Sri Lanka: Kandy
The second-largest city in Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 – Kandy – turned out to be a calm, although quite an ordinary, city. We stayed there for two days, during which we mostly walked through the downtown area. At the heart of downtown there is a lake, on the banks of which lies the main attraction of the city: the Buddhist Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.
The temple houses one of the four remaining teeth from the cremation of Buddha. It was brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th century; its exact location changed over time. The tooth has been a target of destruction attempts by opponents of Buddhism, as it is believed that the end of Sri Lankan Buddhism would follow. Consequently, the temple is under tight security control, similar to measures taken at airports.
Anyway, our most pleasant experience in Kandy was walking around the lake. It gave an unusual sensation of stepping into a piece of wild nature right in the center of the city. The images below should give an idea of what it felt like.
Also, there was a Cultural Center with very persistent ticket sellers. When we had accidentally wandered into a schoolchildren's (free of charge) performance, one of them tried to collect money from us for peeking at it. In this regard Sri Lanka, same as India, can be somewhat "entertaining" at times. And one may get very tired of being seen only as a purse with legs.
Still, despite the annoyance and the fact those were "just" schoolchildren performing, the show was enjoyable. See for yourself:
Lookup accommodation on the southern and eastern sides of the lake. It takes about 10-15 minutes to walk from the train station to these areas. By the way, the bus station and market are also located near the railway station. If you have many suitcases, then it'd be easier to take one of the tuk-tuks. Bargain as you would in India, immediately reducing the price by at least half.
