Sunday, October 12, 2003
Day 6 in Sri Lanka (Evening), Kandy
At 6 pm we went to a hall to see the Kandyan dancers. The music was drums and an instrument that looked like a flute but sounded like those instruments the snake charmers use. There were male and female dancers. The women's dances involved a lot of crouching and intricate hand movements. The men were similar but also did some flick-flacks, back flips and lots of spinning. After the dance we went outside and watched the dancers role fire torches up their arms, across their chests and on their tongues, ouch! There was also fire walking, they didn't hurry across either.
Back at the hotel we felt like cutting loose so we went to the attached nightclub called Blackout. We thought it would be some small hole with strange music but was actually quite big and they played modern hip-hop and R & B, (Eminem is really big over here). The drinks were expensive as they always are at hotels. There were some local youngins strutting their stuff. There were 3 women surrounded by guys, some things don't change no matter which country you are in. We had a chat with a Dutch couple who are doing roughly the same circuit as us and we have seen in a couple of other places and hotels. We got up and danced a bit but we had to leave after they put on a house remix of Queens I want to break free.
Day 7 in Sri Lanka, Day 2 in Kandy
We slept in a bit this morning and left at 9:30. The destination was the Botanical gardens. The gardens were full of large trees of different varieties and under each one was a young couple. It seems to be an important part of the Kandyan courting ritual.
This afternoon we visited the local museum and the Temple of the Tooth. The story goes ... A monk saved a tooth from the Buddahs funeral pyre and it was brought to Sri Lanka. It was first taken to Anuradhapura for safe keeping. Since then it has been taken to each capital as the kings have moved. It has been stolen several times by Indian kings. One tried to destroy it with a hammer but it flew up in the air and he became a convert and gave it back.
The Tooth temple is the most sacred place in the Buddhist faith. It was attacked in 1998 by a suicide bomber and they managed to do some damage to the outside. Now there are fences, bunkers and check-points around the temple and bag searches as you enter. There are many elaborate paintings and of course many Buddha statues around but they are in much better condition than the other places we have visited because it is newer. You don't actually get to see the Tooth as it is kept in a small box hidden inside many other boxes of increasing size. There were many Sri Lankans entering to lay flowers and prey. There were two men whose job it was to remove flowers from the alter to make room for more!
Getting Conned in Sri Lanka
People say that most Sri Lankans are genuinely friendly people. This is probably true but then all the people who aren't work in the tourism industry. We have found a few who are genuinely nice but the vast majority of the people we have met want one thing, your money. At most tourist sites as soon as you are out of the car you are surrounded by hawkers selling drinks, post cards and jewelry. You politely say no but they will follow you for 10 m offering constantly berating you. This is annoying but manageable.
The worst by far are the "Guides", these people will come up to you and act very friendly. They try to start a conversation by asking you where you are from, then hassle Lou because she "doesn't look like" a kiwi. They then say we have a good cricket team and proceed to drag you around the site telling you stuff you have already read in the Lonely Planet. When you tell them you don't want a tour then their skill really comes out. They will either pretend not to hear you, not to understand or tell you it is their job insinuating it is free. Once they have followed you around for 5 minutes they will ask for a "donation" or "tip". At this stage you feel embarrassed and stupid and offer some money. They will ask for 3 or 4 times that and you give it. You have just been conned Sri Lankan style.
Our first experience was at Dambulla. Then we got wise. Not wise enough though because at Sigiria I was conned (Lou knew better and stayed away) and here at the Tooth temple it was Lou's turn. We need to come up with a secret way to warn each other when we can see it happening. I guess the problem is that in this way we are very naive because we are trusting, a very dangerous thing in Sri Lanka. It makes traveling here more stressful and less enjoyable, which is a shame because it is a beautiful country.
On a lighter note we have tried some Sri Lankan specialties. The first is "stringy hoppers". These are circular clusters of noodles resembling a rag rug. You put curry in it, role it and eat it with your hands. Next is "egg hoppers" similar in name but quite different, they are coconutty pan cakes with a fried egg on top. We also had yellow coconut milk, like slightly stale water but very refreshing.
Tomorrow we will catch an 8:55 am train to Ella. It is supposed to be very interesting as it passed through the hill tea plantations but is 6.5 hours long. After a night there we will drive 6 hours to Mirrisa. From there it is beaches all the way yay!
