The day I left to Kandy I was having a sort of lazy morning. I had breakfast, packed, sat on the swing upstairs and chatted with Laura...

Kandy

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The day I left to Kandy I was having a sort of lazy morning. I had breakfast, packed, sat on the swing upstairs and chatted with Laura, went downstairs and paid my bill, sat on the table and talked to more people, and by then it was late so I decided to wait for Felix so we could move on to Kandy together. Before we left I was approached by Jenny, a girl from the hostel I had met two days before, and she asked me about my plan. I told her we were going to Kandy but didn’t know where we were staying so she said they had two nights booked at a guesthouse, I immediately talked to Felix and asked if he was willing to share the room and split the cost, he agreed so I called the guesthouse and made a reservation.


We left Jungle Vista and waited for the local bus on the main street. It was sunday and we waited for about 20 minutes and many buses would come but none for Kandy so we decided to hop on the next one to Dambulla and then change busses.
While on route to Dambulla we saw a bus pass us at full speed, both Felix and I looked and saw it was the Kandy one… bummer!

Once we arrived in Dambulla the Kandy bus was right in front of ours so I signaled to Felix to go in. The money collector opened the back of the bus and put our backpacks, just then a couple came and put their backpacks in, we got to the bus and it was full! No seats, people standing, it was caos! When we were about to leave another couple came with big backpacks and joined in, that couple stood by the door most of the way.
Not looking comfortable!

It was impossible to sit, the bus was bumpy, and really uncomfortable. I finally found a nice place to stand with my back to one of the seats. I was holding a big bottle of water and all of a sudden a guy sitting took my bottle and said he was going to hold it for me! So kind! We started chatting and he told me he was going to get off 25km before kandy. 
After about 30-40 minutes the bus stopped for a food break and people got off. 
Our bus!


All the foreigners

When it was time to leave the stop I apologized to the guy for leaving him with my bottle and he said I didn't have to worry and that I could take his seat! wait… what?!?! Is he really giving me his seat? I asked him if he was sure and he responded with the typical indian head nod and said “No problem, you sit! Just keep my bag there”… I wanted to hug him! For more than an hour he stood there beside me, being uncomfortable, and I sat there feeling grateful. Many times during the long ride I asked him if he wanted to sit but he always refused! 
I have noticed that here in Sri Lanka people are very nice, they always want to help, they are friendly, they are kind. I think I’m in love with Sri Lanka!

While I sat very comfortably in my seat I kept looking back and seeing Felix standing up, he did not manage to get a seat until 20 minutes before we reached Kandy, a four hour ride!

Once in Kandy we got off the bus and (story of our lives) we got bombarded with tuk tuk driver asking us 3 times the price we should pay for our ride. We declined all of them and Felix used his app “PickMe Sri Lanka” and a tuk tuk appeared (the Uber of tuk tuk) and ended up paying 130 rupees for our ride!

We arrived at St Bridget’s Country Convent and I immediately fell in love with it! The house was surrounded by plants and flowers and it was simply lovely!
Isn't this lovely?


Our simple but cozy room!


When we got off the tuk tuk they asked us to sit down, relax, and have some tea. We sat down and a couple of minutes later we were brought some cold wet towels to clean our face and hands… lovely!

As we were drinking our tea came another tuk tuk, I peaked to see if it was Jenny and her mom but it wasn’t. Out of the tuk tuk came out a couple from the US, Emily and Adam, who live in Dubai. A couple of minutes later came another tuk tuk and it finally was Jenny and her mom.
That afternoon we walked through town and met an old Sri Lankan guy who took us to a store to check out spices and told us that in Kandy we should buy spices but not tea. A little pressured we quickly looked at the store and headed out and he was waiting for us and he took me to a silk wrap… when did I say I needed one? I once again quickly looked and told him we had to go to the dance show.




Huge Buddha overlooking Kandy
We hurried up to Kandy lake and walked over to the theater where we saw a performance of traditional Sri Lankan dances and a fire show. The show was nice but the fire was a little bit too much for me.





