D69 Sri Lanka - Kandy

Ok, we got conned in Kandy. This is how it went down...

We woke early, ate our usual Sri Lankan buffet breakfast consisting of chapatti, curry and fresh fruit, then donned our walking shoes in preparation for a day of stretching our legs. Leaving the hotel, some 6km from the centre of Kandy, we straddled the road as the locals do, navigating our way past trucks, blaring buses, tuk tuks, dogs, burning piles of rubbish and occasional ankle breaking holes in the roadside.

We reached Kandy Lake, walking past the Temple of the Lost Tooth (we weren’t dressed conservatively enough to visit). An ice cream tuk tuk with music playing rolled past us, weird turkey faced looking ducks sat on the banks and tradesman worked on some new plaster and marble seats, adding amenity value to the lakeside. As we approached the end of the lake, the hustle and bustle of Kandy city centre kicked in. All of a sudden, a friend appeared next to us at the lights smiling.

‘Hey, it’s me, from the hotel. You don’t recognise me do you out of my uniform,’ he said with great familiarity. I immediately was thinking, no, no I don’t, but perhaps you are from our hotel. There were so many staff wandering around each day, you could very well of worked there. We continued with the idle chit chat of where we were going and what we were doing for the day.
‘I’m on my way to the market, but it closes soon’ (pigs arse I thought, as my radar peaked), ‘it’s got quality linen and beautiful sari’s, they’ll be perfect for your wedding’. Yep, he had the dirt on us. As my suspicion grew, I asked how long he’d worked at the hotel, knowing full well where we were staying was new.
‘Oh, 7 years in the kitchen, I like it very much.’ Bingo I thought, ‘hear that Kate, 7 years at the hotel!’ I said. She had cottoned on as well, but we were both in for the ride now.

We arrived at the market which was ‘closing in half an hour’ and was introduced to his ‘brother’ and he promptly disappeared. Classic ghosting event. His brother began by saying ‘first sale of the day, very good discount for you’. I began to walk out, but Katey was enticed by these cool wrap around pants with funky elephant designs. He grabbed me, and showed my the ‘original’ price on his calculator - 4250 rupees. I laughed and said no way and began to walk away again. Negotiations flowed backward and forward, and Kate offered 2000 or no deal. By this stage I was walking down the street when Kate yelled out for some cash. The deal was done, and $16AUD later, he and his workers had made a week of wages on a pair of pants.

Kate was happy with her purchase and I was happy that we didn’t get screwed too hard! Either way, we got very successfully conned in Kandy. Charming bastards.

We wandered to the railway station to see if we could reserve tickets for our return to Colombo, no such luck. All booked out. So we haggled a tuk tuk into taking us to the botanic gardens some 5km up the road.

The gardens were impressive. Huge sweeping gardens with long palm lined vistas, massive tropical trees and well manicured flower beds. A cacti house, orchid house, greenhouse for foliage plants, ‘the great lawn’, the ‘great circle’ path, Ayurvedic garden, they had it all and it was all pretty great! The plants are rather foreign to me being predominantly tropical, and so I find it all overwhelming not being able to digest the names and uses of each plant! For me, a standout was the largest bamboo species in the world, growing to 30-40m, 20-25cm in girth and the new shoots growing some 30cm a day. What a beast of a plant! No wonder bamboo may be the sustainable solution to many of the world’s problems. Check out the ‘Bamboo to Save the World’ TED video.

A tuk tuk back to the lake, a walk down the opposite side and yet another negotiated tuk tuk ride, we found ourselves back at the main road junction leading to our hotel.

On our return walk back to Royal Classic, we stopped at one of the thousands of little roadside stores selling many sugary snack foods, soft drink and a range of household items. This one in particular we had spotted earlier in the day for its traditional coconut spoons. They were well priced and after picking through them, got some of what we believe are good quality. Kate’s family have many of these, passed on from family members no longer with us. They’re just so useful!

Our last night at the resort and with a busy day for the hotel following (two weddings!), we were treated once again to the buffet dinner. With full bellies and satisfied minds, we went to bed.Read more