Days with Athula

We have now entered what is known as the hill country in Sri Lanka. It is incredible how diverse this country is. We are surrounded by lush green tea plantations where the temperatures have dropped to a manageable level by day and thermals by night. Yes, thermals.

And the days are only getting better...
We started in Kandy and little did we know at the time of stepping from the bus our fate was sealed. Athula, a keen tuktuk driver approached us ( as they all do ) and while at first he seemed like just another of the same he was most definitely different. If only you could write trip advisor reviews on drivers..
First he bargained a room rate down from 3,500Rs to 2,000 and then offered us the same price for a days tour of the surrounding region. A bloody good deal when dealing in rups.

We started with a spice garden, and while I have been to one in south India this one was much different. It was more about how they use herbs for Ayurvedic purposes. They have everything from beauty creams to weight loss to curing high blood pressure PERMANTLY..
After we had been around the garden it was time to trial these products, a pleasant surprise to both joe and I.
We had facial, head, back and leg massages with the special potions and lotions and all for free.
The catch being we were expected to spend up large in the shop.. amd with 30% off due to being in the low season - how could we not!

Next stop was pinnewala elephant orphange where 100+ elephant have been rescued and are now living it up with the mahouts as there keen carers.
The best part of this was the small 3metre wide lane which separates the river where they bath and the park itself. We were all lined up on either side of this lane with massive elephants trampling right pastus back to the park, nearly but never actually taking out everyone in their path.
And after being hit in the head and almost taken out by a flapping elephant ear we got some pretty good photos..

After this we visited a tea museum, where we learnt the processes of making tea but I won't talk to much about this because I am aware of the length of this blog and I'm not even half way through.. Stay with me people.

It was well past lunch time by this stage so Athula invited us to his home for lunch. It was such a kind gesture and an amazing opportunity for us to see a real Sri Lankan household. Athula lived with his family, his wife's parents and his many sisters and brothers in law. I loved the dynamics of the household and have already planned out a 'mills complex' which has both April, jack and myself living below mum and dad on the free sections with our future families. Mum, dad, April, jack.. How does that sound?

Last stop of the day was some kandy traditional dancing and fire walking.
This was interesting and the costumes amazing but the true stars of the show were the fire walkers who were not only walking but putting fire torches into their mouths and licking it.
Can somebody explain to me how this is possible?
I am quite sure it is not just in my mind that fire is absurdly hot. I can't even sit a half a metre from our lounge room fire at times, let alone put any part of my skin in direct contact.

And here's comes the end of the kandy tale. Cut short for readers best interest and put into a two part blog on the hill country.

Lotsa love xxxxx