Jackamy - Kandy and Dalhousie

Kandy and Dalhousie

Jackamy

Paul & Derry Harper

Sat 15 Jan 2011 16:03

Saturday 15th January

We finally had time for a little walk around after our night at Sharon Inn, our first taste of a Sri Lankan guesthouse. The hotel is run by a German-Sri Lankan couple and although it looks incredibly untidy and in need of a lot of TLC from the outside, inside it was immaculate. As Amy had taken the role of tour guide and organiser she began to panic wondering where on earth she had booked for us to stay but it was great. Our evening meal was a traditional sri lankan buffet served in their kitchen with other hotel residents from India and China. And although it was a bit touch and go as to whether we would make it up the hill in the bus, we were rewarded in the morning with great views over Kandy Lake and out into the hill country.

After breakfast it was nice to actually use our legs instead of sitting on the bus all day long. So, although we were still on a tight schedule, we walked into town to visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. As the name suggests, the temple houses a tooth of the Buddha, sri lanka's most important Buddhist relic. The tooth is said to have been snatched from the flames of the Buddha's funeral pyre in 483 BC and was smuggled into sri lanka during the 4th century AD, hidden in the hair of a princess. The tooth gradually grew in importance as a symbol of sovereignty, and it was believed that whoever had custody of the tooth relic had the right to rule the island.

Once through the stringent security, due to a bombing in 1998 by the Tamil Tigers, we made our way into the temple with hundreds of worshippers, all of whom were carrying lotus flowers as offerings to the gods. During offerings or prayers, the heavily guarded room housing the tooth is open to devotees and tourists. However, you don't actually see the tooth as it is kept in a gold casket. Guards keep the queue to see the relic moving and no one gets more than 15 seconds inside the shrine room. Sod's law came into play though, and when we were only a couple of metres away from the shrine the queue was stopped and the room was opened up for private prayers. After half an hour of standing still, slowly being crushed more and more and people edged forward, the heat became too much and we had to step out, we just couldn't wait anymore, which was a shame.

Paul and Brian didn't come to the temple, instead the opted to go and get haircuts. When we returned to the bus we found Paul wearing the police shirt below. Once they stopped laughing and managed to explain the story behind it we discovered that Paul was offered a police, an army or a navy haircut. He chose the police!

Off on the road again we made our way through the beautiful hill country to Dalhousie, the home of Sri Pada or Adam's Peak. Passing many waterfalls, all gushing with water thanks to all the rain the country has had recently. They hill country received a years rainfall in one month causing flooding and landslides with homes being destroyed and some lives lost, including an elephant who was stuck 15 metres up a tree when the water subsided. Poor Hemantha who has done a fantastic job driving around the bumpy and windy roads also had to change a tyre due to a puncture.

Nestled at the foot of the mountains, surrounded by tea plantations, Dalhousie is a tiny settlement filled with energy. After walking around the town for even just 5 minutes I defy anyone to be sad or down. The atmosphere is buzzing as everyone is either excited about their forthcoming pilgrimage or feeling exhilarated after completing it. There are dozens of stalls all selling the same woolly hats, coats and jumpers but they aren't in competition with one another and everyone gives you a smile. The stalls are open 24/7 and the families live in an extended section at the back of the stall, it probably only stretches a couple of metres back. The whole place is decorated with the blue, orange, yellow, red and white flags that you can see below, we later learnt this is the Buddhist flag. Buses filled the car parks empty and waiting for pilgrims to return or packed with pilgrims resting and sleeping before the nights climb. After a guided tour of the town and another guest house with 83 year old Brenda, who has climbed Adam's Peak 75 times, we went back to the hotel for a sleep before we awoke again at 02:00.