24th August to 1st September - Kandy, Adam's Peak & Negombo
After the amazing train journey that was Ella to Kandy we stumbled out of the train station and bartered a tuk tuk driver into taking us up the mountains to our new 4 person apartment. Our first impression of Kandy was quite expected, busy but yet full of greenery. We arrived at our new place and were greeted by a lovely couple who had only just opened up, tea was instantly served and we noted our own kitchen so decided for the first night Christine would cook something traditional from China, we both headed down to the shops in town and bought loads of stuff including breakfast however when attempting to buy sausages i was turned away by the Sri Lankan worker who explained due to the festival happening, no meat or alcohol could be served. No alcohol for me isn't a problem, but meat... None the less the meal was great and after a couple of games of yaniv, the card game, where i betted and lost my bed for the night, we decided to get some sleep. The next day was absolutely packed with interesting things which came by complete chance, we started our day quite poorly, rolling out of bed late morning and only getting into Kandy centre for turn 1:00PM. Our tuk tuk dropped us off at Kandy lake where we had a quick walk around, seeing loads of people, mainly families, already sat down awaiting the evenings parade of elephants and dancers. Within 10 minutes we had been asked by a local to attend a small ceremony where the different performances would be shown to foreigners in a bid to attract more tourism. Reluctantly at first we accepted but soon found out it was free and pretty cool! Around a group of 100 sat down as we watched and photographed these elaborate dancers with drums and got to see one of the elephants all dressed in gold and silk. It was interesting to learn about the festivals heritage and i believed we purely found this ceremony by chance. As the hours went on through the day we had visited one of the markets and bought a few new thinner pieces of clothing to keep the days heat at bay we bumped into this Sri Lankan guy who swore blind he knew us from our accommodation, i instantly thought this was a scam as he told us about a market for locals and that we should go there. He walked us down the road five minutes to its location, took us in and started to show the price differences. He wasn't wrong! It was so much cheaper from fresh fruits to clothing. After a few more minutes with this man we explained we wished to walk around alone and just like that he said thanks and headed off. I was expecting for him to at least ask for a tip, but thankfully we must of been in luck. We got the ingredients bought for tea and ended up at this small fruit and spices stand where the owner began feeding us a variety of different fruits.. Jack fruit, dorian fruit and papaya. It was far from a bad discovery and with a quick, friendly chat and a photograph together we went our separate ways. We had discovered that this local market meant near no haggling required and no pestering. Soon after the sun began to creep below the horizon line and the streets were getting bare, we knew everyone was off to watch the festival begin so we walked to the starting point and took a seat near the end due to it being so packed. Within 20 minutes the police had began closing the road we were sat on, turns out the festival doesn't head down this route! We grabbed our things and shot down the road trying to find a good spot for when the festival began, however so many of the roads had been blocked off we walked for a good 10 minutes before finding this smaller road which was already filled with locals. We decided to get settled here, moving forwards when we could to try and get the best views for the festival. As most things are in Asia, it started almost an hour late and with a poor standing area we saw very little and the festival itself went quite slowly. None the less i'm glad i saw a mixture of elephants, fire dancers and people dancing on stilts. For me, the best part was seeing an entire city come to life for this once a year festival and just how excited the locals got, a good comparison for our country is when the queen visits your local area and the masses appear from nowhere!
