Sri Lanka : Day 3 - Dambulla Cave Temple & Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Kandy

Before breakfast, we walked around our hotel ....

The pool

The compound was large ... 

The rooms and the pathway fringed with trees .... the morning air was fresh and crisp and I felt totally relaxed. 

Calamansi trees in the grounds! The fruits smelled really great, and I was sure they were used to make our welcome drinks the night before.

Breakfast buffet was extensive. Lots of food to eat .... I merely had soft roll and a sausage. Heh. My tummy felt bloated still .... 

My friend, AL's platter 

First stop that day was Dambulla Cave Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The cave temple dated back to first century BC, and was one of the largest and the best-preserved cave temple complexes. From the main road, we walked up a pathway that led us to the entrance of the temple.

Entrance
We had to leave our shoes outside the temple ...

Past the entrance, the cave temples on the right

There were a total of 5 caves, and in each cave were paintings and statues of Buddha in various poses. 

After visiting Dambulla Cave Temple, we left Dambulla for Kandy. Along the way, of course there would be a few stops. The first one was a woodcarving centre.

Pathangi was native to Sri Lanka, and produced a natural dye which was used for colouring various handicraft items here .... beyond were 2 very young and pretty girls who were carving away on a block of wood each.

 The uncle who entertained us, and an elephant carved out of wood and coloured with natural dye

Next, we went to Ranweli Spice Garden - that was in fact a shopping stop. We walked through the garden where various plants were grown, and the guide explained the properties of each plant to us. Then we were given a head and neck rub with the special oils concocted out of the plants. Of course, ultimately, we were supposed to purchase those oils .... which came bottled like soy sauce. I did not buy anything at all.

Oils and ointments concocted out of the plants

Next, was lunch at the restaurant across the road, which also belonged to the spice garden.

Deepfried ash plantain & Mango Curry
2 items which I found to be interesting for lunch

Then we went to Noritake. Except for me, I think no one else was interested in Noritake. My travelling companions did not know what Noritake was. Heh.

 

I bought these ... a plate, a saucer and teacup from the Hana Sarasa series

The showroom 

Then we reached the World Heritage City of Kandy.  Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a World Heritage Site mainly due to the temple. There is a huge lake at the city centre, it felt very much like a resort city to me.

Queen's Hotel
An iconic and historic building 

A stone's throw away was the Temple of Sacred Tooth Relic - a Buddhist temple  located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy. It houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha.

Temple building, surrounded by a moat

We had to remove our shoes at the entrance, walked into the temple barefooted ... 

 Paintings on the wall depicting the historical procession which is held annually in Kandy to pay homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha

 The tooth sanctuary

Upstairs was crowded with people, sitting along the long corridor and praying

 The old palace building

After we visited the temple, we watched a show at the theatre nearby. Then we checked into our hotel. We stayed at Suisse Hotel, Kandy. The hotel was an old colonial building ... so it had a very English feel to it.

The hallway

Our room

The mattresses were really hard 

The dining room

The buffet dinner was sumptious! I was ravished, but there was a limit to what I could eat.  

Tomato soup 

The tomato soup was really good. I took a little bit just to have a taste; but ended up going for seconds and thirds ... lol ... I had the soup with a couple of grissini or bread sticks

Grilled meats, pasta and rice

Herbed potato, buttered vegetables, spinach lasagna, grilled pork, grissini

Dessert 

The elegant dining hall 

There were a few gem shops at the hotel premises .... so we went gem shopping after dinner. I fell in love with a pair of hooped earrings - there was a small circle of 9 diamonds on top of a small sapphire. The price was RM3,500. I did not buy it. But I thought about it from time to time ... sigh ....