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Sri Lanka travelogue, part 6: Kandy and Nuwara Eliya

Ben van den Anker
2006-05-02 01:54:41

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The "room with a view' was still vacant, so no need to think about it for me. Elizabeth, the Canadian lady, was still there to my surprise. She had been ill and spend the couple of days in her bed. Now she was feeling better and getting angry as she heard what I paid for the room. She asked the student "Why doesn't he have to pay the 10% service charge that everyone has to pay here?" He gave the best possible answer "I don't know!" and she calmed down. The prices of rooms are negotiable, and as I noticed before that there is not a lot of tourism in Sri Lanka at the time being, prices go down quickly.

I missed the English graveyard during my first visit, it's interesting. Most people died in the last century between their 20th and 30th year, I guess medicine was not that good then as it is now. "One guy who fought at Waterloo figured he could walk from Trincomalee at the east coast to Kandy, he went through storms, slept with wet clothes, and in the end as he couldn't escape the fierce fevers, he accepted his fate with dignity". So the man said that took care of the place. He proudly showed me a picture of prince Charles and him together, I guess lots of tourists must have seen it by now! As I looked up to the forest I saw that even there the military awaited the bad times to come. This town must be one of the most heavily guarded against terrorism in Sri Lanka.

I missed the National Museum too, and now I know that I didn't miss anything at all. I walked over the market, discussed some prices with clothes vendors. "In Thailand trousers are so much cheaper than here!" I complained, "that's because we pay taxes and they don't!" he replied. I'm not sure what's the reason for this big difference. I bought some Mangosteens at the market, hmmmm it has been a long time since I tasted this kind of fruit. One thing noone should miss in Asia, the delicious Rambutans, Custard apples, Mangosteens, jackfruits ...