Kandy - and the ride back!

Yesterday, Bronte( a volunteer from California) and I decided to make a short visit to Kandy, the second largest city in Sri Lanka. The city boasts of one of the oldest Buddhist temples in the world, the Temple of the Tooth Relic(which honestly sounds more like the title of film) which houses the ancient relic that apparently gives the possessor the control of Sri Lanka.Quite amazingly the Sri Lankan government charges all foreigners Rs.1000 to enter the temple.

 We then moved on to the YMBA hall by the central lake of the city, which was hosting a cultural dance program. Lasting just about an hour the performance was enthralling, to say the least. The acrobatics and rhythmic pieces were the highlight and delighted an audience primarily consisting of foreigners.The last piece of the show was taken outside the hall where the performers played with fire and then walked on fire and embers.
Heading back from Kandy is the toughest thing I have done in my life. The bus was jam packed and more often than not I was standing only on one foot, with my hands either on the hand railing above or on someone's shoulder. I guess it would have been fine had it been a morning bus, since most people shower up then. But it being the last bus of the night, the stench was quite the nightmare I'd rather not face again. During the midst of this ride I was quite frustrated but looking back at it makes me feel happy; at least every bus ride from now on would be better than this and if not than I would be better prepared for the next one. An uncomfortable( it is a mild word I use) ride for over an hour left me so stiff the entire night and it took a good 8 hours for my body to loosen up.
Poojah( my elephant) has been quite cheerful and playful. Yesterday it showered water on me quite unexpectedly. The mahout Rathna let me feed Poojah and allowed me to take pictures with it. I will post them quite soon.
I may be leaving Kegalle this weekend to go back to Colombo(as MEF is closed on weekends). More after I come back!!!....Do follow me on twitter if you want to!!