After Kandy, we headed east through the countryside to the coast. After the hustle and bustle of Kandy, and the tourists of the ancient sites and temples, we spent three nights in Arugam Bay. It’s a tiny place of a few hundred people. But it’s packed with cool places to stay right on the beach, more cafes and restaurants than you could believe and one long street. There’s yoga, real coffee and hammocks galore.

The view from the rooftop bar in our hotel.

The beach is lined with fishing boats while their owners hang out waiting for the next tide. This area has a significant Muslim population, and they tend to keep together at one end of the beach.

Looking toward the point.

It was really hot here, at least 38 degrees the whole time, and no wind. The water was the place to be.

Keeping an eye on the kids

The visitors here are mainly surfers and backpackers, lots of Europeans as well as Australians. John and the boys met a guy in the surf who lives about 100m from us back at home and recognised John from surfing at Winki. Then he met another guy from Geelong whose kids go to the same school as ours. Very small world.

Now for the surf….Arugam is supposed to have the best right point break in Sri Lanka, and is pretty well-known amongst surfers. (I’ve never heard of it) It’s also a good excuse to go somewhere off the beaten track. John and the boys managed three solid surfs each day, plus a couple either side.

Patrol Tower, Sri Lankan style

We ate great curries, numerous lassies (fruit smoothies made with yoghurt), yummy roti and paratha breads – in fact we ate way too much. No body wants to get on the scales for quite some time.

One morning we went a half an hour’s drive along the coast to Whiskey Point for a different surf break. It was super hot on a barren beach – the tsunami smashed everything away here in 2004 – so I found a lovely new hotel with a nice pool while they surfed. But then they found me …….

The three Musketeers

It wasn’t our idea, but Praki wanted to show us some of the lovely Botanical Gardens (147 acres) started by one of the last kings and enhanced by the British during the time of their rule. And we are glad he did. It was a peaceful, green break in what had been a frantic few days.
Some of the trees are pretty old now and unique to Sri Lanka. Most visiting VIPs get to plant a tree – like Yuri Gagarin!

Big old tree. A good climber.

If you followed our blog back in 2012 when we travelled round (half of) Australia, you would know that I have a devotion to the Boab tree which I found the need to hug at every opportunity. Nothing has changed for me, so when I saw this stunning Queensland Kauri tree, well I just had to give it a hug.

Love!

There were many highlights, and it was well worth the visit.

HUGE canopy on this beauty.

Sitting 500m above sea level, Kandy has a (very slightly) cooler climate than the lower lying rest of Sri Lanka. The hill town was once the capital and fell to the British in 1812. It has many beautiful colonial buildings from that era including the stunning Queens Hotel which would rival the better known Raffles in Singapore.

Queens Hotel is at the lake’s edge behind the trees.

The town sits around the lovely Kandy Lake, with the hills covered in old architecture and remnants of the British rule.

We also went to a cultural show with plenty of local drummers, singing and dancing finishing with some very showy fire walking and even more impressive fire eating. I reckon my chicken biryani was better though.

Way back in 483BC at Buddha’s funeral, some clever dude pinched one of Buddha’s teeth – an incisor they reckon. This relic has been sacred to Buddhists ever since and been closely guarded through the centuries, give or take a few invasions by the Indians, Portuguese, Dutch and the British. The Portuguese catholics say they took it and burnt it back in India, but the Sri Lankan Buddhists say they only stolen a replica. Ha! To the Portuguese.
The real thing is still right here in Kandy! It lies inside seven caskets, inside a two storey temple, inside a compound surrounded by a moat. This is serious “cover your shoulders and legs” territory.

Entry to the Temple of The Sacred Tooth Relic

At puja (daily offerings and prayers) they open the heavily guarded inner room for 15 minutes three times a day. You file past a small window, along with hundreds of others, and quickly look at the casket containing the other six caskets and, apparently, the actual tooth relic of the real deal Buddha. It was all a bit surreal. Anyway, if you’re a Buddhist this is a big deal and a must-do pilgrimage. A bit like Haj for the Muslims.

Gifts for Buddha

All the items here are gifts to Buddha, including the elephant tusks. These are from deceased elephants that perform in an annual religious parade through Kandy that sounds bigger than Texas.
This is the exterior of a secondary temple within the complex of the Temple of The Sacred Tooth Relic. The fence is gold they say.
Most people offer flowers to Buddha which are laid out on a big table just near the tooth room. Outside the temple gates where the Appropriate Clothes Police will get you, there are numerous stalls selling beautiful flowers.

We walked away with bucket loads of good karma. How could you not?

A lesser known fact about Sri Lanka is their world leading quality sapphire industry. Or maybe I’m the only one that didn’t know they were famous for it! We visited a gem workshop and store where they cut and polish a range of precious and semi-precious stones. If you follow Harry on Instagram you may have seen pics of some of the beautiful stones on display.
The work shop was fascinating – nearly as good as the famous Lili Fine Jewellery in Torquay….

I’ve never really been into the coloured precious stones and have preferred to stick with my fave – just diamonds. But some of these beautiful creations are enough to entice me to the colourful side…