SRI LANKA - BLESSED LAND
Sri Lanka is a fruit paradise, monkey land, land of elephants, Buddhist temples and Buddhas, an island of tea and unique sunsets - how to call this beautiful country, rich in flora and fauna? ! Probably, indeed, a blessed land, it’s better not to think of it, although there are 43 names of this country. No wonder M. Bunin, sailing to Ceylon in 1912, wrote "Earth, paradise is getting closer ... ".
Just returned from Sri Lanka, impressions of the sea, no - the ocean, where to start? At first! And the beginning of July 7.2010, when after 28 hours of a grueling trip, we landed at Colombo airport. We developed an individual tour, compiled a program ourselves, chose what we would like to see and what to get acquainted with, but did not fool ourselves by running around for visas, tickets, hotel reservations - all this was provided to professionals and they did an excellent job .
7.07. 2010.
“The morning meets us with dawn…” At 4 o'clock in the morning, Sri Lanka met us with 32-degree heat and a Sri Lankan guide who held a sign with our names. Rather, run into an air-conditioned car (later we got used to both high humidity and stuffy hot air, but where is it better now? ).
We drive and eagerly peer into the darkness of the streets - palm trees, shacks, benches and again palm trees, and everywhere along the road Buddha in glass caps and under awnings, small and large, beautiful, "golden", carefully watching you - you already feel exotic, but that's what we came for!
Pegassus Reef Hotel, 13 km from Colombo, in the small fishing village of Wattala. After 50 minutes we were in the room, could not stand it, went out onto the veranda and ...the ocean, the sound of rolling waves, and right in front of the window a magnolia garden and a delicate smell ... ! This is what paradise looks like!
There are nimble chipmunks, colorful butterflies and ubiquitous crows in the garden, I understand that this bird is the most common here, although there are 428 species of birds in the country, 33 of them are endemic (that is, they live only in Sri Lanka).
The hotel is good, before the trip I looked for reviews about it - I did not find it, so a few details of the service. The room has tea and coffee facilities, 2 bottles of water, TV (no Russian channel), refrigerator, air conditioning, safe, shower (no bath), soap, gel, shampoo, fumigator (it was in all hotels, but we didn’t get mosquitoes) annoyed, neither near the ocean, nor in the central part of the island). The food is good, as for a 3 + * -4 * hotel (different data on the star rating of this hotel), two restaurants (opened), a swimming pool, polite, helpful staff.
The people of Sri Lanka are generally distinguished by politeness, calmness, they don’t swear (swearing in our European sense), they practically don’t smoke, they don’t drink much, pubs are closed on holidays, they are always ready to help solve the problem that has arisen, they are hospitable, friendly and naive, like children, when they see something rare, and we are still rare for them (I don’t mean hotel staff). The population is short, slender, tanned to blackness, only the palms are light with black “lines of fate”.
We listen with interest to the information of the guide - the country has become independent since 1948, today Sri Lanka has moved from the category of third world countries to the category of developing ones, in the form of government it is a presidential republic, the president is elected for 6 years. The population is multinational - Sinhalese, Tamils, Arabs and belongs to various religions - Buddhism, Hinduism, 8% Muslims. There are 2 calendars in the country. According to Buddhist it is now 2554 from the death of Buddha.
They have known their history since 2.5 thousand years, they are proud of it, cherish it and try to convey and tell us, tourists, about it.
In the morning I watched a report on TV about yesterday's clashes between strikers and government troops, downright fighting. The guide calmly said that they had adopted some unpopular law, and the population began to protest. I did not go into details, mindful of the Tamil performances. But in the afternoon, when we went on a tour of Colombo, every 10 meters armed with machine guns in green, white uniforms, a continuous patrol. “This is a common picture, there is nothing to worry about, ” the guide said, and I took it for granted, they guard the calm, let them guard (the army in the country is on contract, recruitment from 18 years old).
Although Colombo is only the business and commercial center of the country, it is this city that the inhabitants themselves, and throughout the world, consider the de facto capital of Sri Lanka.
