Hotel Hill Top Kandy

... up paying only for my ticket and let him keep a bit of change for the bags!<br><br>As we got closer to Kandy the weather was deteriorating and it was raining heavily when we got there. I waited a little bit at the bus stop hoping the weather would get better but it didn&#8217;t so I just decided to get a Tuctuc. The guy asked me for 200 Rupees and for the first time, I did not haggle. Bizarrely, as we were driving ...

... of the dancer over the fire (running a stick of fire up and down their arms and in their mouths) and finished with a fire walking act over hot coals. Those performing apparently seek the divine blessing of the goddess Patini before performing this ritual, which obviously works, as both pairs of feet looked fine to me!<br><br>After leaving the theatre, I went on to the TSTR, constructed in the 17th and 18th centuries as a temple complex that was part of a royal palace ...

... the suicide truck bombing of 1998. The LTTE blew up a part of the temple and with it a little bit of history. There were also temple elephants chained to random parts of the temples.. These elephants are used in special ceremonies or festivals. In the mean time they just hang out. There is a nice picturesque lake in the middle of Kandy that many people stroll around as it gets late in the day ...

... boards, the tooth was pilfered by the british and only returned 100 years ago too. After the temple we began the long journey home- a whole 7 hours of it. The driver also went a bit mad. In Kandy, he tried to jump the queue for roadworks, and was caught by a policeman who made us sit and wait for about 20 mins. He got off with a warning, butr this seemed to flick a switch in him and he drove like the hounds of hell were on his tail. The only respite came ...

... our first day out (it did not take long at all for me to feel extravagent and wasteful having the huge van for myself) I suggested to Manjula we should use the van when we could to give lifts to people who needed! And lo and behold, on the third day of travelling we drove to a train station to check the timetable. I was thinking I would take a train ride to the next town and meet Manjula there. What we found was that the next train was not ...

... Mr   R was particularly satiated by complimentary food and booze.   The SLCB also covered all medical bill and promised some free seats in (a "safe seating area") in Columbo. Mr R also got his name (correctly spelt) attributed to a lengthy (and mainly fictitious) quote in a national newspaper (""This is not acceptable" said Paul Robson, husband of the injured lady").   And Mrs R is in rude health - hobbling only marginally, and more-than-ready to move onto a relaxing ...

... essence it is Sri Lankas version of Ayres Rock - that is, a temple complex on a huge rock. To be honest it looked amazing but then we found out it would cost us $22 EACH to get in. While we had an idea of this cost we were hoping that the book was mistaken - not so. More so locals get in for free!! After pleading with the ticket person and mentioning that this was the same price as a DAY at Angkor Wat he refused to budge. So it was decided that ...

... and very content. But, as we advance further into the thicket, we suddenly reach the point where he scratches his head and glances to all sides; a look of utter confusion on his face. The Vedda`s golden era as hunters and collectors seems to have definitely passed. <br><br>Suddenly I stand before the official museum of the Veddas, the Wannilaeththo Heritage Centre. I have washed the dirt from my clothes and feel refreashed. The resident anthropologist, Nalien, climbs down ...

... but madly we did not have one on Easter Sunday Friday 13th April Day prior to the Sinhala and Tamil New Year (sure that calling it News Year Eve would be easier but that's what it says on my calendar and is so I am told the days official title ) Saturday 14th April Sinhala and Tamil New Year May is also a good month with 2 Poya days with an extra bank holiday after the first Poya day for no reason I can make out, June, July and August ...

... indicated that that had been an unsuccesful attempt. Mosquitoes take their wings off so they can fit through the holes in the netting and suck your blood, so I shouldn't have bothered with the net. Now I was planning to leave Negombo the next day, but feeling the way I did I could barely manage to walk down to the coconut guy in the hotel laneway and get him to chop me up a fresh coconut, let alone deal with getting a train to Kandy. So I stayed another night. I promised myself I'd ...