AndSheXplores

Usually we rush away from the Asian big cities, so we decided to skip Colombo and make Kandy our first destination in Sri Lanka, which has proven to be the right decision. The climate was a perfect transit one as in January was not humid at all. We colored our stay buddhist as we really wanted to get to know more about it as over 75% Sri Lankans claim theirselves Buddhist.

You will find out most about it at the Temple of the Tooth, where the monks guard the Buddha’s tooth and is one of his most known relics on the island. Our chauffeur guide from Insight Sri Lanka, also Buddhist, gave us all insights when we went to the ceremony and the energy was magical. We stayed there for another hour to hear all the stories and light the candles with the Kandy locals.

This inspired us to visit the Bahiravokanda Vihara Buddha statue first thing next morning, that also offers great views of the city.

In the central area there is a lake, surrounded by white statue fence, which we learnt is a fire that protects it. I really like this concept and it looks so pretty. Bring a blanket and get yourself a little picnic in the area 😉 Or visit some local restaurants and have a Dosa for 50 cents, lunch or dinner!

My favorite (can’t say the same for Ziga) was the Kandy Botanical garden with hugest palm trees avenues, tiny jungle oases and indoor gardens full of orchids. My fav was thing was seeing thousands of huge flying foxes, that were luckily mostly asleep as it was daytime.

We stayed at The Theva Residency that is all about the views and is next to the center of Kandy but up on a little hill. As you can see on the pictures below we stayed most of the time in the water there or eating their delicious food, successfully beating the jet lag.