19 Nov. Kandy

Today was a day for me to stop being so precious and aloof, and doing some of the touristy things on offer in Kandy.
Early on I checked on the bus for tomorrow to Anuradhapura, and booked accommodation (which promptly got rearranged due to 'being already booked by local people'??)
As for Kandy; I've warmed to the place. Yeah, it's a grimy, not so affluent Asian city, but it's far from unusual in that. I've taken to wearing a paper Covid mask to take the edge off the traffic fumes. I'm determined to make it to 60.... 'Aaaaarggghh! cough, splutter, too late....'
The big draw in Kandy seems to be the Sri Dalada Maligawa 'World Buddhist Museum', so I headed for that first. It's a right faff getting into the complex. First you need to avoid the charlatans trying to charge for renting/selling you a bit of fabric to wrap around your legs and/other shoulders. I went the official route and paid a deposit to borrow one. (It's understandable: My shoulders drive women wild. My legs just make them mildly annoyed.) Then it's negotiating another kiosk to hand in your shoes for a token. Then the admissions kiosk (local or 'foreigners' - there's always a two-tier pricing)
Once inside, there are queues and queues of the faithful and a few caucasians; up stairs, into rooms, around pathways past apparently significant bits of Buddhist paraphernalia. The main exhibit, apparently, is a tooth. Who knows who or where it really came from, but it doesn't stop 'em queuing to get a glimpse of it. I couldn't see a thing.
Grumpy Philistine? Me? Well, yes, partly. I like the architecture, and the calming reassurance it has for a lot of people, but the bling is a bit too over the top for me: Not as coarse as Trump Tower of course, but there's gold and orange everywhere.
Just down the street is a faded beauty: The Queen's Hotel where her late Maj. stayed a while back. In fact, a great many of the most interesting buildings are gathered around the lake. It's a pretty damned fine lake too. I nearly got all the way around, but it beat me.
Lots of photo opportunities though, in the city centre markets and streets, people promenading around the lake. I've been persevering with my 'Faces of Sri Lanka' photog theme (really do need a better title).
This morning's ice cream flavour: mango - not bad at all.
Number of steps today: gazillions
This afternoon's ice cream flavour: butterscotch and some kind of nut – pretty good again.Read more