TEACHER NOMAD: NOVEMBER 13, FROM THIRAPPANE TO KANDY WITH STOPS ALONG THE WAY

We got up and packed, called for a golf cart to the main lodge then had breakfast. Off by 9 AM. There weren't too many people around, so breakfast was delightfully quiet. Just visited by a few monkeys

Our first stop was Dambulla Caves Rock Temple 1st century. The king at the time was deposed, and the monks let him hide in the caves. When he regained his throne and in appreciation let them set up a fancy temple since then. There were 500 steps to climb to get up to the caves with the Buddhas in them. Gabriel complained that the bottom of the climb had been turned into Disneyland. He was right. There was an enormous plastic Buddha and lots of fiberglass rocks around. It was pretty tacky.

For some reason the 500 steps were more gruelling than the 1000 yesterday. Maybe because I thought it wouldn't be a big deal. Anyway, we trudged up the hill. After the Disney-esque stuff below, I didn't hold out much hope for anything above. Fortunately, I was wrong. These collections of Buddhas were amazing. If not for their finesse, than for their quantity.

PHOTOS FROM THE TRIP UP

One of a dozen or so flights of stone steps up to the top.

The Buddhas were housed in the white building covering the cave walls

The first of the cave rooms with Buddhas only had a few large ones. All the walls in these rooms were covered with frescos

Trying to give a feeling for how many Buddhas were in the larger rooms

Pink faced monkey disguised as Donald Trump

The stairs down

The plastic Buddha and the fiber glass rocks

Our next stop was to a spice grower. They specialized in Ayurveda homeopathic remedies. Natural cures for whatever ails you. Some we knew about - Aloe Vera - some - I wasn't so sure. We got a neck massage. Although it felt good while getting the massage, the oils and sandalwood oil was very sticky. I knew that I didn't want to buy any to take home.

The garden at the beginning of our walk through.

Lastly, we stopped at a Batik factory. I had seen Batik items before, but these were quite lovely. We bought a tablecloth - with elephants to honor Sri Lanka. The cotton is from Egypt. Any area they want to keep white they cover immediately with wax. They then dye it in three steps. They first dip in a liquid which neither Charlie and I can remember, then in naphthalene, then in the dye. That process takes an hour. They start with the lighter colors then go on to the darker. At the end the material is boiled clean of wax.

The girl is tracing the lines with wax

The dye vats

Washing the material to get rid of the wax. It was a long arduous process.

Lovely skirt - I didn't get it but liked it a lot

Not so sure about Charlie in a sarong

The batik factory had been part of a colonial project - the home above was the original colonial owners home. It's now the home of the present owner.

We then drove on to Kandy. It was Friday, and Gabriel tried to avoid the city traffic. That basically wasn't possible. He had never been to our hotel before. He explained that the Victoria Golf Club and Reservoir had several chalets owned by people from Colombo. They rent them out to overseas visitors. That actually wasn't where we are staying. I'm not sure how Cox and Kings managed to find Ulagalla and Hotel Clingendael. Gabriel asked several people how to find this place. He eventually saw the hotel's name on the gates of the place. Good grief. Our room is two stories tall - up some stairs is another bed and a walkway that looks out of windows on the reservoir. Good grief. The weirdest thing is that we are the only ones staying here. Kind of creepy.