Helga's Folly Kandy

... constantly trying to get every penny they can get out of you!! It’s like when I got on the bus to Kandy; the guy wanted me to pay 2 tickets because of my bags. Usually, you have to pay for your bags which is fair enough but not a standard fair. So I said to him that I was not paying a full fare but I was willing to pay for my bags. He tried his luck one more time for me to pay 2 tickets but I did not back down and ...

... a wide skirt-like lower outfit and sport a bare chest adorned with silver and ivory necklaces, with their arms and ankles covered in silver bangles. A total of 64 ornaments complete the red and white outfit, with a red headdress covered in silver adornments. The dancing is incredible and very professional, with huge back-flips and leaps, but very gracefully performed, while musicians beat drums etc. <br><br>Then there was a low country fired dance, showing the ...

... The temple itself was mildly interesting especially the ceremony where monks beat drums, played an oboe sounding thing and brought flowers and incense to the tooth. This is done so the tooth does not get lonely. I wondered around the temple with about 200 school kids. I have heard this is the time of year when all of Sri Lankan schools go on field trips. The temple also had a photo exhibition ...

... If I earn enough I am buying one of the houses on the hill overlooking the lake when I am older. Anyway, after another roadside meal, we headed to the temple. We had to remove our shoes, and I swear my feet burnt as I crossed the courtyard. The temple was very grand though (Still full of con artists who wanted money for me taking a picture). Apparently the Buddhas's tooth is there and the Sri Lankans go and worship it. Very odd if you ask me. According to the ...

... when I found I was losing patience and my beach based bonhomie. If I don't get to move I get moody. I don't like being cooped up in a car for hours at a time. Being driven around is boring! It was extravagent to have such a big van all for myself, so I felt. A big white woman in a big white van with a small black driver is noticed everywhere in Sri Lanka. I was getting tired of the unwanted attention, and the feelings it brought up in me ...

... But her cricket-viewing was disrupted by a necessary trip to the local A&amp;E, along with 2 other causalities.   She now has a very fetching corrugate-shaped gash on her lower leg with some quite expensive bruising. [Serious aside - this could have been much worse. It was only good fortune that neither of us nor our nearby spectators suffered more devastating damage].    Anyway, all is well that ends well. The Sri Lankan cricket board plied us with freebies to pacify us ...

Ancient Cities With only a limited time in sri lanka we decided to get moving ASAP so after a huge breakfast of curries, bread and tea (of course) that came to about $1.50 we were off to see some temples. Being cheap we decided to not hire a driver (like everyone seems to be doing) and instead taking public transport. After all where we were going was only 70kms and cost both of us a $1. Well after a nail biting 3 hours!! We made it to Sigaraya ...

... show. We discover no wild life. So Nuri turns to pointing out other things to me. He shows me a Poththi, the honey comb of an insect, which they call Kaneyya. The Veddas are large honey connoisseurs. After I slip in the river, we sit together on one of the many enormous stones which are marked by big, black spots. They practically litter the area and look much like elephant backs between the trees. Nuri hands over some bitter berries, which he has collected for me. I am totally ...

Having bucked the trend with not having a birthday this year I am compensating by having 2 News year's days instead Today is the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and is of course a Bank Holiday (Sri Lanka having more bank holidays than any other country in the world with at least one every month) to give you an idea so far in April we have had Sunday 1st April Holy Prophets Birthday Monday 2nd April Poya Day / Full Moon Friday 6th April Good ...

... there. The festivities went well on into the night, everyone danced and sang, even the English girl had her dancing shoes on after we were given more and more Arrack. I don't remember getting back to the hotel, but I do remember waking up to a filthy hangover, and the sting of a thousand mozzie bites. I must have tried with the mosquito net and given up because when I woke up it was wrapped around both my legs. I tried to get up and urinate during the night, but the wet patch below the ...