Botanical Garden / Buddha Temple

Arriving in Kandy, we went to our accommodation to drop off our backpacks. We booked through Airbnb again. It was a shame that the owner of the accommodation (a Norwegian) was in Australia visiting her daughter, so we couldn't talk to her. But her staff welcomed us warmly. An incredible villa up on the mountain!

Around noon, we went to the Botanical Garden in Kandy. It didn't impress us much, except for a suspension bridge, giant palm trees, and a random encounter with a monkey.

We took a tuk-tuk back to our accommodation to relax for a bit, and in the late afternoon, we visited the Tooth Temple. Here, a tooth of Buddha is preserved, but it's hidden in 7 progressively smaller boxes and is only shown at certain times every 5 years, or at least that's what we understood. It was great to see such a temple from the inside - and of course, we had to go barefoot!

Afterwards, we strolled around the city a bit to find an ATM. Despite the darkness, we had no concerns or fears. In a supermarket, someone opened a door for us when we asked for beer. Down a dark staircase, we found a small, cluttered kiosk where they sold beer and spirits. At first, I thought, 'Steffen, now you're going to hell.' But everything went smoothly. It's a bit strange how things are handled here. We randomly met another German couple in the supermarket who asked us if we knew where to find beer. Typical Germans - fulfilling the stereotype :-)

Now we're sitting on the veranda of our accommodation, listening to music and relaxing before we start the day tomorrow at 7 am with breakfast. We'll take a bus to Sigiriya, to the Lion Rock that rises 370 meters high.

Unfortunately, pictures from this day will be posted later because the internet here is not very fast. Just revisit this article in the next few days ;-)