We observe from the windows of the car a poor life, small miserable houses, many tuk-tuks, women in saris. We stopped at the Colonnade Square, to the monument to the first Prime Minister, visited the Museum of Independence of Sri Lanka, the prestigious 7th district of Cinnamon gardenss, where there are expensive beautiful houses of the local elite (an apartment in a simple area of Colombo costs about $ 100 thousand), old colonial mansions style; we pass skyscrapers, 5-star hotels, the ancient Buddhist temple of Gangarama, the Hindu temple of Katiseran in the Pettah area, where the city's trade is concentrated. In a city of 1.5 million people, both the old colonial past and the business present of the country are intertwined, the city is multifaceted and bustling.
On the Colombo Embankment they show the hotel where Chekhov lived in 1890, but he was disturbed by the sound of the waves and he moved to another hotel. Many people, young people were walking along the shore, and, of course, there were armed law enforcement officers.
We went to the Odel store - nothing special.
Many beautiful saris were seen in the windows: both embroidered, and with gold thread, and multi-colored shiny ones. Sari is the formal wear of women working in government agencies, schools, hospitals. During our journey, we crossed paths with schoolchildren many times on excursions and saw teachers in beautiful saris.
I listen to the words of the Sri Lankans: dad - tata, cat - pusa (how surprised I was, because my name is Pusya! ), Mama-ama, but they look like our words! “A yu bovan! ”- a wish for a long life, that’s how they say hello. The mysterious dot on the forehead has always been interesting. Our guide explained that it is put from the evil eye to small children, and Tamil women mark their marriage with a dot, these people are darker-skinned, the inhabitants of the north. If a man wears a "skirt" - a sarong (cloth wrapped around the hips), then this often refers to the Arabs, who are mainly engaged in trade.
It is remarkable that 98% of the population is literate, children study from the age of 5, study for 12 years, holidays 3 times a year. The state (! ) provides children for free for a year with two complete sets of clothes - shirts, skirts, trousers, socks, sneakers, everything is white. Only the ties at each school are different - red, like the girls' bows, blue with stripes, burgundy ...Secondary and higher education, as well as treatment, are free in the country. Although, of course, there are private schools and hospitals.
Teachers and doctors are very respected professions (! ) and are accordingly well paid, doctors receive $2.000. The teacher's pension is about $ 200, they retire from the age of 55, there is also a social pension and depends on the social. savings, but many make their personal savings without relying on the state (this is familiar! ). Marriages are allowed from the age of 18, but men usually get married at 29-30 years old. The family has an average of 2 children. The minimum wage is approximately $140.
Life expectancy is 76 years (there is something to think about! ).
I want to refute the myth about the reckless driving of Sri Lankan drivers right away. We may have been lucky with a careful driver, but I think tourists are just confused and scared by left-hand traffic (English heritage), when it seems that the oncoming car is flying straight at you! For the entire time of our trip, and we drove more than 1000 km (with the size of the country 435 x 225 km), our driver never drove more than 70 km / h anywhere, and 40 km / h in the highlands of the Kandy region. So scammers are everywhere!
In the evening, they joined the national cuisine, that there are a lot of spicy dishes with curry, spices - yes, it’s true, I was ready for this, so I avoided (alas, a diet), but I tried fish pies, small buns with cheese, roti - coconut cakes from coconut flakes, rice flour.
Rice is a cult of the country, crops are found everywhere and amaze with their bright green color.
Even in this evergreen country, rice is not produced for export, but for domestic consumption, and so there are many rice dishes. I couldn’t resist, I tried to try crab curry - I just touched it with my lips - it took my breath away, I drank half a liter of water to feel at least some taste, except for a burning sensation in my mouth and throat. No, not mine...
8.07. 2010. Morning, early rise, today a rich excursion program - trips to Dambulla and Sigiriya.
Departure at 7.30. On the way we stop at Ibbankatuka, a burial place of the 9th century. BC e. This ancient monument is located away from the road and tourists practically do not visit it. Several stone graves - huge slabs laid on an area of about 30-40 square meters. meters, no fences, no signs, but everything is neatly cleaned, the grass is plucked, the natural fence is an embankment and not far away is a chair, where, obviously, a peasant is sitting, watching the burial ground.
We went downstairs, walked between the rows of stone graves and felt - this is where it is - respect and love for our history! Yes, it is not for nothing that the main postulates of Buddhism are love, compassion, tolerance, equality.
It's time to say a few words about our guide - Senac (almost Seneca! ). Much depends on the guide, 90% of the success of the tour, whether you recognize the country, whether you fall in love with it, whether you want to return again, whether you understand its way of life, customs, traditions, people. So we were lucky to get to know Sri Lanka with a guide who loves his country very much, knows its history very well on a professional level and can perfectly tell about it in a language we understand - Russian.
