We started our day with a leisurely breakfast over looking a valley. It was a cool morning, fresh is a good word.
We checked out and headed to the Kandy Royal Botanical Gardens, the largest botanical gardens in Sri Lanka at over 60 hectares. The gardens are very well laid out with large grassed areas separating different sections. The park sits in a horseshoe bend of the River Mahaweli, Sri Lanka’s longest river. We spent a couple of hours in the garden, just long enough to get an appreciation of how special it is. In our time there we visited the orchid house (so many varieties we had never seen), we passed by the Japanese Gardens, we walked around a section made in honour of Queen Elizabeth II, we saw the very long and impressive palm avenue, and walked around the Great Circle, where all the tree around the circular road were plant by people of global significance, fro royalty to heads of states, astronauts, musicians, etc. We saw the Sri Lankan national flower, the Blue Lotus, we also saw the former office of Lord Mountbatten.
We left the gardens at about 10:15am and headed towards Sigiriya. Along the way we stopped at a private spice garden. We got a tour around the garden showing us all the they grew and what they were used for. Both in cooking and medicinally. We saw turmeric, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, curry leaves, Red pineapple, aloe Vera, citronella, cloves and so much more. For each we were told how they are grown and the many uses they are put to. Our tour finished with a massage each using their own balm, a back massage for me and a foot massage for Deb. Very refreshing. To finish our visit we had a cooking demonstration using many of the spices we had just seen, and then enjoyed a generous Sri Lankan lunch.
We stopped in Dambulla, and visited the largest fresh produce market in Sri Lanka.
It is where farmers sell direct to merchants. It operates 24/7. Trucks drive in full of produce, the produce stays on the truck and is sold as a complete lot. Truck then drives to buyers location. It was really interesting to see all the produce, so much variety and so much we rarely see, if ever, at home. An experience we just couldn’t do anywhere else.
We then drove to Dambulla, and the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Dambulla Cave Temple. To get there you climb about 350 steps (or walk up the road) It is known for its five richly painted cave temples. Dambulla is a huge rock monolith sitting on top of a hill. It was a refuge used by King Valagamba took refuge in the 1st century BC. The caves there were later turned into a rock temple to celebrate The Buddha. Some of the temple’s frescoes are said to be over 2,000 years old. Each of the 5 caves is very different from the others. The first cave has a very impressive 15m reclined Buddha statue carved into and out of the rock. All 5 caves have numerous Buddha statues and very ornate frescos.
From there we drove to our hotel for a well deserved rest.
#retiredlyf done our way.
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