Kandy Digs
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Thu 21 Mar 2019 23:47
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Our Digs in
Kandy
 It was pure joy to step out of our train
carriage at Kandy to find the sun shining and feel
its warmth. Nuwara Eliya was at 1,868 metres, cold and not called Little England
for nothing, now at 488.6 metres above sea level and already feeling ‘more
thawed’. I know I shouldn’t whine but we have acclimatised at thirty-eight
degrees Centigrade and I know Plymouth was nine degrees yesterday making our
eighteen nothing to pinch lips at but.......... just saying. Leaving the railway
station and facing the mob of taxi drivers, one bullish chap said “2,000 rupees”
and in seconds at my horror came down to “1500 best price”. We stepped outside
and a handsome young tuktuk said “300” and in we got without bothering to
haggle. I for one, am now getting a little tired of men seeing white, tourist
older woman and thinking they can fiddle me.
 Our chap, Chanaka chatted away in good
English. We turned right at Kandy Lake and he pointed to the golden roof which
is The Temple of The Tooth or Sri Dalaga Maligawa. We told him that we had
indeed been to Buddha’s birthplace in Nepal and seen two of his teeth in
Myanmar. “No, but this is more special”. Since ancient times, the
relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that
whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last
capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a World Heritage Site mainly due to the
temple. OK then.
All the buildings in the
picture are part of what was The Royal Palace, I was more interested in the
pretty, white building seen on countless tourist advertisements -
Ulpange or Queens Bathing Pavilion. Standing
partly in the waters, the wives and concubines of King Sri Wickrama
Rajasinghe used the pavilion when bathing in the lake. After the British
captured the city, they added another storey and used the building as a library.
It is currently used as a police post.
The lake itself is
artificial and was commissioned by the king and completed in 1807, before it had
been a paddy field. The lake has a maximum depth of 18 metres, surface area of
47 acres and a shore length of 2.1 miles. The white wall (Walakulu
Bammathat meaning clouds wall) surrounds half of the the lake and was
built to look attractive, the triangular shaped holes in the wall were
used in the past for lighting oil lamps on festival days.
The king did not see it finished due to the city being captured by
the British and King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe was forced to relinquish his Kandian
kingdom.
I mention all this now in case we get no
closer, we are here just two nights and the reason for our stay is to go
to the Botanical Garden.
  Chanaka took a road to the right at the corner
of the lake, up a steep hill and pulled up to what can best be described as an
unfinished project. “Look” he said “right address”, wrote his mobile number
down, shook our hands and disappeared. Mmmm. Through the door we found a lounge and a sort of reception area. Beyond, was a room
with bits and bobs.
 One of the ‘bits’ on the floor brought back
memories of long ago telephone
calls.
 The next room back.
  Outside, Mmmm and
almost a stream at the back.
 Slight concern at this point as I sashayed past
the rubbish and suggested Bear telephone. The ‘boss’
answered and told us to go upstairs for a proper welcome. To the left side of
the building – yep – steep, disabled unfriendly stairs but at the top we were
met by a lady worker. The boss had said she spoke little English but understood
much.
 We followed the pointing finger and Beds settled in a flash.
   Our bedroom tiles,
not the wildest bathroom we’ve had (great looking
shower and Bear’s towel in bright pink will only cover from waist to nether
regions.....), a narrow balcony with chairs and
table. I took hold of the table and it is now in use as a desk beside my
bed (two singles pushed together) and once I had taken the ticking clock off the
wall, removed its battery and took down the bright pink, low hanging mosquito
net all seemed perfectly comfy. Boosted as soon as our dear lady had brought
extra pillows (Bear still coughing like a park bench tramp) and made a massive
pot of tea. We thought about early supper but by four the loudest crack of
thunder and the heaviest rain. Maybe later then.
 View from our balcony.
 Looking right, dead
centre of the picture is a tiny building in the distance and if you screw your
eyes up, there is Kandy Lake.....
 Bear was soon test-driving his bed
until a snore so loud, woke himself up. At this point having got well into the
swing of our room, I wrote this blog in front of so many I am behind on. Now I
leapt up as I felt, dear reader, that I had not done a thorough enough job with
our room.
  Our fancy
door complete with hanging hooks. The edges each
side could do with a little more finishing,
methinks.
   To the far side of the sink is a glass panel, shelves crossing on the other side and the
window bits covered over with cardboard. Cannot
fathom the bare brick above Bear’s attractive towel.
   I don’t think the towel rail is there
to last, the knob comes off and should be screwed in
but there is just the hole of the rail itself so all free and easy. Behind the
door is another glass panel similar to on the left.
Bear tells me the other side is............a
bookcase. Note – this B&B has only been ‘open’ a few
months....... Anyhoo, after a shaky start our new digs have passed muster,
five-bar wi-fi and at £15 a night with the promise of a massive breakfast,
happiness reigns.
ALL IN ALL ANOTHER GOOD LAUGH INITIAL BUILDING SITE BECOMES PANDORA’S BOX |