Hotel Hill Top Kandy

... were putting thier flowers and money on the table in front.

There were a couple of other rooms with Buddhas in with lovely paintings... One room was really large with sperate pictures of Buddhas teachings. This was lovely as one set of school children all sat down and started singing.

Outside oil lamps and insense were lit and there were more temples.

Nearby was a christian church which has alledgely 300 people who go to ...

... and put a basic white string braclet around his right wrist when we was done. Once I was blessed the same white string was made into a larger loop and placed around my head for a necklace. I was told to take the necklace off when eating meat (no problem since I rarely eat meat) and shower (I think). The whole process was quite cool until the monk showed us the donation notebook with previous donations listed for us as a guide. While we ...

... think we walked away after over an hour of haggling with a good price! About a third off the displayed prices. The experience Andy has of testing car salesmen seems to have worked very well - the salesmen asks Andy what he does for a living when the deal is eventually done! Next stop was a silk shop and Chris got dressed in a Sari - she looked fabulous but the Sari cost 85 stlg. She explains it's for a costume party and we get the cheaper range! She ...

... planted in the 18th century by a Kandyan king, where you can see many exotic trees and other plants, some of which we have never seen before. We also visited the Temple of the Tooth, which is a place of pilgrimage for millions of Buddhists from all over Sri Lanka, and is regarded by Buddhist Sri Lankans as the treasury of their entire culture. It was really packed when we visited, because it was the full moon, which is a Buddhist holiday. We also went to watch ...

... marketing material too which although a bit time consuming on the translation front is very positive steps on the internationalisation side of things. I feel I am starting to get a better understanding of how they operate and what they are aiming to do so need to get cracking on the fund raising strategy so they can pull in some funds in the near future! Looks like I will have some more community workshops coming up nearer ...

... of the Tooth remains unclear, it remains an object of supreme devotion for many Sri Lankan's. Legend has it that when the Buddha was cremated in 543 BC at Kushinager in north India, various parts of his remains where rescued from the fire, including one of his teeth. Some of the outer buildings are also of interest. The Alut Maligawa (New Shrine Room) was built to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha's death. The ...

... crossing, bend off onto a dirt track. The huts, Chenas, are build by pressing red balls of loam between planks of wood. Some are later pressed further to create a smooth surface. Straw roofs complete the picture. Siril, the ricksha boy, steps on the gas pedal. We are almost there. I want to visit the King of the Veddas. But he is not home. His oldest son receives us instead. He is seated on an animal hide on the bench at the end of an open veranda. On the wall behind him ...

... go down to the coast for a few days before this weekends Habarana clinic and hope the sea water will do my ankle and various other wounds some good as the weekend is going to be a very hard work for us all and I need to be 100 % for that (and I don't fancy any more treatment from the vet or the vet students) Even at short notice we will be able to get a decent hotel as tourism is currently very slow. As part of my day to day work here I get talking with a ...

... to the charming boutique owner and his other customers and headed back in the now drizzle to the seating area. 10.30pm came and went as did 11.00pm and indeed 11.30 , but at 11.50 ( can you tell I was clock watching ) I heard the familiar sound of the whip crackers who head up the parade and then it did not matter I had been waiting for nearly 6 hours , or that I was wet or that I didn't even know what day of the week it was ( jet lag was starting to creep up on me ) all ...

... I was invited into one of the fisherman's homes for tea and barricades of questions were flung my way by a 10 year old boy who translated everyone's questions into English. 'Where are you from?....Australia....ahh Austria...no, Aus-tra-lia (I was still pretty jetlagged)...AAAAHHHH, Australia!! You like Shane Warne? Yeah he's a good spin bowler, but a naughty man (laughs from all the locals as my English was translated to Sinhalese) What about Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh? Brett Lee? After ...