24 Hours In Kandy, Sri Lanka 

In the midst of Sri Lanka’s hill country, 115km from Colombo, lies its second largest city, Kandy. With the Knuckles mountain range and ancient rock formation, Sigiriya, to the north and tea plantations to the south, it’s a popular stop off for tourists exploring the country. We went for a fleeting, one night visit. Arriving in Kandy on our second day in Sri Lanka, we were thrust into Sri Lankan culture with a bang.

Kandy was the last capital of the Sinhalese kingdom and its resilience saw off threats from the Portuguese and Dutch who had claimed the rest of the country – but not Kandy. The city eventually fell to the Brits in 1815. In more recent history, it was used as a film location for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Surrounded by hills, the lakeside city sits at an altitude of 500m and can be slightly cooler and mistier than other parts of Sri Lanka. The lake, although artificial, is a good starting point to wander around and you can even hire a boat to go on it. To the south of the lake, motorcycles, buses and tuks tuks speed around the road surrounding the lake but the north side is quieter and has sites such as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic – an important Buddhist place and a tourist must-see.

Kandy is a busy city – not quite on the scale of cities in places like India but enough to make your head spin a little. Our three-year-old, Mrs T, was very good to start with, taking it all in but not yet accustomed to people’s fascination with her white skin and curly blonde hair so clung to us closely as we wandered down the main street of Kandy where people went about their business.

The markets were bustling as women with colourful safaris jostled to buy textiles, the perpetually busy roads were full of buses, tuk tuks and motorcycles sounding their horns while the searing, midday heat began to drain us of energy…so much for it being cooler in Kandy!

After walking up and down the main street of Dalada Vidiya, looking for something to fill our bellies, Paul and I decided today was NOT the day to be adventurous. Each eatery looked very ‘local’ and having only just landed in the country we weren’t going to risk getting sick, especially with me being pregnant.

Instead, we played it safe and after straying away from the main throng, found a pleasant eatery, the Empire cafe, which was fully catered for us fair-skinned foreigners. Beautiful flower stalls were set up opposite selling fares for those visiting the nearby Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic – the home of one of Buddha’s teeth. I will cover our visit there in a separate post.

After a tour of the temple, our guide, Danesh, suggested we see a show of traditional Kandyan dancing. Paul was sceptical but having done my homework, I knew it was something you should see while in the ancient capital. I also had a feeling Mrs T would really enjoy it.

I was proved to be right (of course). Despite the sight of the venue looking little more than a village hall, I persuaded a reluctant husband and we parted with 1,000Rs (£5) per adult (Mrs T went free) for an hour’s entertainment. With relatively low expectations, we were pleasantly surprised by the entertainment and Mrs T was transfixed.

The show involved a series of different dances from elaborately dressed men and women giving a taste of the dance forms which derive from Kandy and some other parts of Sri Lanka. All the dances were accompanied by a mesmerising drum beat. Mrs T watched the female dancers, in particular, very carefully as they performed their dances with great poise and skill. I saw her copying some of the arm movements which was so sweet.

The male dancers were just as good, some added a danger element to the show with fire: juggling and swinging around sticks of fire as well as performing acrobatic moves.

Mrs T sat and watched the show with interest but then two Chinese boys sitting in the row behind us started dancing in the aisle and she decided to join them. It was all rather harmless until the boys started running around the hall. My husband was about to leave with her, feeling it had got a bit out of hand when the organiser encouraged us to stay for the most daring part of the show – saved until the end.

We were taken outside to the pièces de résistance…walking on hot coals. It was incredibly impressive (although I was slightly concerned for the health of the fire-eaters who would glug from a bottle of kerosine before the stunt). The male dancers fearlessly walked across the coals as they repeatedly lit them with kerosine to demonstrate how daring the feat was. Ouch! To truly appreciate the music and dance, check out the video, which does include my daughter’s dancing too (and make sure you see the hot coal walking at the end).

The performance ended as it began to get dark and we took a tuk tuk back to our hotel (a highlight for my daughter). We ate at our hotel, the Ozo Hotel. Apparently, the food scene isn’t all that good in Kandy so you are better off eating in your accommodation. We had got a fair bit out of Kandy in our 24 hours and felt it was enough time in the city.  We settled down for a good night’s sleep before attempting the crazy road out of Kandy to the tea plantation…but that is another story!

Other sites to see in Kandy (which we didn’t do)

Kandy Esala Perahera – If you visit Kandy in July/August you may get to see Kandy’s biggest event of the year – a procession to honour the sacred tooth (kept in Kandy’s historic temple). It has been going for centuries and runs for 10 days every year. The procession involves Kandyan dancers and drummers and up to 50 elephants

Helga’s Follly – Run by the flamboyant Helga da Silva, the surrealist hotel/art gallery gives impressive views of Kandy and its owner was the subject of a Stereophonics’ song. Worth visiting for a drink.

Kandy Botanical Gardens

Ceylon Tea Museum