Kandy

Kandy is a great place to spend a few days. After arriving and finding a place, we had a wander around and popped into a tiny cafe to get dinner.

I'd seen Devilled dishes on lots of menus here and decided to try the devilled fish - I'd have to say - all of the food in Sri Lanka is amazing - but the Devilled dishes are really outstanding...here's a pic:



They always ask if you want it spicy - and this was one of the spiciest things I've eaten on my trip. All the little green things are chillies - so it had a major kick. Amazing...and not bad for just over a quid...

Brock also decided to try the plain hoppers - what can only be described as a cross between a pancake and a breast implant. Here's some being modeled:



Now the residents of Kandy are well known for there conservative ways - and tend to go to bed early. Which means that there's not much going on at night. But we did decided to do the Kandy Pub crawl challenge - which consists of a beer in each of the pubs in town. The only problem - there are only two pubs in town - so it's not much of a challenge...and they all shut at around 10pm just to add to the excitement...

Enjoying a beer in the Queen's Hotel Bar:



Kandy was favored by the British Colonizers, and there are signs of their occupation here, particularly in the architecture. Sadly - the colonizers brought people from India to work as slaves in the tea plantations, which resulted in the 26 year long war that's thankfully just ended in the country. Kandy was badly shelled at one point - but there's no evidence of that now.

Kandy sits on the banks of a beautiful lake - and as Sri Lanka's only other city has a real buzz about it.

Kandy Lake:



One highlight is the chance to see traditional dancing - which is finished off with a fire walking ceremony. So we made our way in the afternoon to get tickets, and were able to reserve seats by writing our names on a large sheet of paper and placing them on the seats we wanted:



After a rather pleasant cup of Sri Lankan coffee, we headed off to see the evenings entertainment...first - some traditional dance:



Next: a guy spinning his mother's best plates on sticks:



And then the moment we'd all been waiting for...the fire ceremony. It got off to a start with this:



And then went on like this:



It was good fun and definitely recommended - although it's all a bit tongue in cheek.

And then - because it was there - we set off on the Kandy Pub Crawl Challenge...which started off with a good old fashioned, England in a glass, Gin and Tonic at the Queen's Hotel Bar:



And ended in KFC, at the unearthly hour of 10.30pm, where your not allowed to take photos for some reason:



Now how did that happen:



And that was Kandy...