A Taste of Kandy

Although only in Kandy for just over  a day, Edward managed to visit most of what are still the current tourist attractions; the Temple of the Tooth and old Royal Court, the Perhadinia public gardens (now known as the Royal Botanical Gardens), the Kandy Lake, a coffee plantation and Captain Dawson's tower.

A painting of Kandy showing the lake, the Temple of the Tooth in the foreground and what maybe Stainton's in the distance.

Edward describes Kandy as beautifully situated in the midst of an amphitheatre of fine hills beside a small valley, artificially dammed across to form the famous Kandean lake. He also said the air felt lighter...and the appearance of the vegetation generally was less rampant and tropical. With that eye for the ladies that Edward often displays in his journal, he also suggested that the women of Kandy are very good looking, and have lighter complexions than those of the low country he goes on to say the men are slight, sinewy, and tall, and appear even more proud than their lowland brethren.

 Captain Dawson's Tower.

We took a tuk tuk to Captain Dawson's tower, a memorial to the man who supervised the building of the direct road from Colombo to Kandy in the 1820's. He died in the process, possibly of snakebite but possibly just tropical exhaustion, and in 1829 a stark, massive, concrete tower was erected to his memory at Kadugannawa Pass, the highest point in the road. Apart from parts of Galle Fort, this tower is probably the sight least changed from Edward's time to now. There is a staircase up the inside and presumably magnificent views from the top. Some locals standing nearby offered to fetch the caretaker with the key to the locked entry gate but it looked dingy, claustrophobic, steep and not often used so we declined the offer.

Kandy Lake looking out to the prison island where the King apparently kept recalcitrant wives. Hmmmm!
Our hotel was on the hill behind.

We then spent several delightful hours in the Royal Botanical Gardens which Edward described as worth a visit. I endorse that view. They are expansive attractive gardens, laid out in Victorian times and well used by locals and tourists alike. It should be noted that Sri Lanka has hit on a revenue measure that I haven't encountered anywhere else. All tourist attractions have a price for locals and a different price for "foreigners" which is usually between 4 & 10 times as much. This does allow locals to enjoy these places because the "foreigner" price is always far above what a local could afford, at the same time providing revenue that is hopefully used in preserving the place in question.

Talipot palms. The largest of all palm trees.

On his return trip from Kandy to Colombo, Edward mentions seeing one of the rare and magnificent talipot palms, in full flower. The tree is said to blossom only once in a hundred years, and so fine a specimen as that which we saw is regarded even here as a wonder. His companion had tried to buy a piece of the flower but his offer was declined on the basis that the first flower was offered to the gods. I had no idea what a talipot palm was but took the opportunity to ask at the Botanic Gardens if they had any and they did. They weren't in flower so I didn't offer to buy a bloom but I suspect such an offer would still be declined plus Australian quarantine would probably take a dim view of such a souvenir!