Senaka lived for 18 years on the territory of Ukraine and Russia, studied in Odessa, was in Lvov, Crimea, studied in Moscow, was in St. Petersburg, has two higher educations. He tried to show the country from the side that you would not see on a regular tour.
Here are some of these mini-tours.
We stopped on the way to a rubber plantation. A territory fenced with wire, a small fruit shop and local natives - old people, children. With us, with a deft movement of a huge knife, coconuts were “opened”, not ordinary, familiar to us in supermarkets, but orange ones - royal ones, which are what the locals prefer, tubes were put in there and we enjoyed life-giving moisture a bit like birch sap.
Then a “tour” through the rubber forest, an oblique cut on a tree, a jar on the ground and a white liquid slowly seeping into it - rubber. When you pull it with your fingers, it turns into a sticky hard strip. That's it!
And how cleverly on the brick courtyard the master shaped the sand into a shape (I remembered children's sand bags), then handed it to another worker to dry, and he deftly stacked them with an edge - piles of bricks.
At the next stop, in the yard where the coconut was processed, we saw how it is separated from the insides and put into huge piles, then mattresses will be made from this material. It was here that we were treated to sprouted coconut, in which coconut milk became a hard core - very tasty, for the locals this delicacy.
So, we arrived at the complex of ancient rock monasteries of the 1st century BC. e. - Dambullu. This monastery complex is still active today. A series of cave temples at a height of 150 meters is located above the picturesque plain. We took off our shoes, handed over our shoes (this is a tradition, in all churches you have to walk barefoot or in socks and without a headdress, they even took off my visor), covered our shoulders and legs to the knees. We ran over the hot stones to the caves.
Five rock halls are united by an open gallery, in each cave there are sculptural images of the Buddha, sitting, lying, standing, large and smaller - the largest collection of Buddhas, some over 2000 years old. Particularly impressive is the 14-meter reclining Buddha - the moment of the Buddha's entry into Nirvana. There are paintings on the walls and ceiling, but they are already hard to see because of the layer of soot from lamps and the incense of believers.
In the last hall, one Buddha was painted with gold paint and clearly stood out with its freshly painted appearance. The guide said that not so long ago a photograph was posted on the Internet where a naked foreign girl was photographed next to the Buddha. The monks closed the cave and only after a certain time, having repainted the Buddha, as if cleaning it, they allowed this hall to be opened for new visits.
The monk-caretaker came during our visit, but there were no overseers in our understanding, you can take pictures everywhere, just don’t sit down and don’t touch with your hands. We paid 50 rupees (the price is not fixed, 1 $ » 112 rupees) for storing shoes and went back.
The road to and from the temples of Dambulla was remembered by the monkeys, which caused genuine delight in us, the inhabitants of the metropolis. Here they are - nimble, mobile, with hilarious faces, bouncing, grabbing each other, scratching their shaggy heads with bangs and showing genuine interest in us. Several kids came up to me, one monkey caught a little paw on my leg and hung. I really wanted to stroke them, but the guide warned that you can’t feed and try to touch them, there are too many of them and then you won’t disperse them. One older "monkey" lay down in the middle of the road and drowsily looked at us through half-closed eyelids - they say, what, guests, go?
And I'm the boss here!
It's nice to see animals in their familiar and natural habitat, not in a collar or on a chain, not behind a fence or in a cage, but like this, merrily jumping along the branches of trees. Blessed is the land of Sri Lanka, giving such an opportunity to various animals, because the country has 19 national parks and this makes up 25% of the country.
And again, I want to dispel another myth about obnoxious, clingy sellers and beggars in Sri Lanka. Compared to the Turkish-Tunisian-Egyptian pesters, these are mere children! Souvenirs are sold cheaper than in the store, I bought a few magnets for 100 rupees, then at the hotel they cost 370 rupees. So it was not in vain that they pestered and persuaded, thank you!
And in the afternoon we see in the distance the majestic 370-meter rock of Sigiriya. We settled at its foot, in the beautiful hotel SIGIRIYA VILLAGE, which is located in the forest, among almost untouched nature.
Bungalows, and the hotel consists only of them, has a large room and bathroom.
