The gardens have been visited by many foreign leaders who have planted trees in the gardens. We saw a few trees which have been planted by the Royals on their various trips to Sri Lanka. We also saw the Great Circle lawn where Lord Mountbatten had spent some time encamped when he was in the country.
The second half of the morning was spent at The Temple of the Tooth. It is said to contain one of Buddha's wisdom teeth which was recovered from his funeral pyre. The tooth has had a varied history of many different groups trying to destroy it but it has survived so far! It is encased inside about 7 caskets so we never actually saw the thing itself!
As it was Saturday (and yesterday was a public holiday) the temple was packed with worshippers bringing offerings of beautiful fresh flowers and incense. As we walked through the praying crowds inside it was a very powerful feeling, seeing how much their religion means to them.
We then headed back to the hotel for a quick break but then Catherine headed out with one of our fellow travellers to visit the old cricket ground in Kandy which is no longer used for test matches. However this plan soon changed and we decided to travel out to the new ground which is actually at Pallekelle - about 6 miles out of Kandy. Despite our best efforts we were not allowed in the ground (due to the fact that it is a weekend and only a skeleton security staff were present) so we could only take photos through various gates and fencing. Then it was back to the hotel again for a dip in the pool but no sunbathing as the sun was hidden behind a cloud. The rain has now started and it sounds quite torrential!
Tomorrow we leave Kandy and travel to Nuwara Eliya - part of tea plantation country.
Good to see Andrew sporting his Notts cap
ReplyDelete