Today, we took our first bus ride of the trip. Up until now, we’d been traveling to nearby places or sharing taxis—what we’ve jokingly started calling “flash-packing,” spending a bit more to stay dry and get places quickly. But with a taxi to Kandy costing £70, we decided to take the budget-friendly £3 bus instead.
We got up early to avoid the worst of the heat and headed to the bus station, mentally preparing for a long, sweaty, and cramped ride. Luckily, it turned out to be much better than we expected! The bus was old and not the most comfortable, but it was relatively quiet, and there was space for our bags, so we didn’t have to sit with them on our laps for four and a half hours. Best of all, the bus was air-conditioned!
We were quite chuffed with how smoothly the journey was going until the bus began making grinding noises once we hit 40 mph. Soon after, we heard a loud bang accompanied by the smell of burning rubber. Fortunately, we managed to limp along for another ten minutes until the bus pulled into a garage. The mechanics quickly jacked up the bus and fixed the issue—presumably a popped tire—in about ten minutes, and we didn’t even have to get off the bus. You really can’t ask for better service than that!
Once we reached the Kandy bus station, we needed to grab a tuk tuk to take us out of town to our hostel in the hills—but it seemed our luck with friendly drivers had run out. We checked the PickMe app (Sri Lanka’s version of Uber), which quoted Rs 200 for the ride, but since it was raining, we decided to hail one on the street. The driver initially tried to charge us Rs 1,000, and after some haggling, we got the fare down to Rs 400. However, once we were on board, he claimed he’d mixed up the hostel and that the fare should actually be Rs 700. After more back-and-forth and even asking him to let us out, he finally settled at Rs 500. Safe to say, next time we’ll stick with a PickMe-ordered tuk tuk, where the fare is fixed before you even get in—since we clearly aren’t very good at haggling and end up getting taken for a ride, both literally and figuratively!
At the hostel, we had lunch while waiting out the rain. Grace’s meal turned out to be a bit too much for her, and she got scolded for leaving the last quarter of her wrap—”Avocados are expensive, don’t you know!” the staff reminded her. Feeling we’d already ruffled some feathers, we decided it was best to head out for the afternoon. We booked a cultural dance show, mainly because it was indoors.
The show was really entertaining, featuring about 25 performers playing traditional instruments and dancing. Lasting an hour and 15 minutes, the dances flowed seamlessly into one another. We even received a fact sheet explaining the meanings behind each performance—some celebrating the harvest, others with religious themes, and others marking traditional events.
The grand finale was a fire ceremony where performers spat fire and walked across hot coals. At first, it didn’t seem particularly impressive until a drunken Dutch tourist rose from the audience and decided to run across the coals himself. His cries of pain, as he rushed across twice as fast, highlighted just how challenging the feat truly was. Fortunately, he wasn’t seriously injured—aside from a bruised ego when he was asked to leave.
After the show ended, we strolled over to the Temple of the Tooth—a temple built to house what is believed to be Buddha’s sacred tooth. Legend has it that the tooth was recovered from Buddha’s funeral pyre and was guarded by kings of Sri Lanka, ownership of the tooth came to symbolise the right to rule Sri Lanka and has therefore played an interesting role in Sri Lanka’s politics over the years.
Rituals involving the sacred tooth are performed three times a day, and we arrived just in time for the evening ceremony. The temple was bustling with locals, and obviously has deep religious meaning to them —many were crying and praying. A long line snaked its way into the inner temple for those eager to catch a glimpse of the revered tooth.
We opted not to join the queue and instead explored the other sections of the temple, admiring the beautifully painted walls and ceilings that are over 400 years old, along with a collection of texts dating back centuries. We also visited the museum, where we saw a massive taxidermied royal elephant. In comparison, the elephants on safari seemed much less intimidating—probably brecause they’re only about half the size!
After we finished at the temple, we strolled around Kandy, trying to decide how to spend the rest of our evening. Then fate intervened—a small bird pooped in my hair! Clearly, I hadn’t left a generous enough offering at the temple, and to make matters worse, I had no tissues. Fortunately, a kind tuk-tuk driver offered me a greasy rag, and with no better option, I used it to clean the worst of it out before catching a ride home for a much-needed shower.
We spent the rest of the night learning two-player card games and just chilling at the hostel before bed. For the first time in Sri Lanka, we didn’t have to contend with a rock-hard mattress—which my already bruised hips are very thankful for!
Our plan for our second day in Kandy was to get up early for a hike to beat the heat. However, some women in our hostel had an early departure—packing noisily at 5 a.m.—so we decided to hit snooze. We eventually started our walk around 9:45 a.m., and luckily, the morning turned out very cloudy, sparing us from a scorching sun during most of our ascent. On the way, we each grabbed a samosa for breakfast. I’d never had a spicy egg breakfast samosa before, but it turned out to be very tasty.
The trail we hiked is called the Pekoe Trail. It winds through various parts of Sri Lanka and is funded by the EU to promote positive tourism in remote tea plantation communities. The section we completed was about 14 km long, taking us through scenic tea plantations and two remote villages.
We started our walk at a tea plantation museum, only to find out that it was closed on Mondays, so we missed our chance to explore it. As we ventured through the fields, we passed several groups of women working hard, sharing the path with several whom carried large sacks on their heads. At one point, we stopped to ask for directions from three women, they scrunched up some tea leaves for us to smell—which, honestly, just smelled like ordinary leaves. The eldest of the group kept stroking my face and pinching my cheeks while cheerfully saying, “Photo, photo!” So I snapped a photo with them and gave them a small tip after the other two kept saying, “Tip, tip!” I couldn’t help but think that this might be their little side hustle alongside tea picking—and why not? Good luck to them!
It was a beautiful walk. We saw various fruit trees—though jackfruit was the only one we recognized—as well as numerous birds and monkeys. We even came across some cattle on the road. As we passed through two small villages, the residents initially watched us with stern, “get off my land!” expressions. However, as soon as we greeted them, their faces softened into huge smiles, and they kindly pointed the way and waved goodbye.
We bought some corn on the cob in one of the villages to keep us going—it was good, and we decided it would be our new go-to hiking snack. After about four hours, we reached the end of the train in a small town and stopped for an ice cream. A man came over to chat, which isn’t unusual in Sri Lanka; locals are always eager to ask, “Madam, where you from?” They love hearing about your travels and how you’re enjoying your stay, and it’s usually a short, pleasant conversation. However, this one took an unexpected turn when he asked if we were married and then blurted out, “I see your bottom, I like,” while pointing at my gym leggings. I panicked and replied, “No, thank you.” I’m not entirely sure why, but it did the trick—he just shrugged and walked off.
We ordered a tuk tuk back to Kandy, about an hour and 15 minute drive (I know, we walked so far!) and met the driver outside of a school, it turns out he was actually there to pick his kids up from school but the long journey was a good payment, so when his kids came to complain he gave them money to get another tuk tuk home. We felt so bad and tipped him extra at the end. It was a lovely journey home with a cool breeze as we drove back down the steep plantation slopes and could see various paths we had taken and points we had climbed to.
The rest of the evening we spent relaxing and resting our legs. Tomorrow we’re hoping to catch the train to Hatton. I’ll tell you all about it soon.
love, Alice x
