“Let’s enjoy this crazy world together. One adventure at a time.” Unknown
Now we are three.
Lian from The Netherlands, I mentioned her in the last post, decided to join us on the next leg of our journey to Kandy. A fairly large city in the central region of Sri Lanka. We only planned to stay one night so we said our goodbyes to everyone at the Tree House Hostel and hired a private car to drive us the two-and-a-half hours to Kandy. It was faster than the bus and about the same cost with three people so it made more sense.
As soon as we arrived, we dropped our bags off at Kandy Backpackers Hostel, met DJ – the sweetest dog who is the mascot of the hostel, and hopped in Tuk Tuk arranged by the hostel owner to take a quick tour of the city since we would be leaving the next morning.
The city is cute and very busy. We hit rush hour at 2 pm. The local kids were getting out of school for the day so there were people and school buses everywhere. Plus, it was a Friday so people were getting ready for the weekend.
Leslie, our Tuk Tuk driver was great. He is so proud of his city and wanted to show us everything but we just didn’t have enough time to see it all. So we hit some fun highlights.
First, we went for lunch at a restaurant with a buffet – Ingeborg’s favorite. It was pretty fancy and full of foreigners but the food was authentic and it had some nice views of the mountains.
Next we went to a wood carving facility where we learned about all the local woods (I saw Ebony wood for the first time! Used for piano keys), the hardness, weight, how they use each variety, and how they make color out of Pathangi wood shavings to paint the masks.
Pathangi is a local wood that they shave tiny particles off of a log and place it in water. Initially, the water turns red but when different elements are added, like an iron rod, lime juice, talc powder, etc., it changes the colors and is used to paint the wood.
Near the entrance of the building was a huge elephant carved out of one piece of wood. It was beautiful.
I don’t usually buy many things on the road because I don’t have room in my backpack, but I fell in love with this carving of Ganesh handmade from Royal Ebony which is a natural blend of black and brown wood. It is carved from one pieces as well. ❤️ It even came with a certificate so if I get stopped at customs, I am authorized to take it home with me.
Next Leslie took us to see a traditional Kandyan Dance. It was wild and beautiful. The drumming was meditative and the performers were fantastic. They are very acrobatic! It’s not an easy dance to perform. The outfits were gorgeous. My favorite was the traditional masks during the devil dance and the women whose dresses resembled peacocks.
The dance follows a storyline and ends with a fire walk. I enjoyed it but it was funny to watch such a traditional dance in the banquet room of a hotel and then finish in the parking lot. But it was a fun local experience and I enjoyed seeing the guy eating the fire. 🔥
It was a quick trip, less than 24 hours, but I’m glad we had the experience and the people were lovely as always.
Goodnight and much love & gratitude from Sri Lanka! 🇱🇰
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