Temples and travel between

A fitful nights sleep doesn't matter when you don't have to work the next day so it was still pleasurable waking up and throwing open the blinds to reveal an early morning sun throwing slanted shadows over the manicured lawns of the guarded compound. Having to pack everything before breakfast is the norm on this type of adventure. The first biggest risk is leaving stuff behind (been there done that aka passports) and the second is stuffing up your daily requirements. Managed that nicely today - all due to temple dress requirements and unexpected stairs to climb. Our drive to Kandy was 2.5 hours according to the itenery. 6 exhausted ones later that commitment was met. Little did we know that we were obliged to stop at tourist traps along the way. So the travel time on the road may be correct. What they don't advise is the obligatory stops at pre-arranged spend points. If you don't stop the driver doesn't get a stamp. If the driver doesn't get stamp he gets grumpy. The last thing you need on trip like this is a grumpy knoweverything. After all - you are totally dependent on this individual. So stop we did. Spend we did. Pay rediculous amounts of moolah for overpriced local items we did. Luckily we are on holiday so time is not also a costly item. Apart from missing out on lunch - which we didn't actually notice in the blur of the days activities. First stop was a temple in Dambullah.

This had a really large gold Buddah with bee hives hanging off his chin. We didn't go inside, yet standing in the courtyard was sacrosanct enough to warrant a panic coverall for the Non-blogger. Not quite sure why we stopped there ( apart from some good snaps and an appreciation of a Jackfruit tree) we headed off to the cave temple. This was worth the wardrobe change and the climb up a plethora of mis-matched steps in the wrong footwear to experience this specific cultural delight. This particular temple was contrived by building brick walls in a natural rock cleavage, making enclosed spaces which they then filled with a bucket loads of statues. All Buddah's with the occasional short arsed king thrown in for good measure.

Apparently the monks have the place to themselves in the mornings and the evening's. One can appreciate what it would be like to be emotionally connected to the place when performing the age old rituals of meditation, peace and harmony seeping through ones soul in quiet contemplation of the interconnectivenes of all things. Just make sure you get out of there before the tourist hourdes come pouring in. At least they are raising revenue to cover costs. Pity the government is scraping off far more than they are giving back. Such is the way of life in a semi-corrupt burgeoning democratic society. Hopefully the power of the people will prevail over time. Keep on being positive peeps.... it's all we have... In the meantime we had the joyous experience of being pushed around by other tourists who seemed to to think that their right to be in the cave was far more a priority than ours. Can't even contemplate how you can't be patient when visiting a working Buddhist haven..then again yes I can. All it takes is to pack in your luggage all the foibiles that made you wanted to escape from the place you were in the first place. Goddam ... I need to elbow my way past that person because they paused in their stride. Let me through, I even have minors that raise my personal priorities way beyond anyones else's considerations and just by the way - they need to learn how to queue jump because that's what we as (insert any race you like here) do. People's behaviours under pressing circumstances aside.. this is a really impressive display of dedication to one's beliefs and we did appreciate the efforts taken to show the world that they are onto something. Without it being totally destroyed by the milling throngs whilst milking them along the way (aka. charging for shoe minding and then entrance fees). As we threaded our way ever upwards towards Kandy we spun a quick left to the side of the road to be educated about local woodwork and how it can be coloured by natural ingredients. This transpired into a chemistry class.

Replete with limestone filings, wood shavings, lemon juice and a dose of hocus pocus. With these basic ingredients they can produce the most vibrant, eon lasting paint known to mankind. Don't tell Dulux - horrible consequences will transpire. Our next unadvertised stop was at a local spice farm. This was very insightful seeing the trees and plants that haven been integral to our lives to date (i.e.coca thus chocolate) . There were many other plants and associated remedies that could cure practically any ailment.. pretty hard to move past the fact that chocolate does actually grow on trees. The shop was selling extraordinaryly priced balms and spices which the busloads of Chinese were getting extremely vocally excited about. Needless to say we bought enough to fund a pharmacy for a day back home. Just didn't make so much noise about it. We were then blessed by the rain gods as we continued our upward journey. Seriously, it was persisting down. The locals loitering on the sides of the road loitered more so but under any available protection. Every two wheeler ducked for cover and every Four wheeler either jammed the roads for the fun of it or decided now was the time to be even more acertive. I.e.chaos ensued. Eventually we ended up in Kandy and to our hotel. Originally planned that we'd get the chance for a kip, time delays scotched that notion so we had a coffee instead and soldiered on. Next stop was the temple of the tooth of Buddha. Or something like that. Basically it was a fabulously delivered culturally resounding experience. Mostly thanks to our religious expert guide. There were numerous insights gleaned through the event. Probably the most poignant was the decree that everyone should remove their shoes and thus walk barefoot throughout the space. Even though it was outside and it had been raining. This is how you bring people together. Later. Once they've all contracted foot rot from the shared pools of diseased tepid water they are forced to walk barefoot through. They can then all meet at the podiatrist seeking remedy. Togetherness is love.

The building and the story and the rituals were moving. As was the huge cart carrying out square meters of discarded flowers that we dodged on the way in. Combined, we'd spent a few dollars on fresh flowers to drop on the pile in front of the chapel as well. Do the sums and the whole apparatis is a big money moving exercise. Astutely done. People happy. All is good. Our way back to the beconning buffet (!) dinner at the hotel was interrupted by a necessary stop at a local jewelers in order to make sure our guide got the relevant stamp in his collection. Thanks to the skilful bargaining power of the Non-blogger we now have a family hierloom and once again we've garnered memories that would not have been had, had we have not ventured out in the first place. It was (yet again) a priceless day.