Sri lanka

Kandy is the second largest city in Sri
Lanka after Colombo. Touch down at the busy Colombo city and a few hours’ drive through the greenery on either side and visit the Pinnewala Elephant orphanage on En route to Kandy  is a drive which will keep you wondering what awaits you in Kandy.

  The deep influence of Portuguese and Dutch give this small town a very colonial look with small tidy streets, Buddhist temples and statues, Red/Green Buses and tuk tuk's adding color to the dusty old buildings. The small town houses the beautiful botanical garden spanning over 150 acres and the UNESCO heritage Temple of tooth Relic.

The bustling city is famous for its warm, peace loving people, local bakeries, White lotus and purple lilies to the number of temples. You will fall in love with the hills and the trees letting each other know of your arrival to spreading the fragrance of the passion fruit and avocados. Your eyes will never get enough of the landscapes as your taste buds savor the flavour of Ceylon tea leaves and succulent chunk of Jaggery to sweeten your tongue.

Many spice gardens and elephant ride stops available as we get close to Pinnewala.

The elephant orphanage is the house of almost 100 healthy and happy elephants who are well aware of the timings and schedule of the park. The visitors can feed the playful baby elephants and walk with them to see them play in mud and later bathe in the river and repeat the routine in the evening. Few stalls sell elephant dung papers and souvenirs.

Spice garden lets you pick up Ayurveda concoctions and medicines for a list of ailments, herbal tea, shampoos and spices.

After the drive through the small bustling city and picking up local farm fresh feeds like guava's and avocados we ascended the hills to the palace on hills Amaya hills where we stayed. Our balcony's opened to the view of the never ending stretch of greenery and mountains and the winds whistling through the bamboo trees. The room overlooked the swimming pool and the restaurant. By evening the guests started coming back to the hotel to enjoy a pool side meal with instrumental rock music and folk songs playing in the background.

You can also visit few of many factories at Kandy. Tea estates walking you through the different processes of Tea making and letting you taste the many varieties of tea from light to strong.

How to get there:-By Air connected by Sri lankan Airlines to Colombo Bandarnaike airport.

1. then access Kandy by road,rail or /Frequent buses.
2. Languages - Sinhalese, Tamil, English
3. Climate - Wetter and colder than rest of the country.
4. Must Eat - Local bakes, breads, Fresh fruits like Passion fruits , avocado,Grape fruit and Bananas
5. Beer - Singha Beer
6. Currency - Sri lankan Rupee (LKR), dollar and Indian rupee can be used in a lot of places
7. Things to do 

• Visit Elephant Orphanage Enroute to Kandy from Colombo
• Perideniya Botanical Garden 
• Spice gardens 
• Kandy cultural Show in the evening
• Temple of the tooth Relic
• Numerous Factories - Tea, wood, Crafts

Kandy View in the morning

Fruits

Rains clouds at Kandy, Sri Lanka

Majestic elephants at Pinnewala

Playful Baby elephant after feeding time

An Elephant being fed

Bathing time at the river

Ceylon Tea

Coins (LKR)

Sunset in Kandy

Floral Arrangement in Water

Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR)

Colorful flavored Macaroons from Local Bakery 

Cultural show

Wood Factory

A demon at the cultural show

Tea Varieties at GereGama Tea Factory