I slept like a log last night due to a beneficial combination good food and no beer. After consulting the great guru Google we walked to a “restaurant” called Pillawoo on Galle Road. It is a utilitarian place for local people and serves very good food. I had Egg Roti with Mutton Masala, which was proper mystery food. It was a curry of Mutton, tomatoes, onions and spices mixed with pieces of roti, a type of flat bread with an egg between its layers. The resulting mixture was very tasty, especially when I washed it down with mango lassi.
We packed our bags and stashed them at the Ocean Front and walked to Colombo’s only park to visit the museum.
The National Museum is an imposing Victorian building that would look right in any English city centre. Inside it’s like an old fashioned provincial museum with objects displayed in wooden cabinets. There are many, many Buddhas, Shiva and Ganeshas made in every material you can think of. The splendid throne of the last king of Kandy is on display, before the British deposed him. The throne was a gift from the Dutch when they ruled the coast, but not the kingdom of Kandy in the mountainous centre of Sri Lanka. The bit I enjoyed the most was an exhibition on agriculture, explaining how rice is grown.
We picked up our bags from the hotel and took a taxi to Colombo Fort station to get the train to Kandy. The Sri Lankan train system was built by the British in mid Victorian times, and is still vital for getting around. We took the 15.35 from Colombo Fort station to Kandy in second class. The ticket was 580 rupees for 2 tickets, which is about three quid!
At times it felt like train hadn’t been maintained since the British left in 1947, the ride was very rattley and bumpy, I didn’t want to read in case I became travel sick. I opened the window about twenty inches to let in fresh air and get a splendid view of the lush green countryside. Paddy fields are edged by coconut palms, banana trees, papaya and bamboo. Tethered cows graze while egrets pick at the long grass looking for bugs to eat. The train climbed into the hills, winding along embankments and cuttings and through several short tunnels.
Kandy is five hundred metres above sea level and surrounded by hills, and was a separate kingdom until 1815. The Portuguese and Dutch never conquered the Kingdom of Kandy, but the British did in 1815 when locals conspired to depose the unpopular king. It is the second city of Colombo, but has no high rise buildings, and is a much more typical Asian city.
We arrive just as it was getting dark at about 6pm, and took a taxi to the Amanda Hills Hotel, which is at the top of a steep hill overlooking Kandy. The hotel next door is called Sharon, ladies names see, to be a popular choice. Since it was late we dined in on the terrace. I had Chicken Biryani, and the chicken tasted like it had died of old age. We didn’t eat in the hotel again!
timharnesstravels 