Shoe Kidnap

I wake up excited although still tired today. This morning we are heading to a spice garden and a cooking class! On the way the bus stops at a supermarket so we can top up on bits and bobs like water and tissues in my case. I’ve come down with a bit of a cold, you know like one does in 30 degree heat! After the supermarket we also stop at a coconut stall, where most of the group enjoy some fresh coconut water and flesh. I must admit after having a sip of someone else’s, I decide to give it a miss, weirdly I only seem to enjoy coconut as an ingredient in its shredded form, like in the mountains of Coconut Sambal, the unofficial national dish, served throughout Sri Lanka.

Dr Jason, a friendly Ozzie I am fast becoming mates with, decides to go for a quick pee behind the trees, which I think is a rather brave choice considering we are dead opposite the special task force branch police station. I notice he is watched like a hawk by the copper on the phone out front but, hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

Finally we make it to the Spice Garden refreshed and hydrated and the rest of the group who chose not to go in front of the police make use of the toilet facilities before our tour starts. We are introduced to another doctor, Dr Bobbie, who claims to be a cardiologist but the tour and information that follows make me suspect he is more of a holistic healer than a doctor. Dr Bobbie does make some valid points though: western medicine often takes a symptom-first view of medicine whereas more eastern medicines focus on the body as a whole; trying to cure the cause. The healing powers of many spices and natural remedies can be overlooked in the west for more manufactured medicines, that cause unwanted side effects. The doc does lose me a bit with the claim that the special pineapple pills he sells allow you to lose 50% of your excess body fat within a month and stop you putting on any weight for 10 to 12 years, whilst also flushing out your organs and ‘making your insides young again’. Unsurprisingly I opt out of buying any of the remedies they sell; I do however enjoy a lovely rum cocktail made with fresh fruit and spices and relax with a quick complimentary head, shoulder and back massage using their Sandalwood oil.

The cooking class

Fresh coconut

Once massaged up and refreshed from my cocktail, the cooking class starts, with the group divided into stations; some cutting onions and tomatoes, others working on cabbage or coconut. My favourite part was probably watching the poppadoms puff up in the bubbling oil and then get eaten by the group just as quickly as they are cooked. Although I do love cooking, this class drags a little, especially as it becomes more of a demonstration than an interactive class. Just before the final part, the mixing of the Sambal, Jason and I decide to try a chilli each. It’s nice – quite hot and does make us pant a bit, but with my cold, it’s one to get the sinuses open. The group’s energy levels are starting to wain by the time we are finally done cooking and are able to sit down and enjoy our lunch. I suspect that by the end, the main thing keeping everyone awake was shitting themselves every time a firecracker was randomly set off to scare all the monkeys that hung around the spice garden. But the meal was very enjoyable nevertheless.

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Beautiful costumes, beautiful dances

After we are replete, we head back to the bus to set off for Kandy – just missing the holiday festival by a day. Arriving at our Kandy hotel I have to quickly change into temple-appropriate clothing as I had opted in to the cultural show and fire walk. So now, with my knees and shoulders covered, me and the others who were going to the show jump into some tuk-tuks and are whizzed off. It was brilliant: with traditional drumming and dances including the peacock dance and tea picking dance which the group has been imitating since. The show also included lots of acrobatics with two of the dancers doing flips all over the stage culminating in the lights being turned off and fire being rubbed all over the bodies of the male performers, followed by a fire walk. The best part was the fact that the dancers seemed to be truly enjoying themselves with many of the woman performers giggling and sharing laughs and looks between them.

The Walk of Fire

After the show we start to walk towards the Temple of the Tooth a massive and famous temple in central Kandy beside a man-made lake. The temple is said to house the tooth of Buddha himself, rescued from the ashes of his cremation. The temple and tooth had been a massive part of the festival that had happened the day before, with the parade officially starting when the monks and tooth leaves the temple to parade around the city. The temple itself is incredibly busy although our guide Sumudu says it is nothing compared to what it would have been like yesterday. The temple has many artefacts and is adorned with lots of gold and many collection boxes for donations. It does leave me feeling a little uneasy about the wealth disparity between the temples and churches and the local people around. After our tour of the temple we walk back to the shoe storage area. Due to me staying back to ensure the whole group knew where to go when we first entered the temple, my shoes aren’t in the group box – they are separated with only a couple of other pairs. When I go to collect them the attendant keeps my shoes hostage until I donate in the box, just shaking his head after I put in the first note. With the second note I get my shoes back and the group can then head back to the hotel.

We disperse for dinner; I am not that hungry so I accompany Ali and Jason who want to try out Sri Lankan KFC. We run into Sumudu, our guide, who says he loves the Chicken Biryani that KFC does. With his help we manage to get a few chicken bites to try, so we can know the spice level. Jason is very generous and orders a 20 box because he knows I’m not that hungry and insists on sharing.

Sri Lankan KFC

Temple of the Tooth

Once we are all done with our KFC we head back to the hotel for a few drinks and are joined by other members of the group. We end the night with some drinks and silly party games, one of which includes clapping and saying your own name a certain number of times on the beat before passing it on to someone else. Ali and I struggle with this, Ali a little more than me, as he uses the the numbers 5 and 6 consecutively, even though being told multiple times you have to pick between 1 and 4! But eventually we get the hang of it and the other games, and get to end the night sharing laughs and drinks with new friends as the night draws in on another day in Sri Lanka.