We arrived very early at Colombo Fort train station for our train to Kandy after reading reviews that the queues to collect tickets can take a while. We had booked tickets in advance, we used http://www.visitsrilankatours.com as recommended on http://www.seat61.com – two first class single tickets were 5150rps / £22 which is a lot more than you pay on the day but does guarantee you a seat in the observation car. I hadn’t realised but our tickets were booked using the Mobitel system, which means you can pick them up at a phone shop rather than the station. Because I hadn’t twigged that at the time so was quite confused when I tried to enter the ticket office and a passer by ushered me to a mobile phone shop , who then whisked away my passport, leaving me alone on the street. But after a few minutes it was returned along with our train tickets, the kind man even showed us to the platform for our train so we wouldn’t get lost. This pretty much sums up the kindness of Sri Lankans in general, as the man directing us around didn’t work there, he was just kind and helpful, asking nothing in return – apart from the usual “where are you from?”.
As it took no time at all to get our tickets, we had quite some time to wait before our train. Colombo Fort station is a great place for watching the world go by, full of packed trains and street food sellers rushing around, so the time passed quickly. There are also some quirks to Sri Lankan train stations, such as the toilets marked ‘Foreigners Toilets’. It feels slightly odd using them, but if they have provided them it feels almost rude not to.
We had booked first class observation car tickets so that we could guarantee a seat, but also to hopefully take advantage of the wonderful views we were anticipating on the journey (from mostly reading about them beforehand). When the train arrived early, we quickly jumped on – with it being our first full day in Sri Lanka we were not acclimatised to the heat and so the air conditioning in the carriage was very welcome. The train carriage was comfortable, with large windows and overhead racks for our bags. We got ourselves sorted and settled in for the ride.
Once out of the city the scenery passing the windows started off as lush rice paddy fields, rivers and small towns, before climbing higher towards the mountains and thicker jungle. The train isn’t uncomfortable but is very bumpy – so much so my activity tracker watch clocked 2000 steps over the 3 hour journey – it all adds to the journey itself. Around an hour from Kandy the views really open up over the mountains, so I would recommend sitting on the right hand side of the train if possible to get the best view.
We arrived in Kandy just as it was getting dark and hopped in our first tuk tuk up to our hotel. We stayed at the Lakewood Residence which is on the hill to the south of the lake and in travel distance to the centre of Kandy, from the train station it was 300rps in a tuk tuk for about a 10 minute journey.
After settling into our hotel we ventured out to find some dinner. In the dark it is quite hard to tell how easy it is to get down into the city centre, we found it the next day so just look for the path going down the hill from the hotel and it leads straight to the lake, it’s lit with street lamps too so safe to walk up and down in the dark.
We had looked up a couple of places to eat but to be honest in the centre of Kandy there isn’t a huge amount of choice. As we were walking along the main street we were approached by a man with a menu which looked ok, so we thought why not and went inside. From the outside at ground floor it looked like a bakery but we were taken up in a lift to the top floor to the Sky Lounge. We hadn’t noticed it on Trip Advisor or in either of the guidebooks we had with us but I would highly recommend the Sky Lounge. We both opted for the traditional Sri Lankan curry – Richie went for prawn and I had cuttlefish, both around 500rps (£2.20). When it arrived we were amazed at the amount of food! We were each given a plate of rice and then more and more bowls kept arriving with roti, curry, coconut sambol, dahl curry, bean curry and beetroot curry – it was quite the feast and so tasty! Overall our dinner, including beers, cost us £10 and it was delicious.
After looking over the guide books we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens the next day, but first we visited the tourist information office. The office sits just behind the bus station in a one storey building. The guys were very helpful, discussing our options for our few days in Kandy. I would recommend dropping in to discuss your plans if you’re unsure as they were so helpful. We knew we wanted to do a day trip so they helped organise one for the next day to Nuwara Eliya (more on that later) but also helped us work out how to get to the botanical gardens – our options were tuk tuk for 500rps or the bus for much much less, around 30rps each. The bus sounded exciting so they helped us flag one down outside and we set off.
