Don't touch me!

After we got back to Colombo my mum went into hospital (she's ok now) so I showed my sister and dad around during the day before visiting my mum in the evenings. Colombo isn't the best but we kept busy seeing a few sights, shopping and eating well.

Dad, sis & the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.



When we realised mum wouldn't be coming out of hospital until near the end of their holiday we decided to take a 2 day tour so my dad and sis could get a little culture. We visited my mum on the morning of the day we left and planned to get back the evening of the following day, so she would have a least one visit per day. When we booked the car and driver the hire firm also had a bunch of old cars that my dad predictably went nuts over.

All the drivers have an itinerary for their tours and I usually try and skip a few of the items. One thing I'd normally skip is the spice garden as it's just a bunch of plants and some usually overpriced homeopathic medicines. My dad and sister wanted to check it out so we went in; I maintained a suitably suspicious and cynical disposition. After seeing all the plants the host of the spice garden did a little talk on the various oils and medicines; his colleges provided massages and my dad and sis entered into the spirit of things. By this time I had become preoccupied avoiding being bitten by mosquitoes and steadfastly refused to let anyone get near me with any of the massage oils. I think my dad and sis found it funny but it was hot and I was in no mood for being covered in oil. After we left I regained my composure and managed to relax for the rest of the trip.

On our first night in Kandy we saw the Kandian dancers, which I'd never seen before (too touristy) and actually enjoyed. It was hard to get a photo of the dancers but at the end we all gathered round the front of the stage to watch the firewalker. We had intended to go to the temple afterwards but it was raining cats and dogs so we retired to the hotel.

The next morning was much sunnier and we had a busy day ahead of us so we headed to the temple early.