Gardens win out over temple

Kandy - Temple of the Tooth
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Kandy’s Hotel Suisse is a very grand old place with large public areas, a swimming pool and some nice gardens. It was Lord Mountbatten’s headquarters during World War II. Dinner very boring .... mostly European and rather .. well, Swiss. I did enjoy it when a large Sri Lankan group stayed there because local food was featured in the buffet. Normally I would have gone out to find a restaurant but the monsoon rains which started around 4pm went on for hours and I was trapped.

Kandy's main attraction is the Temple of the Tooth.  It houses a Buddha relic which ended up here after being in several temples in the country. This is a large complex right in the city centre ; security is tight and there are lots of devotees in the temple and its associated grounds. I ignored several guides near the ticket booth and security point but the one near the actual entrance to the temple had a badge and appeared official. Just as well that I linked up with him ; this is a large complex and he took me to areas that I might not have noticed on my own (in some cases it was not obvious that they were open to the public). The monks in the place seem to be bored by the whole thing .. the devotees seem genuine enough but I didn't think the place had much of a holy vibe to it.

Kandy - Temple of the Tooth
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Peradeniya Botanical Gardens are about 6 miles outside Kandy. A large site (60 hectares / 47 acres) built in loop of a large river, the gardens were designed by the British on a site which was once a royal palace and garden. This is one of the best gardens I have seen .. the layout is superb ; open spaces are interspersed with dense gardens such as the Fern Garden .. a few plant houses including an orchid house, bamboo groves .. much to see and enjoy. The highlight has to be the Java Fig Tree in the Great Lawn. It is a huge spreading tree (2500 square feet) which is over 100 years old and seems to be in excellent health. Up close, the leaves are small .. much like the ficus we have as a house plant .. but the scale and beauty of this tree is astounding. It is good to see so many flowers and flowering trees which we normally have in a hothouse, growing in natural conditions. And of course with at least 2 hours of rain per day and temperatures of 86 degrees, this is a hothouse climate.

Kandy - the lake
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I have to have my rant :

• The Water Garden .. covered in a old fashioned steel cage which you often saw in old style zoos .. pathetic.

• The Japanese Garden.. the directors of this botanical garden should be sued for using the name. This is a mess and doesn't even hold its own as a garden, let alone this moniker.