Kandy (May 15-17): Constant Attention and a Foul Mood

The bus ride to Kandy was about 4 hours, and I even got to listen to some karaoke for part of it (locals would come on with their stereo, sing for 20-30 minutes, and then ask for money). I was on my phone the whole time, watching the map so I knew when to get off (you have to tell the driver when to stop or they won’t). I got off and went to my accommodation (256 Townhouse Rest). It was a pretty basic room, but it came with air conditioning and its own bathroom, so that’s all I really needed. Again, the owner was quite awkward and wouldn’t make eye contact with me, but he was extremely helpful as well. He was also the first person on my entire trip to understand what gluten-free was! When he asked about breakfast, I said I couldn’t have bread. “Oh, no wheat?” Surprised, I said yes. He looked confused and said, “What can I serve you instead of bread?” I told him that I could have hoppers. “Oh, because it’s rice flour!” It was so nice to have someone understand my dietary restrictions, for once! He told me to eat at a place called Balaji Dosai, so I went straight there since it was already almost 2pm. I ordered curry, which came on a massive platter with a bunch of different curries (I realised that this is what always happens when you order a curry – it comes with a main, and then an assortment of sides). I ate them like I eat everything – starting with the ones I don’t like as much, so I can finish with the best ones. But when two of them were done, the waiter came by and refilled them! I definitely wasn’t going hungry in Sri Lanka.

After lunch, I walked around town towards one of the temples. A solo female walking around seems like a foreign concept because I was constantly approached, asking if I needed help or where I was going or if I needed a Tuktuk. This is when I started to get extremely frustrated because I just wanted to enjoy my walk, but I felt like I kept getting harassed. I walked to the nearby temple (Sri Dalada Maligawa), which is famous for housing one of Buddha’s teeth. Once I arrived, people kept coming up to me and saying that the ceremony wasn’t until 6:30pm (they do a ceremony three times each day for the tooth, when you can view the gold case where it’s enclosed). They then told me to go to the Cultural Centre to watch the cultural show (there were multiple shows going on throughout the city and I had contemplated going, but because I was asked about 20 times to get a ticket, it made me not want to go, especially since I had read reviews that it was just a tourist trap). I didn’t mind going to the temple without seeing the tooth ceremony, as I really only wanted to see the temple. The security measures there were SO strict. I could tell that they didn’t want to let me in because my dress had a slit on the side that went above the knee (I never had this issue anywhere else). I saw the guards arguing and one even tried to tie my dress at the bottom, but they finally let me in. I had to pay for entrance and this one guy kept following me around. I told him I didn’t need a guide, and he said he wasn’t a guide – he was just there to help. I felt embarrassed for having assumed, and convinced myself that I didn’t need to have my guard up all of the time. I had to drop off my shoes, and then the “not a guide” showed me where to go. He explained a lot about the history of the temple and about the Buddhist religion, and said that it was up to me if I wanted to tip him at the end out of the goodness of my heart. Okay, NOW this was sounding like a guide… Annoyed because I would have preferred to explore on my own (without having to pay more), I still agreed and we continued. At the end, I gave him 1000 rupees and he said that he could arrange to get me tickets to the cultural show. It would be 2000 rupees and he would leave the ticket at the front gate for me to pick up. This seemed sketchy… he waited for me to hand him the money, and I had to tell him multiple times that I would get the ticket myself. I got my shoes back (only by giving a donation first) and then explored the grounds on my own.

Again, I was approached and I said that I didn’t need a guide. “But you’re not learning anything – you need a guide!” At this point, I was getting REALLY annoyed. I felt like during my entire time in Kandy, I was constantly getting approached or people were trying to get money out of me. However, I talked to other female travellers and they didn’t seem to have this problem, so I don’t know why I had such a negative experience. I wanted to get away from everyone, so I tried to go into a coffee shop. “Hello!” A guy said while walking by. I responded hi. “You don’t remember me?” Confused, I said no. “From the hotel?” I still felt confused, but said “Oh, hi.” He asked what I was doing, and I said I wanted to get a coffee. He told me that there was a market down the street and it would be closing in a half hour, so I should come with him first. I told him I’d go the next day, and he said, “It’s only open Mondays! Come, let’s go!” I said I’d rather just get a coffee, and said bye. Side note: When I went back to the hotel and saw the hotel owner, I realised that the guy DEFINITELY wasn’t who he said he was, so I wonder what would have happened if I DID go to the market. I had an iced tea and enjoyed the quiet and the air conditioning, and then I decided to walk up to the big Buddha that overlooked the city (Sri Maha Bodhi Maha Viharaya). It was a long walk uphill, and Tuktuks constantly stopped to ask if I wanted a ride. I declined and continued on my way. It was so peaceful up there, and I only saw two other tourists. Some of the monks were playing catch with a ball. I stayed up there until it started to get dark, and I enjoyed the beautiful colours of the sky.