The next morning we got up nice and early ready to push the journey forward to Adam's Peak, one of the most popular hikes for visitors. The hike is typically a pilgrimage for buddhists who would complete the hike for sunrise and begin morning prayer at the temple of the peak. Our train journey was not great by any means, even with second class tickets we stood up on the rickety edge of this train for three and a half hours before finally arriving at a town near by to the peak. From here we got a heavy walk ten minutes up the road to the bus station and luckily ours was just leaving so we jumped on and within a further hour we had reached our accommodation. Bags in our rooms and tea in our bellies the four of us headed out to grab something to eat, i was craving a large meal knowing our hike would be done with no breakfast so we went into a restaurant just down from where we were staying. I was optimistic about the food literally until the moment it was placed in front of me. Not completely sure what i ordered but it was some form of chicken with tomato sauce served with friend rice. The chicken was so dry it was tough and the rice had so much grease i'd expect it to be sieved first. By far the worst meal of Asia so far! Instead of making me feel ready for tomorrows hike i felt ill. Straight to bed i decided where i still only managed around two and a half hours before my alarm shattered my sleep, with a look outside whilst getting my hiking boots on we saw that it was raining quite heavily and knew it was only going to make the morning harder. At this time i was considering calling it a day and going back to bed, however, i knew that i wanted to challenge myself on this trip and it would be the largest hike so far! Rain coats on, we set off. It was a good 40 minute walk before we even reached the start of Adam's Peak where the steps began, when i was told it is a total of 10,400 steps all the way up and down i thought it was quite reasonable, considering a typical staircase. I was completely wrong. Every single step was different in both size and distance apart which meant concentration was a must, within an hour the rain became almost unbearable, i was drenched down to my boxers and my feet was squelching. We wanted to try and take shelter somewhere but the steps were just surrounded by dense looking forest and it was still pitch black. We continued onwards until we saw a group taking a break, they asked how long it had already taken and by the reply we realised how quickly we had done most of the hike, this gave us a new lease of life which was sorely needed when we saw just how steep and slippery the last 20 minutes was! Most of the steps were only large enough to fit your tip toes on and they spiralled left to right making it very difficult. The fog began to surround us and visibility was incredibly poor when all of a sudden another hiker coming back down said we're only 2 minutes away and sure enough we had arrived in no time! We could see absolutely nothing haha! But it was expected, with it being the rainy season i knew the odds were stacked against us but really wanted to do the challenge none the less. We cut up a pineapple for breakfast, took a few group photographs and got heading back down quickly as it became so cold, the coldest i've actually been so far. The walk up was breaking my thigh muscles but the walk down, my calfs were on fire! Thankfully cramp stayed at bay but i realised i was healthier than originally thought, tough mudder must of sorted me out in some way, shape or form. After the long stroll back to the accommodation we grabbed some well deserved breakfast and got to sleep for a good three hours before once more, waking up feeling rough and getting three buses and a six hour train drive to Colombo and to finish off, an hours tuk tuk drive to Negombo where we stayed for nearly a week! We had said goodbye to during the journey as she went white water rafting but she reappeared on her last day in the country with a bottle of wine, we all relaxed playing cards and said our farewells once more. Negombo wasn't a great place but it gave us time to relax, regroup our plan and get ready for the hectic month that will be Thailand. Sri Lanka, you've been nothing but great to us!
After the amazing train journey that was Ella to Kandy we stumbled out of the train station and bartered a tuk tuk driver into taking us up the mountains to our new 4 person apartment. Our first impression of Kandy was quite expected, busy but yet full of greenery. We arrived at our new place and were greeted by a lovely couple who had only just opened up, tea was instantly served and we noted our own kitchen so decided for the first night Christine would cook something traditional from China, we both headed down to the shops in town and bought loads of stuff including breakfast however when attempting to buy sausages i was turned away by the Sri Lankan worker who explained due to the festival happening, no meat or alcohol could be served. No alcohol for me isn't a problem, but meat... None the less the meal was great and after a couple of games of yaniv, the card game, where i betted and lost my bed for the night, we decided to get some sleep. The next day was absolutely packed with interesting things which came by complete chance, we started our day quite poorly, rolling out of bed late morning and only getting into Kandy centre for turn 1:00PM. Our tuk tuk dropped us off at Kandy lake where we had a quick walk around, seeing loads of people, mainly families, already sat down awaiting the evenings parade of elephants and dancers. Within 10 minutes we had been asked by a local to attend a small ceremony where the different performances would be shown to foreigners in a bid to attract more tourism. Reluctantly at first we accepted but soon found out it was free and pretty cool! Around a group of 100 sat down as we watched and photographed these elaborate dancers with drums and got to see one of the elephants all dressed in gold and silk. It was interesting to learn about the festivals heritage and i believed we purely found this ceremony by chance. As the hours went on through the day we had visited one of the markets and bought a few new thinner pieces of clothing to keep the days heat at bay we bumped into this Sri Lankan guy who swore blind he knew us from our accommodation, i instantly thought this was a scam as he told us about a market for locals and that we should go there. He walked us down the road five minutes to its location, took us in and started to show the price differences. He wasn't wrong! It was so much cheaper from fresh fruits to clothing. After a few more minutes with this man we explained we wished to walk around alone and just like that he said thanks and headed off. I was expecting for him to at least ask for a tip, but thankfully we must of been in luck. We got the ingredients bought for tea and ended up at this small fruit and spices stand where the owner began feeding us a variety of different fruits.. Jack fruit, dorian fruit and papaya. It was far from a bad discovery and with a quick, friendly chat and a photograph together we went our separate ways. We had discovered that this local market meant near no haggling required and no pestering. Soon after the sun began to creep below the horizon line and the streets were getting bare, we knew everyone was off to watch the festival begin so we walked to the starting point and took a seat near the end due to it being so packed. Within 20 minutes the police had began closing the road we were sat on, turns out the festival doesn't head down this route! We grabbed our things and shot down the road trying to find a good spot for when the festival began, however so many of the roads had been blocked off we walked for a good 10 minutes before finding this smaller road which was already filled with locals. We decided to get settled here, moving forwards when we could to try and get the best views for the festival. As most things are in Asia, it started almost an hour late and with a poor standing area we saw very little and the festival itself went quite slowly. None the less i'm glad i saw a mixture of elephants, fire dancers and people dancing on stilts. For me, the best part was seeing an entire city come to life for this once a year festival and just how excited the locals got, a good comparison for our country is when the queen visits your local area and the masses appear from nowhere!
