I've been working flat out for 4 weeks so I haven't had time to do much or update this blog. Somewhere in the middle of those 4 weeks I went on a sight seeing trip to Kandy. The elephant orphanage is on the way to Kandy, so we left Colombo early to get there in time to watch the babies being fed. After the babies are fed all the elephants go down to the river to bathe.
The view from the balcony of the restaurant was pretty sweet and the sandwiches and drinks were appreciated after getting up at the crack of dawn and skipping breakfast.
Tuska has a bit of a problem getting to his food as his tusks have grown so long.
The tree is full of bats, but you'll have to take my word for it.
Pretty view but no idea what the large rock in the background is called.
Now we arrive at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. The tooth was apparently rescued from Buddha's cremated remains, although it is never seen and even the casket in which it is kept is only displayed on special occasions. Slightly strange walking around whist Buddhists are worshipping listening to a prerecorded tour on an MP3 player.
Monkeys like hanging out at temples for some reason. I can't remember if they're revered or if they just get feed and otherwise left alone.
I was not permitted to enter the temple in my shorts so a sarong had to be acquired. The crazy thing is my shorts were literally about 1 or 2 inches shorter than the sarong, so I reckon the security guards at the temple have shares in the local sarong shops.
After a day of religious culture and a slap up feed in a luxury hotel it was off to the botanical gardens for a walk to help the food go down. Not being the most horticulturally educated the most entertaining thing I found was a tree with a hole I could climb into. I couldn't find Bilbo or Frodo though.
There are more variations of palm trees than you can shake a stick at and some grow pretty tall. I'd have climbed to the top of the 40 ft ones (yeah right) but the gardens were closing so we had to scoot.
The view from the balcony of the restaurant was pretty sweet and the sandwiches and drinks were appreciated after getting up at the crack of dawn and skipping breakfast. 
Tuska has a bit of a problem getting to his food as his tusks have grown so long.
The tree is full of bats, but you'll have to take my word for it.
Pretty view but no idea what the large rock in the background is called.
Now we arrive at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. The tooth was apparently rescued from Buddha's cremated remains, although it is never seen and even the casket in which it is kept is only displayed on special occasions. Slightly strange walking around whist Buddhists are worshipping listening to a prerecorded tour on an MP3 player.
Monkeys like hanging out at temples for some reason. I can't remember if they're revered or if they just get feed and otherwise left alone.
I was not permitted to enter the temple in my shorts so a sarong had to be acquired. The crazy thing is my shorts were literally about 1 or 2 inches shorter than the sarong, so I reckon the security guards at the temple have shares in the local sarong shops.
After a day of religious culture and a slap up feed in a luxury hotel it was off to the botanical gardens for a walk to help the food go down. Not being the most horticulturally educated the most entertaining thing I found was a tree with a hole I could climb into. I couldn't find Bilbo or Frodo though.
There are more variations of palm trees than you can shake a stick at and some grow pretty tall. I'd have climbed to the top of the 40 ft ones (yeah right) but the gardens were closing so we had to scoot.