At 6 pm we went to a hall to see the Kandyan dancers. The music was drums and an instrument that looked like a flute but sounded like those instruments the snake charmers use. There were male and female dancers. The women's dances involved a lot of crouching and intricate hand movements. The men were similar but also did some flick-flacks, back flips and lots of spinning. After the dance we went outside and watched the dancers role fire torches up their arms, across their chests and on their tongues, ouch! There was also fire walking, they didn't hurry across either.
Back at the hotel we felt like cutting loose so we went to the attached nightclub called Blackout. We thought it would be some small hole with strange music but was actually quite big and they played modern hip-hop and R & B, (Eminem is really big over here). The drinks were expensive as they always are at hotels. There were some local youngins strutting their stuff. There were 3 women surrounded by guys, some things don't change no matter which country you are in. We had a chat with a Dutch couple who are doing roughly the same circuit as us and we have seen in a couple of other places and hotels. We got up and danced a bit but we had to leave after they put on a house remix of Queens I want to break free.
Day 7 in Sri Lanka, Day 2 in Kandy
We slept in a bit this morning and left at 9:30. The destination was the Botanical gardens. The gardens were full of large trees of different varieties and under each one was a young couple. It seems to be an important part of the Kandyan courting ritual.
This afternoon we visited the local museum and the Temple of the Tooth. The story goes ... A monk saved a tooth from the Buddahs funeral pyre and it was brought to Sri Lanka. It was first taken to Anuradhapura for safe keeping. Since then it has been taken to each capital as the kings have moved. It has been stolen several times by Indian kings. One tried to destroy it with a hammer but it flew up in the air and he became a convert and gave it back.
The Tooth temple is the most sacred place in the Buddhist faith. It was attacked in 1998 by a suicide bomber and they managed to do some damage to the outside. Now there are fences, bunkers and check-points around the temple and bag searches as you enter. There are many elaborate paintings and of course many Buddha statues around but they are in much better condition than the other places we have visited because it is newer. You don't actually get to see the Tooth as it is kept in a small box hidden inside many other boxes of increasing size. There were many Sri Lankans entering to lay flowers and prey. There were two men whose job it was to remove flowers from the alter to make room for more!
Getting Conned in Sri Lanka
People say that most Sri Lankans are genuinely friendly people. This is probably true but then all the people who aren't work in the tourism industry. We have found a few who are genuinely nice but the vast majority of the people we have met want one thing, your money. At most tourist sites as soon as you are out of the car you are surrounded by hawkers selling drinks, post cards and jewelry. You politely say no but they will follow you for 10 m offering constantly berating you. This is annoying but manageable.
The worst by far are the "Guides", these people will come up to you and act very friendly. They try to start a conversation by asking you where you are from, then hassle Lou because she "doesn't look like" a kiwi. They then say we have a good cricket team and proceed to drag you around the site telling you stuff you have already read in the Lonely Planet. When you tell them you don't want a tour then their skill really comes out. They will either pretend not to hear you, not to understand or tell you it is their job insinuating it is free. Once they have followed you around for 5 minutes they will ask for a "donation" or "tip". At this stage you feel embarrassed and stupid and offer some money. They will ask for 3 or 4 times that and you give it. You have just been conned Sri Lankan style.
Our first experience was at Dambulla. Then we got wise. Not wise enough though because at Sigiria I was conned (Lou knew better and stayed away) and here at the Tooth temple it was Lou's turn. We need to come up with a secret way to warn each other when we can see it happening. I guess the problem is that in this way we are very naive because we are trusting, a very dangerous thing in Sri Lanka. It makes traveling here more stressful and less enjoyable, which is a shame because it is a beautiful country.
On a lighter note we have tried some Sri Lankan specialties. The first is "stringy hoppers". These are circular clusters of noodles resembling a rag rug. You put curry in it, role it and eat it with your hands. Next is "egg hoppers" similar in name but quite different, they are coconutty pan cakes with a fried egg on top. We also had yellow coconut milk, like slightly stale water but very refreshing.
Tomorrow we will catch an 8:55 am train to Ella. It is supposed to be very interesting as it passed through the hill tea plantations but is 6.5 hours long. After a night there we will drive 6 hours to Mirrisa. From there it is beaches all the way yay!
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