A small brisk lizard ran along the wall. Everything is a bit shabby, a little old, in such a semi-national semi-colonial style: paintings on the walls, reed blinds, chairs of different heights, a wardrobe with a built-in refrigerator and TV. Alas, there was no set of tea and coffee, so dear to the heart of a tourist-traveler. But the restaurant offers very good food and service. During the trip, we lived in four (! ) hotels and made a choice in favor of this particular restaurant and dishes in it!
But the main thing is the forest around, the pond in which ducks with tufts swam, walking after dark, reservoirs with turtles and jumping everywhere ...yes, yes monkeys!
I read reviews about this hotel, all positive, and I was ready to meet these guests, but when I opened half the door (and the door of the bungalow consists of two halves) and saw guests, larger than in Dambulla, on high paws, pacing in front of the house I couldn't contain my surprise and delight. Well, I think I am protected, finally, I will feed the monkeys, it was not in vain that I was carrying overseas cookies! I throw it - the monkey rushes, but the “senior” immediately swoops down on it and takes it away, what can you do - the hierarchy, I throw the second cookie to the offended, and then monkeys and monkeys start jumping out from somewhere above from the trees, from the roof, from the side because of the bushes.
A monkey mother is standing in front of me and she has a cub on her stomach, I decide to throw a cookie to her and then, the elder, who has already dealt with the cookie, begins to resolutely move towards me, with the clear intention of jumping on the door! That's it, feeding is over.
I slam the top of the door shut and sit in wait, wondering if I should call for help or if the siege itself will be lifted. Monkeys stubbornly walk in front of the door. But, obviously, I exaggerated the danger, after 15 minutes the tenants arrived in the neighboring bungalow and the monkeys naturally dispersed - the path is clear.
However, at night it was heard how the monkeys walk on the roof and knock on the glass, touching it with their limbs or tails. Exotic!
UNESCO included Sigiriya in the list of 7 monuments of the country. We walk through the gardens of Sigiriya (or rather, what is left of them), the guide talks about the system of ponds and fountains that are still active today, when it rains, we pass a giant park of stones: here is the “Elephant” stone (and, indeed, it looks like! ) , and here is the stone-rock "Serpent", the cave of the goddess Aphrodite with a cistern-boulder for water. At 17.00 we start climbing the 120-meter mountain. It's about 60 floors.
I decided that I would reach the paws of the lion, and then, how it would go (I went to the Great Wall of China only to the ascent to the first tower). You have to walk 1200 steps. Somewhere these are steep stone steps, somewhere a spiral iron staircase. “Nothing, ” I say cheerfully to the guide, “The elevator often doesn’t work at our house, I go up to my 10th floor - it’s not the first time for me, ” but inside the jitters - can I master it? A “sticky” is coming with us - an aborigine, I know, I read, they will help, push, and then they will ask for $ 100-200 below.
I will refute one more myth and for a start I will say - thank you, “sticky”, that when, in response to your offer to support during the rise, I proudly pulled out my hand and said that we do not need services, you continued to accompany us.
And here is a gallery of frescoes with portraits of celestial maidens (the main fresco of a handmade virgin on a plate now stands in a place of honor in my room - a gift from the guide) with bright colors preserved (everyone remembers: the composition of egg white with wild bees honey), then polished with minerals a mirrored wall, with poems to beautiful ladies scratched on it. From the ground, it looks like a solid smooth canvas of light brown color, and here are the paws of a lion.
Cheerful schoolchildren climb the wall in single file (well done, they bring up in children not only love for history, but also endurance) and I decide - I go. After all, there, at the top, there should be the ruins of the palace, the pool and the royal throne! The guide remained at the paws and a voluntary assistant (here I already raised him in rank) climbed with us along “steps carved between the paws, throat and jaws of the incredible size of a lion. ” At the top, we had to wait for the descending schoolchildren and here we are at the top! The views are amazing.
The “Fortress in the Sky” is just stone ruins of its former grandeur, the area (13 x 7 m) is small for a palace, the royal throne is a large stone slab, the remains of fortifications, walls, and a pool. I doubt that King Kasapa even climbed here twice a year, and it was not possible to carry him, nevertheless I am inclined to the version that there was a monastery of a hardy and patient Buddhist sect, but ...virgins ... ? ! There is something to think about.
