Journey from Colombo to Kandy:

We took a taxi from the airport to Colombo Fort train station, which took about an hour. This cost 2500LKR with an additional toll fee of 300LKR (if you go the more ‘scenic’ route the journey takes longer but you avoid the toll road.) I think the alternative choice is a local bus but by that point we were too tired to give this a go!

At the train station we paid for first class seats. This cost 1800LKR for 2 places on a very spacious, air conditioned carriage. The only downside was that you couldn’t open the train windows but this was only a very minor downside as the views were still incredible and the carriage had very good air conditioning anyway. The train took about 3 hours to reach Kandy and was probably one of our more comfortable journeys. As there are quite a few trains per day going from Colombo to Kandy there was no need to reserve a seat beforehand.

Things to do:

Sacred Temple of the Tooth Relic

We visited the temple on the day of a full moon or a Poya Day which is a public holiday for Sri Lankan’s. Lots of businesses are closed and bars and restaurants often do not sell meat or alcohol on these days too. Buddhists visit temples on Poya Days and so the temple was very full on the day we were there.

Being a foreigner you of course have to pay the foreigner price at the foreigner ticket office. The price of your foreigner ticket was 1500LKR. They were very strict on what you were allowed to wear. No shorts, no bare shoulders, a girl wearing ripped jeans almost wasn’t allowed through.

The tooth relic was believed to belong to Buddha which is the reason for its importance. Although disappointingly you cannot actually see an ancient tooth and will only see the structure in which it is housed. The outside of the temple was definitely not the most remarkable, however inside it is more intricately decorated. It is well loved by the Sri Lankan’s and it was obvious to see just how much religion means to the majority of them.

Udawatte Kele Sanctuary

We stumbled on this nature reserve completely by accident. We were attempting to locate a view point marked on our maps but instead we somehow managed to climb up through a military base. The path wasn’t very well marked and so we just kept following the slightly ‘rustic-looking’ steps. Eventually we did reach a viewpoint but we had managed to bypass the entry point in to the sanctuary. This meant the reserve worker was very confused as to how we had got in without a ticket. Eventually we understood that we were meant to pay something and paid the entry fee of a very specific 661.25LKR per person. This was definitely worth every penny.

It was huge and it was fairly confusing where you were as the signposts were only really in Sri Lankan but it was beautiful. We saw a lot of toque monkeys which get a little too close for comfort and look like they could deliver a nasty bite if they wanted. We were also lucky enough to spot some wild pigs and deer. It was very quiet and there were barely any tourists to be seen.

Geragama Tea Factory

This was one of the tea factories outside Kandy (of which there are many.) Any taxi/tuk tuk can easily take you to one of these factories, wait there for you, and drive you back.

Once there we were given a free tour of the factory and an explanation as to the different processes involved in making tea. We were then given a free cup of tea and some biscuits at the end so it was a very cheap activity! You were then given the opportunity to buy some tea from them if you wanted to. Silver tip or gold tip tea is the most expensive as it is the purest and has lots of health benefits (which they repeated multiple times along the tour to ensure we knew about this when it came to buying the tea!) Although at 6000LKR per packet it doesn’t come cheap.

Where to stay:

Sevana City Hotel

This hotel was really good. The room was huge and very comfortable. Staff were friendly. It was right in the centre so easy walking distance to all the sights in Kandy. The rooftop pool was also an added bonus to escape from the afternoon heat. Can’t really fault it, although it is a bit pricey at $72 per night for a double room.

Food:

Muslim Hotel & Restaurant

On the main road in Kandy people are drawn into this restaurant as there is someone outside making Kottu which is very interesting to watch and very tasty to eat. Kottu was our favourite Sri Lankan meal by far.

Spicy Food Court

A small food hall that looks very unexciting but did a great Sri Lankan curry and was very cheap. We paid only 675LKR for 2 huge plates and 2 papaya juices.

Would I go back to Kandy? Probably not. Was I glad I went? Definitely. A lot of the Sri Lankan towns are filled with tourists which Kandy is most certainly not and so perhaps gave one of the best representations of a true Sri Lankan city. However, it was noisy, busy, not overly attractive and didn’t have too much to do. Udawatte Kele Sanctuary was definitely the highlight.

Photo credz @nigz69740