I started the walk down and again, I was constantly asked if I needed a ride. One tuktuk even offered me a free ride, but apparently they charge you so much money at the end (my hostel owner warned me about this). Again, my patience was wearing thin so I walked into a random bar to get dinner (The Last Drop) and there was a group of four Belgium guys there. When they saw me, they said they’d buy me a drink and asked if I wanted to sit with them. I joined, and they were all really nice and funny – it was refreshing to have a good conversation. They left to go back to their accommodation for dinner, and then I ordered dinner at the restaurant. I got a fried rice dish, and then went back to my accommodation after dinner.

The next day, I wasn’t too sure what to do. I had basically seen all of the sites of Kandy. I definitely didn’t need to have two nights there and if I did it again, I would have only booked one night or maybe skipped it altogether. I figured I might as well go to the botanical gardens, but it was far out of the city so I’d have to get an Uber. Every time I requested an Uber, the driver would instantly call, ask if I was paying with card or cash, and if I said card, they’d hang up and decline the ride. One hung up and didn’t decline, so that I couldn’t request another Uber. We basically had to have a stand-off to see who would decline first (because he knew if I declined, he’d get the money). The longer it went on, the more annoyed I got. After 5 minutes, he phoned me and asked if I was going to cancel. I said, “No, you have to cancel!” “Okay, I’ll cancel.” But he still didn’t. So I went and did something else until he finally cancelled. I stayed in my room for most of the morning and then went to a place called Cafe Secret Alley for lunch. I thought that they were supposed to have a lot of gluten-free options, but it was only smoothie bowls and they were quite expensive by Sri Lankan standards. I got one anyway and when I finished, I walked down to the lake. I decided I’d try to get an Uber to the botanical gardens one more time. This time, I changed the payment method to cash. Again, as soon as I requested an Uber, the driver would call and ask how much I’d be paying. When I told them the amount on the app, they’d ask for more! Some drivers would accept the job, but then they wouldn’t move for two or three minutes, so then I’d cancel. By this time, I was starting to get angry. For the first and only time during my trip, I was not enjoying myself. I decided to just walk around the lake, but again I was constantly asked where I was going. I went into a cafe and got a smoothie. It was just me and the cafe owner. But after about 10 minutes, a tuktuk driver came in, sat at the table next to me, didn’t order anything, and asked if I wanted any tours. Seriously?! He then went through some of his reviews on Google to show how great of a tour guide he was. I took his number (I ended up taking A LOT of numbers on my trip, just to get people to leave me alone) and he finally left. But then he sat in his tuktuk outside the cafe, and I think he was waiting for me to leave. I sat there for as long as I could, and then I finally saw him drive away, so I left. As I continued my walk around the lake, I saw a giant lizard-looking thing, which I later found out was a water monitor. It was pretty shocking to see in the middle of the city, but also quite cool!

I went back to my hotel and stayed in there for the rest of the day, only leaving to go for dinner. I was in such a sour mood, I didn’t even feel like walking around anymore because I felt like I couldn’t enjoy it. For dinner, I went to a place called High Tide and order the King Prawn Thermidor. It had Singles cheese slices melted on top, which was interesting. It was good – not amazing, but still a nice treat.

The next morning, I had breakfast at the hotel, packed up my stuff, and my hotel owner gave me instructions on where I needed to go to get my ticket, and where to go on the platform (he even included little drawings!). He said that he would take me to the train station, and I didn’t realise that this meant we’d be taking a bus. I became a bit concerned since we were getting extremely close to the scheduled train time. I gave my hotel owner 1000 rupees ($5) as a tip and he said it was too much, but I told him I wanted him to have it. We got on the bus but due to bad traffic, the bus driver made us get off early and we had to walk the rest of the way to the station. By the time we got there, I think my train was meant to leave in ten minutes, but my hotel owner didn’t seem concerned. I got my ticket, got some water, and waited for the train to come. This train ride is the most famous train ride in Sri Lanka – everyone does the trip from Kandy to Ella on the blue train for the beautiful views, and to try to get a picture of themselves hanging off the side of the train (I didn’t do this). I didn’t go all the way to Ella that day – I got off at Haputale instead. But I’ll save that for the next blog. Love always