinnamon tree, nutmeg and even a host of fruit trees, bamboos and a gigantic Ficus!!! Oooo yeeeeeh its a Ficus (sorry – in joke)!

After a drive through the uni campus, we headed back to Kandy and treated ourselves to some short eats (delicious but bad-for -you savoury pastries followed by a definitely bad-for-you chocolate eclair). The bedlam in Kandy continued, as did the torrential rain, which some believe is due to the exposition of the tooth. Apparently the first time this was done, there had been a huge drought and then the rain came, so many believe the exposition of the tooth has brought this rain to save the crops, many of which, in some regions were about to fail due to lack of rain. Once again, the rain was welcomed (not by me i have to admit, I get quite enough of it in Dublin thank you very much, but I could at least see it was desperately needed). So, we retired to the hotel once more, for shelter, R&R and topped off the evening with a buffet dinner!

I've come to the conclusion that buffets and me are not a good combo, especially when there is new or interesting food involved. I feel like I need to try it all. I thought I was being relatively sensible and took a tiny bit of most of the dishes on offer. It was only then I realised my plate was almost overflowing!!! and there was going to be dessert afterwards – no question! Needless to say I gorged myself. It was tasty, and I was in pain afterwards I was so full – well worth it though. Fortunately I think this has helped me conquer my buffet issues, I was quite sensible this morning, opting for cereal and some fresh pineapple -ok and a small pastry - you can just call me piggy wig!