Serene Garden Hotel Kandy

... Sri Lanka (which meant we got really bored with them by the end of our time there). The majority of street/local food we got was super spicy. Some other typical foods are: hoppers (thin layer of dough fried in a rounded frying pan with an egg cooked in the middle), boiled garbanzo beans topped with chili and coconut slices (YUM), bread (tons of fresh baked bread with tons of varities), egg kottu roti (roti is the tortilla type bread and ...

... no Tamil Tiger suicide attacks. The cancellation was good for another two reasons: the first one was that I - who really doesn't like large crowds - could walk quickly around town again, and second it stopped raining. Stopped raining you might say, what do you mean with that? Well, there is a legend that whenever they showed the Tooth is always rains, and to be honest, the last few days (when they showed the Tooth) it did rain, and it hasn't rained since. And it isn't even the ...

Why everyone doesn't travel by train all the time in Sri Lanka I have no idea - breathtaking mountain landscapes round every bend, interspersed with village railway stations lovingly maintained with potted plants and park benches and colonial paraphernalia, plus the occasional glimpse of tea-pickers dotted around the fields or people wandering along the tracks, going about their business. Well nice. <br><br>There is not much to say about our time in Kandy, except that a monk in aviator shades ...

... similar to Central America, cramped and crowded. Leg room was non-existent, especially with my backpack between my legs, and 3 people on a seat large enough for 2. Masses of people crammed down the aisle and local music pumping from the numerous speakers. It was my kind of travelling! Thankfully Sri Lanka is a small place so most journeys are only 100km's ish. However, the roads are bad and the stops frequent so it took the best part of 3 hours to crawl ...

... The city is also very popular because it holds Buddhas Tooth!! Sri Lankans believe they must visit it at least once in their life. So Helen and i joined the the ques, they were huge. We soon discovered we weren't actually going to see the tooth but the casket in which it sits in! The palace though that casket lives in is very beautiful and we feel privileged for having seen it! Though the stuffed, deceased palace elephant, called Raj appealed to us more! The hotel we ...

... would be highly recommended but I have forgotten the name) and got a rickety but scenic train ride to Colombo, where I found a different hotel and went for some grub. The grub by the way, consists of curry and curry related dishes, all of them fantastic and varying vastly in 'levels of spiceiness'. A few drinks and a wander around Colombo did for me that evening, I had been given a free pass to a night club adjoined to the hotel, but after my 18000th ...

... passport, four candles, and an umbrella (being at the end of the rainy season this seemed an intelligent addition to my outfit.) Like this I am prepared, I truly image, to meet all eventualities in the very best of ways. In addition I have converted 70 Euros into Sri Lankan Rupees. After my two-day trip I will still have 20 Euros left. <br><br>The Roman-Catholic area lies behind us. Buddha statues throne on the hills beside the road. After all, nearly 70% of the inhabitant are ...

... followed and we ended up sitting with front row seats with all the Ministers and Monk's of Sri Lanka! It helped that we latched on to some old Sri Lankan lady who said that if Security asked she would say we were helping her. We therefore got to see the Parade for free and with perfect seats! Felt a bit for the people who were waiting all day.. ooops! The actual Festival had elephants everywhere all dressed up along with dancers in tradition dress. They had kids on stilts ...

... us achieve. The clinic is going to make a huge difference in reducing the amounts of puppies and kittens in the area and also reducing the possibility of rabies infections as well as improving the general wellbeing of the animals. We are already planning a follow up clinic with the villagers to catch the local strays and also provide them with neutering and vaccinations. Every one there loves there Baalas and Posas (Sinhala for dogs ...

... they had been tricked and the sacred tooth was safe and well with the Sinhalese. The tooth shrine was closed when I was there, but the peace and aura of this place really had an effect on me. After the temple I braved the rain again and caught a tuk tuk up into a rainforest hugging the northern hills of Kandy. There wasn't much wildlife to see, and all the monkeys were down by the park entrance gates raiding the rubbish bin instead of doing what monkeys should be doing and swinging ...