Poya Full Moon Procession

The elephants began leaving the park once they were dressed, and we were told the procession would start at 6:30 and go around the lake to the Temple. We walked until we found where the rest of the procession, I.e., dancers, drummers, flag bearers, flute players, more drummers, were waiting to start. We went to where it would start and found seats on the steps of a bank. For the first 30 minutes we were the only ones there and everyone else was headed more toward the temple. Then the fireworks began, then the procession, with endless troupes of dancers, drummer, singers, flag carriers, etc., etc. It was a long time before we saw any elephants, and they were interspersed with the performers. We didn't stay for the whole thing, but I think the last photo of the elephants with the lights on them would have been the finale. I spoke with a young man at our hotel and he said it was a special Poya day, with 1000 performers which happens only once a year. The elephants are in it 3 or 4 times a year. He also said there is a special one in Kandy that is the best one in Sri Lanka. I really felt like I had gone back in time to the old Ceylon.....perhaps royalty would be on the next elephant. It was a magical night.

The Elephants, getting dressed

We shopped in the nearly closed market, visited the Barefoot shop which has lovely heavy woven home furnishings, also went to Paradise Rd. boutique. On the way there, we passed a park and our tuktuk driver said "there are fifty elephants there". We saw them and it looked almost as if they were working as there was some construction going on there. After Paradise Rd. we decided to go the park and see if the elephants were still -YES they were. Evidently that had been at the park all day,waiting to get dressed up for the Poya parade. I was more than a little sad for them, with chains on their ankles and hanging from their necks. I don't know where they are usually kept, but I think they go through this every month.

Elephants, undressed and getting dressed and dressed!! How do you dress an elephant? Well, you have to have the right clothes! The elephant also has to have a bath first! An then some choose to take their food with them!

Colombo

We had booked first class tickets to Colombo, on the train, but we couldn't get seats together, so were hoping we'd be able to switch with someone. As it turned out, the car was half empty and I got to sit in the window seat next to Mark and take ridiculous photos of the stunning valley and mountain views as we descended. We were served lunch? Snack? Awful!! After a fairly gentle trip down the mountain, we were surprised to find the rest of the way was a really rough ride. It was if we were on zigzag tracks. I heard one woman who got off a few stops before us, complain loudly about bruising her arm from how we were thrown from side to side. We had a 3:00 pm departure, started a little and didn't arrive in Colombo until after 6:00. As we were checking into our hotel,(hotel Renuka, as recommended by Danny and Benna ) we were given a choice of a deluxe room, for just $10 more. I checked out the rooms and definitely preferred the new one with no perfumery smells, and that gorgeous view over the Indian Ocean. We then found the cafe also recommended by D & B. It was a very trendy place with sort of fusion food. Mark had the squid ink risotto, and had the grilled seer fish with coconut risotto, which was fabulous, but not enough of the risotto. There was a note in our room that told us the next day was a Full Moon Festival holiday and there would be alcohol available or served anywhere in the city, as we found a supermarket and got a bottle of wine and a few Lion beers just in case.

The next day our strategy was to go the Pellah market where the guidebook said there would be textiles. We hopped a tuktuk after the usual negotiations. When we got there we realized that all the Buddhists' shops would be closed. We still found a few open and they had lovely dupioni silk for $4 yard, some nice woven cottons too, but we will go back tomorrow to look for other things. That last photo is the view from our hotel room. Cool, huh?

Later, the elephants are coming!!!!!!

Kandy botanical gardens

One definitely needs 2 or 3 hours to stroll through these gardens, which we did. I was amazed to see trees full of large bats, the thousands. I didn't much like walking under them. Although most were hanging in trees, there was a constant screeching and some were flying around. I much preferred the orchid house.

Kandy

We shared the van from Anuradhapura with a couple we met at Elephant Corridor. We had checked on bus schedules and the drive was supposed to be 4 hours, but since the van took 5 I think the bus would have been much longer. It was pleasant though to have new friends to share the ride.

We checked into Sharon Hotel, high on a hill above the lake. We both agreed that the walk downhill was OK, but no way were we walking up. We had already walked up 5 flights of stairs to our room. I'm so glad Mark was willing to carry our bags. You'd think we'd be in better shape by now - geez! We walked around the lake, went to the temple there - note, it helps to keep a pair of socks in your backpack for Buddhist temples in case you have tender feet or the stones of the path are very hot! After the temple, we walked as far as we could around the lake and discovered the Arts and Cultural Center, which was still open. We wandered in and looked around, but it was mostly wood carvings and some hammered brass and metal - no textiles. But the very helpful attendant? Woman in charge? Told us there would be a traditional dance performance starting at 5:30. Good luck! It was 5:00. We got front row seats in the balcony and totally enjoyed the drumming and dance and were equally impressed by the men who, as the last act, walked on hot coals! How do they do that? Dinner at our hotel was highly recommended by lonely planet and they were not wrong. There was chicken curry, daahl, eggplant, fried bitter melon, green beans, spicy cabbage, cucumber salad, soybeans and sambal. It was very very good. Our room, being at top of the hotel had a great view and windows on two sides of the room, and we were able to have them open all night - nice and cool in these mountains, and no mosquitos.

In the morning, we ordered a tuktuk and went first to the big Buddha statue on the hill opposite us. This was another climb we couldn't have done. We arrived about 9 and it was nearly deserted, so was lovely and peaceful, with great views. But there were no flowers for sale. it is traditional to place flowers before the Buddha, as we had done before. Soon, some school children arrived and as we were about to go into the shrine, two little boys shyly offered us flowers. We sent silent prayers for Harriet, and all who suffer.

Next stop, the Botanical Gardens. We were advised to plan on spending at least 2 or 3 hours there and we did. It was absolutely gorgeous. There was some amazing giant bamboo, too many varieties of bamboo and palm trees, etc. we wandered, read labels, found bathrooms, found the orchid house and probably walked at least 2 miles. As we were ready to leave the families began to arrive, so our timing was perfect. We went back to our hotel. We had already checked out, but it was nice to sit out front with a beer and read email and our books and look across at the Buddha on the opposite mountain. We have been very happy using our iPads with the kindle app for books. I may need to download just one more to make it through the long plane rides.

Anuradhapura

We went by tuktuk from Sigiriya to anaradapura, which took about 2-1/2 hours, which was about an hour too long. We intended to go see the 2,000 year old bodhi tree and the evening ceremony, but had little energy. When you have a long drive in a tuktuk you feel as if you were the one driving it, or at least keeping it on the road. The problem is that tuktuks have a imposed speed limit, but cars and trucks an go much faster, motor bikes too, so the tuktuk is constantly pulling over to the bumpier part of the road. So, we read and slept and had dinner at our hotel - - nice typical Sri Lanka meal. The next day, we hired a tuktuk for the whole tour of the ruins and temples and the bodi tree. Although these ruins are older and cover more hectares, we didn't find them as interesting, probably because they are older and in worse shape. But the ruins of the monastery were interesting. That long trough in the photo was the rice serving 'bowl' for the 5000 monks who lived there.