Kandy, Sri Lanka

On our first full day in Sri Lanka, we woke early from our hotel in Colombo and hopped in the car towards Kandy and the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage. A spice garden tour was our very first stop. We walked around the garden and sniffed at plants. Having forgotten to pack bug spray, we gladly purchased the overpriced citronella cream (which smelled quite nice) as the area we were in still had malaria present.

We headed towards the orphanage in time for some elephant-watching before feed time. We were able to get startling up close and personal to the elephants which seemed to vary in age dramatically. A baby elephant had just been born about 10 days prior to our arrival but since it was so young, he/she was still being kept away from the masses. We did see Sama, the three-legged elephant who lost her fourth leg in a land-mine accident, and a couple other toddler elephants.

We went for the feeding session where tourist can pay outrageous sums of money to "feed" the younger elephants. This really only means keeping one hand on a bottle while the staff held the rest (and the elephant). It was crowded, hot, and not particularly earth-shattering so we beat a hasty retreat. Our guide offered us the opportunity to ride elephants (outside of the orphanage) but we'd driven past some of these "vendors" earlier and didn't get the greatest impression of the conditions these animals were kept in.

Instead, we headed straight to lunch - at a restaurant overlooking the river where the elephants went to bath. Now that looked like fun. As we sipped local brew (Lion, very good, served Lagos-style in gigantic bottles) and ate delicious curry, we jealously watched the elephants frolic in the water, splashing themselves and each other.

We continued heading towards Kandy after lunch but made time for an Ayurvedic treatment on the way. A great (and cheap) massage was followed by a sauna. I felt great but in the HOT Sri Lankan temperature, I began to feel a bit ill from the dehydration. We arrived in town in time for a local (Kandyan) dance show. The Uda Rata Natum (the traditional name for the dance) are actually several different dances and we were able to watch a sampling of each. The costumes were elaborate and the music percussion-based but catchy. The best part was a whirling thing that one of the dancers did - he practically went perpendicular to the ground as he whirled in circles.

After the show, the dancers quickly set up for a fire-walking show outside. We had prime standing space and it was pretty amazing to watch. I think I was most nervous when one of the performers swallowed propane. I knew what he'd do with it but it was still a shock to watch. We then headed to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth but more on that will come later...

Back to Blogging - Tasmania!

No, we didn't go back. Oprah went though. She must've read my posts last fall and been totally jealous.

I am going to try to blog again though. Slowly. So here are some photos from Tasmania. We wanted to go wine tasting in Tassie but we thought 9am was a little early to start (amateurs, I'm sure some of you are calling us). Instead we headed to a nature preserve near the wine country outside of Hobart. We thought we'd see some cute animals but were EXCITED to see a sign at entry about kangaroo feeding at 11am. They gave us some food and set us loose.

We saw a bunch of other animals native to Australia first, including the above Tasmanian Devils. They were definitely devilish-looking and fighting over a twig.

I finally spotted a kangaroo freely hopping around and was so excited that I ran right up, spending a lot of time petting it and thinking this was my one big chance. Little did I know that we would turn a corner and walk right into a GIGANTIC kangaroo pen. HUGE. There were probably 60-80 kangaroos just hanging around, snoozing, playing, etc and a few other people who were feeding them the snacks from right inside the cage. We walked in and while Mark didn't want to feed them (he was convinced at least one would be rabid. He was wrong.), I went for it. I fed and pet the tall aggressive ones and the little joeys. It was such a fun detour and definitely worth postponing the wine.

Eventually, we got hungry and were ready for some wine and lunch. After quiches in a tiny Tasmanian town's cafe, we hit our first vineyard. Writing this three months later, I can't remember any of the names (and am too lazy to get up and check the bottle labels) but they were all pretty good. The whites were especially tasty and we brought back some Pinot Gris and Champagne that has never been exported out of Tasmania. Very yummy.