Fire fire fire! Do not try this at home!!!!


After the show we walked by the lake and saw a beautiful after sunset sky.


 Then we walked by the famous temple of the tooth.


 On our way to the guesthouse we stopped at yet another temple hoping it was the one with the big Buddha... it wasn't! But we asked another tourist and she had been there and gave us directions (we went a couple of days later)
That night we decided to eat dinner at the guesthouse as the reviews said that it was delicious! and Oh My! The best Sri Lankan food I had had! It was simply AMAZING!

I could really eat this every day! 
The crew: Jenny, her mom Inge, Felix, and myself :)

Second night's dinner... as delicious as the night before!

Felix was undecided on wether or not to stay another night in Kandy but I really wanted to. Jenny and her mom had hired a private car to take them to the elephant orphanage and the botanical gardens the next day and invited us to tag along. I went back to the room, got out my calendar and talked Felix into spending an extra night in Kandy! yeay!

The next day we left the hotel very early and drove to the Elephant Orphanage.
I had mixed feelings to go there in the first place because I had read many mixed reviews about the orphanage and how they treat the elephants. It was sad to see that some of them are chained. I have seen many elephants in Africa and South East Asia and although I have taken rides on them I now think it is not very humane.
I do understand that elephants are wild animals and can be dangerous but hitting them with a pointy stick is just not right, it broke my heart!

In South Africa when I drove the garden route I stopped in Knysna and stayed at the elephant rescue center for a night and they treated the elephants with respect, the workers loved the animals, the researchers made sure the elephants had everything that they needed. Somehow I thought this would be the same but I was wrong! This felt more like a money making elephant parade! The workers asked tourist to come and take a picture with the elephants and then they said “give tip, we get very bad salary”… I really didn’t like that and felt uncomfortable.




Loving the dirt!



So cute!
After feeding the Elephants walked from the orphanage to the river and we followed. At the river the Elephants seemed somehow free but some of them were chained; Jenny later said that she was told it was to prevent fighting amongst them. 
The elephants stayed in the river for two hours and so did we. It was nice to just sit down, relax, and watch them.



The reality of the Elephant orphanage... a tourist trap!

Jenny feeding the elephant a banana!


Elephant crossing!


We then visited the Botanical Gardens that were simply WONDERFUL! Hands down the best botanical gardens I have ever seen!



haha! The three of them looking up at this very tall tree!


When we got to the little lake and saw beautiful women taking pictures.

And we took one by the bamboo forest.

The medicinal garden was very beautiful, it had rows and rows of medicinal plants.

Three of my favorites were:
  1. The cook’s pine
These pines were super coo-coo, they looked to me like they were taken from a Dr. Seuss’ book! They are all crooked and funky!


2.The flower garden.
When I saw this garden I felt as if I was in Alice in Wonderland! It was so beautiful



3. The orchid house
Who doesn’t like orchids, right? The orchid house was spectacular to me! I just love the colors and seeing the colorful veins through the petals!



I think I could have spent a whole day in here! 
Shhhh... The bats are sleeping!


Look at those roots!

Palm tree avenue!

Beautiful blossoming flowers!

Once we were back in town we decided to quickly take a look at the local market.


The colors are simply beautiful!

The fort around Kandy.
Right before we left Kandy, Felix and I decided to wake up extra early and head over to the temple and see the big white buddha! 
They create little temples around the trees as roundabouts. I think it might be a Bodhi tree.

A typical local mini store.

We reached the temple

Little Monk, Big Buddha.


View from (almost) the top of the Buddha

 After the Buddha we headed back to the guesthouse, packed or bags and off we were to train station. Next destination... Nuwara Eliya!


Hey! Look who is on the train! haha Jenny and Inge!

Bye bye Kandy, Hello Tea Plantations!



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About Post Author

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!

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About me




Hi! It's me... Andrea!

In this blog you can live vicariously through my journey around the world!

Please feel free to share tips or places to go!
Contact me: andreaheartstraveling@gmail.com