From Olu Ella to Kandy

We have been looking forward to our tour of the North Central part of Sri Lanka with "Lucky" Lakshman Bolonge for months.  Lakshman arrived well on time and had the idea of taking a short cut by continuing along the road towards Nawalapitiya. He had been told by tuktuk drivers that it was 17km to Nawalapitiya that way and also a beautiful drive however we were rather dubious because the road is famous for being almost impassable for all but 4 wheel drive vehicles.  Lucky had been assured that the road had been upgraded so as we had plenty of time, off we went.

Map showing location of Olu Ella Inn, Dombepola

True . The scenery was spectacular. True. The road had been upgraded but only for a little way. Once again a bridge was to add interest to our day ! Just past Nagastenna we rounded a bend and Lucky went "Oooo ! " and applied the brakes firmly, stopping  at a bridge that had many holes and seemed to have only a surface for the space of tyres with great holes gaping wide. We all let out a sigh of relief when we slowly reached the other side.  That we managed to complete this part of our trip without getting stuck or damaging the vehicle is due to Lucky's driving skills and cool head.

False. The distance was actually 26km and it took almost three hours to reach Nawalapitiya.  Most of the way was what could not ever be described as a road.  I was happy that Lucky actually seemed to be enjoying the experience, especially the magnificent views.

From Olu Ella to Nagastenna, the road was fine.
This is one of the better parts towards Nawalapitiya.

This is really a very beautiful part of Sri Lanka with rainforest vegetation, many streams and little waterfalls and amazing rock formations. We saw steep cliff faces with trees growing in them, their roots must have gone down in crevices too high up to be obvious to us. We stopped many times to take photos and as Lucky is a birdman, he pointed out several birds -  an eagle circling on a thermal, some tiny little birds that at first looked like butterflies. So although it was a slow trip it was a very pleasant one.

Nagastenna area - a few Kilometers from Olu Ella.

 After a short break at Gampola for short eats that became lunch, we arrived at Kandy and our guesthouse – Nature’s Walk. Sam and I had a spacious room with private balcony and view over the hills. Melanie’s room was at the side of the building and unfortunately did not have a view however this was later changed for her and she had the best view of the Kandy.

Kandy is really the cultural and religious heart of Sri Lanka with the most revered Buddha relic, his tooth, being housed at Sri Dalada Maligawa - The Temple of the Tooth. It was also the last of the Lanka kingdoms to fall to the British. this happened in 1815 after a bit of treason when one Ekneligoda revealed an entrance to the well fortified city in the hills. So, the last King of Lanka Sri Vikramarajasingha 's reign from 1795 - 1815 was over. Sad to think that a Kingdom that survived the invasion by the Portuguese in the 1500s and the Dutch who chased out the Portuguese fell by such an act.

Sam and I have happy memories of Kandy as, due to our car breaking down at Gampola, we spent our honeymoon at Queens Hotel instead of Nuwara Eliya. We have also enjoyed other holidays here with our children and just the two of us.

Melanie and Sam by the Kandy Lake

In the evening we went down to the Kandy Lake for a short walk before attending a dance performance at the Kandy Cultural Centre. This was somewhat of a disappointment as I have never seen such a poor presentation of Sri Lankan dance. The reception from the audience was not at all enthusiastic and I think that the people who are responsible for this presentation of Sri Lankan culture should be aware that those who visit Sri Lanka most likely also visit other countries nearby and, like me, would compare such presentations. As I watched, I was reminded of the dance performance at our 30^th Wedding Anniversary party put on by our niece, nephew and their friends who were then studying dance.

the Low country Mask dance

The best performed dance - the Plate Dance