The camera won't stop clicking. The cloud, which seemed still very far away, and the rain that was pouring somewhere in the distance, approached instantly, as always in Sri Lanka, the wind came up and it began to rain. I think that rarely anyone was “lucky” in heavy rain, under a strong wind, to be on top of Sigiriya, when besides us and the guide, there was only a young couple of Italians with a guide.
The last photos are at the top, still near the throne, still on the stairs and running down.
) rulers of Anuradhapura, where they hid from the Tamil invasions.
The first inhabitants appeared in the II century BC. e. , English hunters discovered the city in the 19th century. We examine the remains of the palace of King Nissankamalla - three-story ruins, but once it was 7 floors with 1000 rooms. On the right, a stone toilet and a deep sewer pit have been preserved, into which everyone looks with great interest, the remains of a pool, a platform decorated with bas-reliefs of elephants and lions.
We went to a small cave Buddhist temple Tuparama, where we photographed all 7 Buddha statues. The chapel is well preserved, decorated with images of gods, people and animals, although the main Buddha statue is destroyed. We pass the ruins of the temple of the Bo tree, the Terrace of the Tooth of the Buddha, on the left side the round building of Vatadage, where the stupa with the relic was kept and the hall with 4 statues of Buddha, looking north, east, south and west, the seven-story temple Satmahal Pasada - a variation of the stupa.
The famous Stone Temple of Gal Vihara - four Buddha statues carved in granite rock date back to the 12th century, where the 7-meter Buddha stands, sits, lies. It is this temple in the brochures that is positioned as a temple with a reclining Buddha. The huge Buddha is carved right into the rock and looks impressive. Around again there are many schoolchildren, young Buddhist monks in bright yellow robes. It is interesting whether these young men still observe the main 5 commandments of Buddhism - do not kill, do not lie, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not drink?
At the entrance to Polonnaruwa, a herd of wild dark gray elephants was seen grazing in a national reserve 100 meters from the road. The territory is fenced with barbed wire with current. Wild elephants are not safe, you can not get close to them. Since many cars stopped with local residents, we realized that this is not an ordinary sight for Sri Lankans either.
In the zone of the national reserve there are also settlements of peasants who are forced to put up with the presence of elephants. On the way we met light wooden houses on trees, to which ladders led. The same house was located near our bungalow to create a colorful landscape. The guide explained that when there is not enough food, the elephants can visit the village where they are attracted by the rice crops. Then the owner sends the family to a safe place, and he himself sits on a tree and watches the elephants, however, how he can regulate the process, let alone prevent it, is unknown. In Polonnaruwa again we meet monkeys. I'm starting to get used to their presence. One of them, seeing that she was being filmed, sat down closer and began to pose. What can you do, primates!
Now our path lies north to Anuradhapura, the capital of the northern Central Province, a city of monasteries and stupas.
Anuradhapura is not only the ancient capital of the country, but also a holy city, on the territory of which there are 8 holy places - the Bo tree (ficus) and seven dagobas (stupas). This city left wonderful impressions. Inspection of it began with a museum where the antiquities found during excavations were kept, and then we went to the stupas - dagobas.
Yes, we study the pyramids of Egypt at school and first of all we strive to see when visiting Egypt, but the stupas of Anuradhapura are no less majestic and famous. Under each stupa is buried a piece of ashes or relics associated with the Buddha. Inside the stupa is completely filled. You can’t turn your back on them when photographing, walk next to them in shoes, they are as sacred as the Buddha himself.
The first highest (120 meters) Jetavanarama stupa (in the ancient world it was the third largest building after the pyramids of Cheops and Khafre in Giza), was built over the footprint of the Buddha and we were at that time its only visitors. The most impressive and oldest white stupa is called Ruanveli (92 meters, II-I century BC). There were a lot of people near it, it was simply unrealistic to approach barefoot, the stones were so hot. A detachment of schoolgirls in white socks marched decorously past us. A foreign woman flew barefoot, in dashes, first on the grass, and then jumping from shadow to shadow towards the exit. In addition to these, on the territory of the monastery there are smaller stupas, but no less important.
We visited the Isurumuniya rock monastery, palaces and an artificial reservoir. We saw a lake of lotuses, it is a pity that in July they hardly bloom. We drove up to the Et Pokuna elephant pool (equal to six Olympic pools).
