Bus Journey
We got the bus to Kandy from Habarana, it took about 4 hours on the bus (mostly standing) joys of the public transport here! The scenery became infinitely greener and more hilly once we were about an hour away which took our minds off of our sore feet! Gary had made friends with a local guy who had offered to help us out at the Festival and find somewhere good to sit/stand and also help us avoid being hassled too much which was kind! He seemed genuine, so Gary took his details.
We got the bus to Kandy from Habarana, it took about 4 hours on the bus (mostly standing) joys of the public transport here! The scenery became infinitely greener and more hilly once we were about an hour away which took our minds off of our sore feet! Gary had made friends with a local guy who had offered to help us out at the Festival and find somewhere good to sit/stand and also help us avoid being hassled too much which was kind! He seemed genuine, so Gary took his details.
Booking Train Tickets
Once in Kandy, we headed straight to the train Station in the hope of getting tickets to Ella 2 days later...However due to the Perahera Festival all reservable seats were taken, so we were simply advised to turn up early on the day to get the ticket & fight everyone else for a seat....I think if you plan on doing this journey its advisable to book at least a week in advance at either Kandy or Colombo Stations or online with one of the private companies!
Getting ready for the festival fun!
So we went on to walk to our hotel... Thank goodness for Google maps as it was quite a walk from town and down some very narrow windy 'roads' we stayed at Satyodaya Education centre as it seemed the cheapest available with ensuite and not too far from the festival action! The rooms were clean and basic and there was good quick wifi.
Once in Kandy, we headed straight to the train Station in the hope of getting tickets to Ella 2 days later...However due to the Perahera Festival all reservable seats were taken, so we were simply advised to turn up early on the day to get the ticket & fight everyone else for a seat....I think if you plan on doing this journey its advisable to book at least a week in advance at either Kandy or Colombo Stations or online with one of the private companies!
Getting ready for the festival fun!
So we went on to walk to our hotel... Thank goodness for Google maps as it was quite a walk from town and down some very narrow windy 'roads' we stayed at Satyodaya Education centre as it seemed the cheapest available with ensuite and not too far from the festival action! The rooms were clean and basic and there was good quick wifi.
After a quick shower we headed back into town to meet our new friend along with some fellow travellers- stopping for a quick sri lankan dinner String hoppers, curry & Kothu, before facing the crowds to find somewhere to sit.
Buddika (our Sri Lankan friend) was true to his word and great at getting rid of the many people trying to sell us seats to watch the parade.
We found somewhere on the main stretch of road to sit which was great, the atmosphere was great with all of the local people incredibly excited about the festival. It was a long wait for it to start, but once it did it was worth it!
The Kandy Esala Perahera
This historical procession is held annually to pay homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Lord Buddha, which is housed at a temple in Kandy. The procession started with men dancing with large whips that were swung around and made a loud bang like a gunshot once it came into contact with the ground, followed by fire dancers - some of which were very young! Then each parts of the temple had its own parade (4 in total) which included a variety of different types of musicians & dancers from different parts of Sri Lanka as well as a lot of elephants with extremely grand outfits. The whole parade was fascinating and clearly something that the people of Sri Lanka enjoy very much and is very much a symbol of the country and it's Buddhist history.
This historical procession is held annually to pay homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Lord Buddha, which is housed at a temple in Kandy. The procession started with men dancing with large whips that were swung around and made a loud bang like a gunshot once it came into contact with the ground, followed by fire dancers - some of which were very young! Then each parts of the temple had its own parade (4 in total) which included a variety of different types of musicians & dancers from different parts of Sri Lanka as well as a lot of elephants with extremely grand outfits. The whole parade was fascinating and clearly something that the people of Sri Lanka enjoy very much and is very much a symbol of the country and it's Buddhist history.
We were a little dubious about the elephants, of course they were in chains and some had even been trained to dance with the music, but it is clearly such a big part of their culture and it was very interesting to see. The festival went on to midnight so it was a very long day!
Day 2 in Kandy
Day 2 in Kandy
The following morning we went to the Temple of the sacred tooth, to find out more about the relic. Costing 1000LKR each. It was very interesting, we were able to learn a lot about the relic as well as see many old Buddhist artefacts & gifts in the museum. There was also a part of the museum dedicated to showing the damage that had been caused to the temple in the 1998 bombings. The tooth itself is held in a gold casket, which is held in the centre of the shrine - it was very grand and beautiful! Outside in the temple grounds there were other buildings with smaller museums - all included in the ticket price (apart from the World Buddhism Museum - extra 500LKR). You could spend a long time looking around them all - we decided to look in the Tusker museum - dedicated to an Elephant named Raja. His stuffed remains are inside - he served for the Perehara for over 50 yrs so they made the museum in his memory. I have to say it was weird seeing a stuffed Elephant!
After this we went for tea and then a walk around the lake. En route we were asked by some American travellers if we knew where they would find Helga's Folly - we hadn't heard of it but Gary pulled it up on google maps to show them. Intrigued we asked what it was and they told us it was a very eccentricly decorated hotel that is visited by many people due to how interesting it is to have a look around! So we decided to follow them and see what all the fuss was about...It was a long walk but it was certainly interesting once we got there! The hotel was more like an art gallery with the walls painted with various pictures and there being fabulously lavish furniture! The drink was certainly expensive by Sri Lankan Standards...$3 for a Sprite... but it was fun!
After walking back we found somewhere to have some tasty Sri Lankan food....we were eating amongst tuk tuk drivers and locals...a very good sign! We tried lots of different things..I'll do a post later covering all of the culinary delights we tried in Sri Lanka and what they are!
Kandy Perehara
The top 3 photos are from google as our camera didn't manage to take many good ones due to the poor lighting!
The Scared Temple of the tooth
Hi Guys....we'd love to hear your comments! :-)
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