A bit of a lazier day today which is something of a relief really. But first we had to get through breakfast with the strange woman who just won’t leave us alone. She had prepared a massive breakfast that we had no way of even getting half way through and sat just talking like this….now, remembering that I am sitting last the table and I’m conscious, awake and generally talk more or less sense, she’d say to Rose “that’s a very comfortable dress your mother has on”, or “you are booking accommodation in Tangalle, you’ll have to make sure it’s very comfortable and convenient for your mother”. It is hilarious really and in fact the things Sri Lankans say to us could be my next theme…they just come out with things that are so out of context.
Today at lunch the owner of the restaurant just popped out to Rose “You look like a kick boxer”. I nearly inhaled what was in my mouth it was so funny. Rose just looked up and said “what do you mean?” with a flash of the black-eyed look. To which he mimed a strong arm body builder pose! He’s lucky to be alive in fact.
Last night when I said our host had bailed Rose up on her way to bed it was to say will her mother call out if she needs something in the night…or no, better she calls you and you will call us…..what??????
Anyway I digress. We got through breakfast. (She is virtually forcing us to have an evening meal with her tomorrow night. Something we look forward to with dread!! ) We had asked our lovely Tuk Tuk man to come for us at 9.30 and he arrived promptly to take us off to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth. That was Buddhist chaos. Off with the shoes and join the throngs, and I mean throngs, of Buddhists come to pay homage to Buddhas tooth. Climbing the stairs being jostled on all sides by worshippers who just see us and all the foreigners, as being in their way. There is no polite standing back here, you were hemmed in on all sides and pushed and jostled as people tried to get past. That took some time to manage and the bare feet don’t take too kindly to it all.
(The call to prayer has just started up as I write. Not many Muslims in the town but they are certainly a ‘presence’.)
Anyway keep on track and back to the Buddhists. We finally got out of there after going through a second, new, shrine and a small museum. We then went off walking partially around the lake that sits in the centre of this town. These massive iguana type lizards swim in the lake and live around it which kept us fascinated for a while.
Then off to find some shops to potter in but not too much by way of tourist infrastructure means that there aren’t many cute shops to keep you entertained. It was starting to rain so we went to get a coffee in one of those touristy shops. Then off for lunch at the Old Empire Cafe which is a quirky/ trendy little cafe. Whilst I said Sri Lanka was not huge on the tourist infra- structure there are definitely more tourists in Kandy than in other towns so there are some of those creature comforts we all come to know and love e.g. coffee.
Back to the lunch experience. I do seem to be all over the place today. Rose is always so meticulous about what she orders and worries about me ordering potentially life threatening things like salads. So she ordered a burger and I ordered a salad (we both need a break from Chicken curry and rice every now and again). Half way through her extra-safe-to -eat burger Rose pulls a massive black hair out of her mouth. She nearly vomited and lunch was all over red rover for her. I told our man about the hair and he was mortified…didn’t charge us and kept bringing more food to replace it. That turned out hilariously too as he brought Rose some roasted cashews that she didn’t want, but she had to pretend she was eating them so she found a piece of wrapper in her bag and started to transfer the nuts into the bag…this didn’t go smoothly with nuts splaying all over the place. Maybe only funny at the time but it was hilarious.
We finally extracted ourselves from the restaurant and wandered off through the market area. We found one of those dodgy dives behind bars that sell alcohol and bought some beer and even some wine at a reasonable price. With this surreptitiously stored in a bag we got in a Tuk Tuk to take us home up the hill. By some miracle he nearly found the place. We only had to walk a short distance at the end.
A couple of hours rest now. This ‘homestay’ experience has put the wind up us and we are busily changing/ upgrading our accommodation. Also in response to feedback along the way that has alerted us to the beaches/ocean down south in Tangalle being still in Monsoonal mode so not very swimmable. We cancelled our booking and found a place with a pool so that at least we can get a swim or two in one way or the other.
We’re now off to meet Bob from Bendigo for a Kandy experience from the perspective of a lovable alcoholic. That promises to be fun…I’ll fill you in soon!!
We’re back and yes we did have a lovely evening. We’ve both fallen for Bob, he’s a lovely man with such a well of loneliness. Anyhow that aside we met him back at the Royal Bar and had a drink. I was the sensible one tonight. No bottles of wine, that was definitely not sustainable. I had a G&T. Then we moved on to the Queens Hotel…definitely THE Raj hotel of Sri Lanka. At least it was once, it is now tired and rather worn looking but it still had that feel about it. Every hotel has the World Cup playing on the big screen…in this case projected from a little, old telly through a projector onto the screen…some genius had worked that one out! Then Bob took us to his favourite Indian Restaurant and we had a delicious meal. Then next door to that is Bob’s other favourite pub, the Victory so he and Rose raced in there for the final night-cap while I fixed up the bill (Bob had paid the rest of the night) and then went in to meet them and drag Rose away to meet our waiting Tuk Tuk driver. We were really sad to say goodbye to him.
While all this was happening we didn’t even realise (having dinner) that the heavens had opened so we had to charge through the rain to the meeting point. And then a very dark, very wet and very hairy Tuk Tuk ride back up the hill. It did occur to me that our number might be up this time…but obviously it wasn’t.
Our Tuk Tuk driver is taking us for a half day tour outside Kandy tomorrow for the mandatory $25. But that will be another story.