Just so you know, the buses in Sri Lanka each have a conductor, who just looks like a normal passenger apart from they are the one hanging off the door shouting at people. To pay for your ticket you take a seat and then they come to you to collect payment, its quite impressive how they remember who has or hasn’t paid. It also meant we could ask for him to let us know when to get off which was handy.
The botanical gardens are about a 20-30min bus ride from the centre of Kandy, and entrance costs 1500rps each (£6.40) for foreigners, but for us it was well worth the visit and we were there for around 3+hours. The plants are lovely with a variety of areas displaying different types, plus huge bamboo and palm trees. There are a lot of monkeys and other types of wildlife dotted around the gardens, plus hundreds (and I mean literally hundreds) of fruit bats nesting. Fruit bats are the size of large seagulls and screech in a similar way. It was interesting to see them but I didn’t want to spend too long underneath them! The gardens have a snack shop and a café so you can pick up a sandwich and a juice fairly easily – its nothing fancy but if that’s all you need its fine – and it was nice to sit in the shade on the grass enjoying the view.
The river to the north of the gardens 
Monkeys roam around the lawns 
There are a couple of glass houses dotted around 
There are all sorts of plants and styles throughout the gardens 
The Palm Avenue
After finishing up at the gardens we got the bus back into Kandy and decided to visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth. When we first approached the entrance we were turned away as Richie was wearing shorts (I had covered up with a sarong), so after a quick pit stop back at our hotel for a swim and a change we went back. You enter the grounds for free so you can walk around the outside in the gardens, to go in the temple itself you need to buy a foreigners ticket from the ticket office which is round the side next to the lake, for 1000rps each (£4.20). You then need to walk back around the front to the other end to check in your shoes before heading in. Around the shoe check-in were a lot of people trying to sell you their services as a private tour guide, quite persistently. We declined as we had a guide book and also were just wanting to wander round in our own way, it took a while for them to get the hint but eventually they left us alone. You were also offered lotus flowers to leave at the shrine as a token, again these were for a fee. I declined, not because of having to pay for them, but because I am not religious in any way it felt a bit false. We headed inside and used our Rough Guides book for a personal tour which worked really well, telling us enough about each of the spaces we were in and allowing us to move through the building at our own pace. We spent around an hour overall in the temple which was nice, especially as the sun was getting low so everything was lit with a warm yellow glow.
There is a moat around the temple, wtih some scary creatures in it! 
Various structures are dotted around the grounds 
The shrine itself is quite impressive, but no sign of the tooth – it is behind around 7 locked doors
We then headed for a drink at The Pub which sits on the main street. We had seen it the night before as it has a big balcony onto the street which looked nice. At first glance there were no seats available but the waiter quickly rearranged some furniture and found us two seats together. Again the beer was quite cheep at 500rps for a large one, and we happily sat there watching the world go by for a few hours. We decided to try somewhere different for dinner that night and headed to Café 1886 as it is recommended on Trip Advisor. We sat out on the balcony again which was great as we got to watch the world go by below. One thing I would note is that most of Kandy closes up by 7pm and the streets go from bustling to quite empty, leaving just tourists walking around. We had Sri Lankan curry again, and again I had cuttlefish. To be honest it wasn’t as good as the Sky Lounge, it was twice the price and we didn’t get rice, it was still nice but not quite the same as the night before. The next night we went back to the Sky Lounge again – I know we should have probably tried elsewhere but it was really good!
Overall we had a really enjoyable stay in Kandy, albeit brief. It is a small city in terms of the centre, and with the lake and surrounding trees it is an attractive place. I wouldn’t recommend much more than 3 nights as there isn’t much to see in town, and even then we went out of town on one of the days. I’m sure we could have maybe made more of it, visited some more of the temples and gone further afield, but all in all there wasn’t much in Kandy itself.
Our hotel was handy, especially once we found the path down the side as a shortcut to the lake – avoiding going down busy roads in the dark and also meaning we didn’t need to get tuk tuks everywhere. The hotel was clean and airy, with a nice (but cold) pool on the roof next the breakfast room. The breakfast was good, with fresh fruit and a buffet including western food but also local items. There were some friendly visitors too every morning in the form of mischievous monkeys. There is a sign on the balcony window warning you about them but I didn’t really believe it until I opened the curtain the next morning and there they were right in front of me.
Planes, Trains... and Cake 