The next morning we got up nice and early ready to push the journey forward to Adam's Peak, one of the most popular hikes for visitors. The hike is typically a pilgrimage for buddhists who would complete the hike for sunrise and begin morning prayer at the temple of the peak. Our train journey was not great by any means, even with second class tickets we stood up on the rickety edge of this train for three and a half hours before finally arriving at a town near by to the peak. From here we got a heavy walk ten minutes up the road to the bus station and luckily ours was just leaving so we jumped on and within a further hour we had reached our accommodation. Bags in our rooms and tea in our bellies the four of us headed out to grab something to eat, i was craving a large meal knowing our hike would be done with no breakfast so we went into a restaurant just down from where we were staying. I was optimistic about the food literally until the moment it was placed in front of me. Not completely sure what i ordered but it was some form of chicken with tomato sauce served with friend rice. The chicken was so dry it was tough and the rice had so much grease i'd expect it to be sieved first. By far the worst meal of Asia so far! Instead of making me feel ready for tomorrows hike i felt ill. Straight to bed i decided where i still only managed around two and a half hours before my alarm shattered my sleep, with a look outside whilst getting my hiking boots on we saw that it was raining quite heavily and knew it was only going to make the morning harder. At this time i was considering calling it a day and going back to bed, however, i knew that i wanted to challenge myself on this trip and it would be the largest hike so far! Rain coats on, we set off. It was a good 40 minute walk before we even reached the start of Adam's Peak where the steps began, when i was told it is a total of 10,400 steps all the way up and down i thought it was quite reasonable, considering a typical staircase. I was completely wrong. Every single step was different in both size and distance apart which meant concentration was a must, within an hour the rain became almost unbearable, i was drenched down to my boxers and my feet was squelching. We wanted to try and take shelter somewhere but the steps were just surrounded by dense looking forest and it was still pitch black. We continued onwards until we saw a group taking a break, they asked how long it had already taken and by the reply we realised how quickly we had done most of the hike, this gave us a new lease of life which was sorely needed when we saw just how steep and slippery the last 20 minutes was! Most of the steps were only large enough to fit your tip toes on and they spiralled left to right making it very difficult. The fog began to surround us and visibility was incredibly poor when all of a sudden another hiker coming back down said we're only 2 minutes away and sure enough we had arrived in no time! We could see absolutely nothing haha! But it was expected, with it being the rainy season i knew the odds were stacked against us but really wanted to do the challenge none the less. We cut up a pineapple for breakfast, took a few group photographs and got heading back down quickly as it became so cold, the coldest i've actually been so far. The walk up was breaking my thigh muscles but the walk down, my calfs were on fire! Thankfully cramp stayed at bay but i realised i was healthier than originally thought, tough mudder must of sorted me out in some way, shape or form. After the long stroll back to the accommodation we grabbed some well deserved breakfast and got to sleep for a good three hours before once more, waking up feeling rough and getting three buses and a six hour train drive to Colombo and to finish off, an hours tuk tuk drive to Negombo where we stayed for nearly a week! We had said goodbye to during the journey as she went white water rafting but she reappeared on her last day in the country with a bottle of wine, we all relaxed playing cards and said our farewells once more. Negombo wasn't a great place but it gave us time to relax, regroup our plan and get ready for the hectic month that will be Thailand. Sri Lanka, you've been nothing but great to us!
Young boy on the train from Kandy to Ella
Everyone hanging out to see the mountain views
Pulling up to a station
I wanted his spot the whole journey, so instead i photographed him...
Kandy Lake
As the crowds began to arrive for the celebrations
I'm photographing Ben but sure, a smile is always welcome!
Dancers with drums
Dancers once more
Catherine photographing the photographer
The local market filled with fresh fruit
Our new best buddy
One of the elephants during the festival
No views from up Adam's Peak but heres one of the temples near the bottom
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