Hotel Suisse Kandy

Kandy

I arrived in Kandy late morning and met Tara, a really nice 28 yr old rickshaw driver who looked like a Tamil (a sizeable population in Sri Lanka). I asked him to take me to some digs, stopping for an ATM along the way. After trying several with no success, it turned out that my bank had put a stop on the account 'because of unusual activity', which must have meant my camera purchase in Singapore. Apparently this happens automatically, so no amount of ...

... theme throughout Sri Lanka. Temple loop- We had grandiose plans of hiking a several kilometer loop to see a few temples a little further up north from the Botanical Gardens. To get there we ended up having to hitch it from the gardens with some nice French girls in a sweet AC minivan because no one seemed to know what bus would take us there (again, something that would occur again and again). We arrived at the Embekka Devale famished ...

... no Sec. XIX. A 500m acima do nivel do mar e rodeada por um scenario de montanhas e floresta luxuriante, Kandy e a porta de entrada para as montanhas cujo pico mais alto atinge mais de 2500m. A viagem de comboio ate Kandy foi agradavel e permitiu-nos disfrutar da paisagem de montanha. No comboio as nossas mochilas foram revistadas pelo exercito a procura de bombas, mas apenas encontraram o nosso suprimento de mini garrafas de vodka. Tinhamos organizado um ...

... out and assist you (or not). By the end of the three nights I was ready to leave as he had really freaked me out on the last night... 'Madam' 'oooh Madam'... aaarrrggghhh!!!!! Anyway, Kandy was really nice. Very pretty scenary and lots to do, so we took our Tuk Tuk driver (Sunil) up on his offer of a days tour, which turned into two days, in which we saw the main sites, tea and spice plantations, the elephant ...

... as denoted by those praying at Raja's glass case. There was just time for a walk around Kandy's lake, offering wonderful views across the water to the Temple of the Tooth, and a bird-filled island in the centre - formerly a royal pleasure house (or "harem") and converted into an ammunition store by the "no sex please, we're British"!After all the culture, it felt good to head out into the city and meet with Andy, Simon and Tommy later ...

... 8220;So do I,” I say proudly. The Prine of the Rain Forest smiles shyly.

Before, I am sent on my way I have been made to promise that I will return early the next morning. But first I take a short walk around the clearing. Three further Chenas stand, separated from each other according to gender. On the way to the one for the retired men, we pass a tiny Buddha statue, white as milk and half covered by tropical vines. It appears to be a symbol for the ...

... weeks before to his many delighted fans (and Yes Cliff does appear to have a Sri Lankan fan base including I think the journalist based in the glowing terms he used!) I am off to hobble to the beach now and will stop on route to get some antibiotics (you can buy them from chemists here) as the vet said I should take them (I can't believe I am now taking medical advice from my vet!) but I will to be on the safe side as I don't want him near my ankle again in a hurry!

... courtyard, then the boutique owner pointed to a set of almost vertical steps and gestured I was to climb thrm, as I went up all the locals where calling out warnings to me to be careful and when I reached the top I could see why, now almost 20 foot up I discovered the door the toilet was not in front of me but actually to the side of the building and I had to step around and over a gap ( with no handrails or anything to grab onto ) with a rush of bravely that was more to ...