The water apple is tasteless, the locals eat it because it contains a lot of water. Bought passion fruit for 40 rupees, very sour and many grains inside, it is preferable to use with sugar.
The British taught the local population to drink tea with milk. You can simply add milk to tea, it is always brought to tea, or you can cook it the way it was done in a tea shop - 1 teaspoon of tea, 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of powdered milk per cup. Brew exactly 3 minutes - do not overcook! Tea turns out like coffee in taste and color. I never thought it would be so delicious! By the way, coffee in Ceylon is tasteless and we never ordered it, except that we drank instant coffee in a hotel room.
10.07. 2010. Yes, the days are flying. In the morning we went to look for elephants. How to be in Sri Lanka and not ride an elephant.
In August, before the full moon, a big holiday begins in Kandy (the guide says “Candy”) in the Temple of the Tooth Relic and all the elephants are being sent there now to participate in the solemn procession through the streets of the city. Without success, after calling several places where there are elephants, we still go to the picturesque lake.
Here they are - Indian elephants, the dream of children and adults of all countries and peoples! After a short wait and outfitting our elephant Rani in a green skirt (after all, the girl is still only 20 years old when she lives at 80 years old), we sit down in a fence on boards and blankets. Let's hit the road! Blankets don't help much. I feel every step and movement of the elephant's back, which is decorously walking along the picturesque lake. A barefoot driver runs nearby, who shouts something to her in his own language and waves a stick, and behind us is an “amateur photographer” with our camera.
On the way we buy bananas, we don’t regret it, one or two or seven bunches of bananas - all for her, our clever girl, who, feeling sweets, funny throws her trunk over her head, moves it and breathes like a pipe. You put the bundle in the proboscis - it deftly picks it up, wraps it up and in the blink of an eye there is nothing. He stretches again, strains, understands that our hands are short, we can’t always reach the nose-trunk.
And now swimming in the lake, the elephant is already waist-deep in water, steers with its flat tail with a tassel at the end (I saw only hairless tails, and here it is long and curved). I imagine that I'm already over my head, and then, at the command of our driver, Rani lowers his trunk into the water and picks a bunch of water lilies, those same purple lilies that are symbols of the country.
The image of an elephant is often found on postcards, photographs, pictures, and it may seem that it is he who is the symbol of the country, but no, the symbol of Sri Lanka is a wild rooster!
In addition, there is a purple water lily and an iron (black ebony) tree. So the driver makes a necklace out of these lilies and puts it around our necks - it pleasantly cools the wet beautiful flower and you feel like a child. Thanks to these big powerful animals that they can bring us back to childhood!
However, the prose of life: there were 19 thousand elephants in the country, but the British destroyed them, extracting tusks, and now there are no more than 3.5-4 thousand left. Elephants eat 200 kg of leaves per day and drink 90 liters of water, only 5% grow tusks. The ride cost us $30 per person plus driver and photographer fees, but we get printed certificates proving we were on an elephant safari.
The next stopping point is the geographic center, the confluence of Buddhism and Hinduism, a place where tourists rarely drop by. Rich nature, on the ruins of the Nalanda Gidichi temple (8th century AD) a scene from the Kama Sutra (that's the influence of Hinduism! ).
According to the prospectus given to us, we chose cosmetic and medical products that we bought in the store. All of them with numbers, so as not to confuse what's what. Later I noticed that the numbers on the bottles and packages do not match the number and description of the prospectus, it’s good that I remember what and why I took it and found the right description. Of course, they took rose oil, as well as sandalwood oil, vanilla extract, tea with spices, cocoa milk and medicinal products.
We conducted a course of massage of the head, collar zone and hands, which is included in the price of the tour (again a myth, no one demanded money for a massage, the reward is voluntary). The country and the population are poor, so no one refuses a hundred or two rupees.
We go to Kandy. On the way we visit a 200-year-old Hindu temple dedicated to the Mother of 3 Gods. Very beautiful, many figures of gods, animals, scenes from the mythology of India are carved on the roof and gate.
In the mountains, we are caught by the strongest tropical downpour - a wall of water, orange streams rush from the mountains, in one place we even had to go around the road - it was washed away, but we still manage to stop by a batik shop and a wood carving shop. There was an idea to buy a national mask with a natural color, which is not as bright as artificial, but more durable, but when I saw with my own eyes these masks with terrible bared teeth, which are not cheap (7000 rupees), I lost my desire. I thought about where I would put it, and suddenly I stumble in the dark at home, I will remain a stutterer, so I limited myself to a small magnet with a mask and a beautiful jade elephant in divorces.
