Kandy and the highlands!

Our driver took us to Kandy. On the way, we stopped at the Dambulla rock temple, a World Heritage site. Entrance fee was 10€. The caves and wall paintings were nice to see, but nothing more. After that, we went to Kandy to stay with our host family for the next two days.

Dinithi (our host), registered on Airbnb to rent out her room or her parents' room(?) to finance her studies. The first thing we saw when we entered our somewhat musty room was monkeys running around in the garden and on the roof. We were quickly instructed to close all doors and windows because some monkeys had already entered the hallway. Armed with a slingshot and stones, we chased away the monkeys. It sounds harsh, but it's necessary because the monkeys destroy and steal everything they can get their hands on. They even know how to open doors and windows that are not locked. Dinithi speaks fluent English, a bit of Spanish and Chinese, and wants to work in the tourism sector after completing her studies. However, she is interested in sustainable travel and wants to share as much of Sri Lankan culture as possible with people. It worked well with us, keep it up! :-)

After enjoying a good Sri Lankan meal and taking a short city tour, we returned to our accommodation. Dinithi and her family invited us to play Carrom, and of course, we couldn't refuse. So we spent the evening until midnight playing Carrom and sharing funny stories.

The next day, we visited the Botanical Gardens. The entrance fee was 10€, again too expensive, but we were already used to it. After walking through the park for two hours, passing thousands of bats (thankfully, none pooped on us), we went to a viewpoint. The view from the Buddha statue was nice, if only there hadn't been an entrance fee again.

In the evening, we visited the Temple of the Tooth, the most sacred temple in Sri Lanka. And as expected, there was a 10€ entrance fee. In the temple, a tooth of Buddha is kept. However, the chamber is only opened during the three daily ceremonies (Pujas). So we stood in line with the believers and a horde of Chinese tourists. As non-Buddhists, we were allowed to look into the chamber for a whole 2 seconds before being pushed forward. The area around the temple was beautiful, with several museums to visit. Overall, it was worth the entrance fee.

After that, we quickly returned to our hosts. We spent the whole evening chatting about various topics and playing Carrom. In between, we were treated to delicious local food. It was interesting to see how Sri Lankans eat rice and curries with their hands, it didn't work for us.

The next morning, we headed to the last temple on our journey. We had already seen enough temples. Before arriving in Nuwara Eliya, we stopped at a tea plantation. It was interesting to see how the different varieties are produced. We didn't buy the overpriced tea, just like we didn't buy the spices before. Luckily, there were Chinese tourists who bought some for us.

After a nice meal in town, we met two Dutch people the next morning to visit the Horton Plains, a highland. The taxi and the driver could be shared among the four of us.

We started at 5 o'clock. At 6 o'clock, we started our approximately 10km hike in dense fog and cold wind. We passed by the World's End, an 870-meter deep cliff. Here, it was possible to take a photo right on the edge, without a fence of course. I crawled to the edge despite my fear of heights and put on a brave face :-) After that, we visited a nice waterfall and then returned. Conclusion: a cool hike with a completely different landscape, highly recommended!

In the afternoon, we went on two more hikes to a viewpoint and a small waterfall.