The craftsmen of the batik workshop are also very skillful and their paintings, sweaters, pillowcases, bags are very beautiful, but the prices are appropriate - a small drawing of an elephant costs 400 rupees.
And here we are in Kandy, the last of the three ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, the citadel of Buddhism and the mountain capital of the country (488 m above sea level). The purpose of our stay is the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. While waiting for national dances at 17.30, we went to a cafe nearby, where we tasted apa - rice flour cakes with an egg on top (separately a plate with spices) and tea with milk.
The national dances brought together a lot of people, most of them foreigners. The hall was full, but our efficient guide arranged us in the central seats of the second row (when they started to walk on the coals and fan them, I realized why not the first row is considered the best). National dances are very colorful, they were performed in colorful costumes, to national instruments, there was juggling with plates, and somersaults, and then everyone stood up to the national anthem.
At the end of the concert, the main performance is walking on coals, and again everything is well staged, with lighting and drumming.
When the coals were fanned, sparks flew in all directions and people from the front rows hurriedly jumped up.
In the evening (and it gets dark already at 18.30), when illuminated, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is especially beautiful. Together with the ticket, they gave a small advertising disc with views of the temple and nature to the national music. And again we go barefoot inside the two-story Inner Temple: painted ceilings, carved wooden doors, ivory and silver jewelry, the measured beat of drums, a lot of people and a line to the relic - the Tooth of Buddha. Photographing the relic is not allowed, only because of the fence.
We approached the open door of the room, looked inside, but then the guard began to rush, push us, and in the blink of an eye we were already at the exit. We visited the hall with Buddhas from all over the world and decided to go again to see the Tooth of the Buddha.
The queue was even longer, but it moved quickly, and when we approached, nothing prevented us from looking inside the door and seeing in the distance a golden stupa, where the sacred relic is located.
We got on a steep road to the very top to the HOTEL TOPAZ, where we were to spend the fifth night in Sri Lanka. The hotel is located in a picturesque place on top of a mountain, mountains are visible from the windows (of course, not Sigiriya, as it was written in one of the reviews, I asked if this was so, because half of the hotel laughed at the inventions of some of our tourists). Opposite the entrance, a level below, is a small swimming pool. It was not possible to swim, because we arrived late, and in the morning we already had to move forward.
In the morning I watched the monkeys running and playing on the roof of the building. The picture that opens from the windows is picturesque, as, indeed, everywhere in Sri Lanka. The hotel itself corresponds to 3 *, somewhere shabby, somewhere shabby, something washed out, something underwashed.
Average food, as they say in such cases - you won’t be hungry, but you won’t get much pleasure either.
11.07. 2010. Morning met with coolness, fog in the mountains, iridescent trills of birds. Somewhere a rooster crowed and breathed for his relatives. 6 am, quiet, cool, complete relaxation before a day that promises new experiences. I already dream of Buddhas - I have already seen so many of them in different forms, poses and images, in the ancient version and in the modern version.
In the morning, while it was still not so hot, we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya near Kandy, where we had a full photo shoot. How many trees with exotic fruits and huge leaves, thickets of bamboo, lianas, as well as moving giant ficus Benjamin, many beautiful flowers, a greenhouse of orchids!
There are clusters of flying foxes on tall trees. Suspension bridge across the river - everything is beautiful and romantic.
Prices vary depending on the size and purity of the stone - from $300 to $2000 and more. You can bargain, for example, we lost $ 100.
In Sri Lanka's income items, tea ranks first, then textile exports, and tourism is only in 5th place. And so we arrived at the tea shop, chose different varieties of black and green. We were told that the smaller the tea, the stronger it is; the larger, the more aromatic.
The store sells mixed tea, exactly the same as we drank everywhere, it is the most common. Interestingly, there were Chinese with us who bought tea in “tons”, not even enough, and they made an order to the hotel, in addition, they bought a lot of gift sets in wooden packages. I am surprised - after all, China is the birthplace of tea (we, being in China, brought it from there), they explain to me that their tea is very expensive, and here tea is from 170 to 5000 rupees ($ 1 » 112 rupees), i. e. l
