I originally titled this article with a rather rotten pun (“In the land of Kandy”, and a paragraph “Kandy-tu?” – we do what we can…), but in the end, let’s keep it simple: yes, here we are in Kandy!
Situated at a little over 500 metres above sea level, Kandy is a fairly large city (less than 200 inhabitants, however, to give an idea of the scale) but with immense historical and spiritual weight. Classified as Unesco World Heritage Since 1988, it has been known above all for its central lake, which gives it a particular charm, and for the famous Temple of the Tooth, a high place of Theravada Buddhism.
The name “Kandy” comes from the local chief Kande Raja, “king of the mountain”, a name that the Portuguese are said to have given it as early as 1542. In any case, the city offers a pleasant break between nature and religious fervor, perfect for strolling for a while.
Where to stay in Kandy?
We take a tuk-tuk when we arrive at the station to go to our hotel that I had booked beforehand, which won't stop our driver of the day from repeating to us "but you don't want to go there... It's not expensive" blah blah blah... It's hard to make them understand that it's booked AND paid for so no thanks, we want to go there!
And here in this case, it is probably the best hotel we had in Sri Lanka in terms of value for money, the location, the atmosphere, everything is there. So we land at the Settle Inn Tourist Lodge (you can book it here), located at the very end of the lake (opposite the town center but at least quiet), which we walked along before being able to put our bags down.
Origin of Kandy Lake
For the record, Kandy Lake, today the city's main water reservoir, is an artificial lake created in 1807 by the last Sinhalese king of Kandy, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha (who reigned from 1798 to 1815), who used forced labor...
The king used land that was used as rice fields to create the lake. This was seen at the time as an excess of the Kandyan monarchy, a move that was all the more frowned upon because in addition to ruining national resources to build an ornamental lake, it was a time when the Kingdom was seriously threatened by the English.
When a hundred of his advisors informed the king of the unpopularity of the construction of the lake, in a fit of rage, he allegedly impaled them all on the edge of the rice field where he soon built the lake. Just that.
It was not long before the British captured him as they had the help of his own nobles in his court, who were unhappy with his irrational policies.
Overview of the city of Kandy and its market
Concretely, the tour of the lake is 3,3 km, so it is already a good walk to do on foot. For our part, we went along the lake to reach the city center, just to see what the 2nd city of the country looks like. It was really a very small incursion, a very brief glimpse but which also remained the opportunity for me to go for a walk in the shops to prospect for t-shirts and souvenirs to bring back.
Prospecting that will be fruitless but hey, it allowed us to see what the local fashion is like (and the sarong is still very popular! In doing so, we were content to wander the streets to soak up the constant hubbub, we took advantage of being in the area to take a tour of the local municipal market (Kandy Municipal Central Market), always a good opportunity to take some photos.
As we walked around, we came across a lot of people, we could tell that it was an important city, it was lively, it was teeming. Surprisingly, right next to the market, so right in the centre, we came across the walls of the city prison (the largest in the country, too), as we turned onto the road heading back towards the lake.
[Later EDIT: it has since closed its doors, the new prison is now located 10 km east of the city exit, the good news is that the space not used by the prison is now used as a public park, [Bogambara Prison Park]
Continuation of the walk around the lake
Here we are again along the lake, but this time, we continued the walk towards the north to finish our loop around it. In doing so, we pass in front of one of the iconic buildings of the city, dating from the colonial era. Today it houses the Queen's Hotel, a rather luxury establishment even if it remains at a very affordable price (probably because it looks a little old, if that interests you, you can book here).
The locals enjoy this green setting as much as we do and we understand why. It's always nice to walk along the water, in the shade of the imposing trees (mango trees I think). On this part of the lake, the latter is bordered by a structure reminiscent of the battlements of a fortified castle.
The goal here is to match the structure surrounding the city's important temple, not far away. In the middle of the lake, we can see a small island with a stone arch. From what I've read, it's Diyathilaka Mandapa Island, built by the same King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha. Although only an old stone door frame remains today, this island once served as a summer residence for the royal family. Local legends tell of underwater tunnels connecting the island to the king's palace on the shore.
Overview of the Temple of the Tooth
Parallel to the lake, there is a sort of alley reminiscent of a park, it leads straight to the entrance of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, the famous temple of the tooth. We stopped there for today, given the time, it's not now that we were going to start this visit, which we had planned to do the next day (with the giant Buddha which dominates the city and offers a superb view of the surroundings, but I'll talk about that in next article).
Behind the temple is a hill, which shelters Udawatta Kele Shrine, normally one of the must-see visits in Kandy. For our part, we will give up on visiting the sanctuary, due to lack of time.
A gate separates the area around the temple from the area around the lake. From there, you can see a sort of procession with people dressed in white, carrying flowers and offerings. Probably a contingent of pilgrims, many of whom go to the sacred temple every day.
Even though she had a decidedly sad look on her face, a little lady made me understand that she wanted me to take her picture, while another gave me a rather radiant smile.
On the other side of the gate, right on the edge of the lake, there is a two-story structure that you can take a look inside. A sign indicates that it is "Biso ulpen ge", or Queen's bath in English, and the bath of the queens, in good French. This is the place where the queens consorts of King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha took their bath (given the name, it goes without saying...).
It is near this one that we will be accosted. A guy gives us his speech to come and attend a local dance show, which takes place in a theater a few cables from where we are. Since we planned to come back to the area to visit the temple anyway, we accepted the "invitation", at least, not that day, but an appointment is made for the next day.
There are apparently several groups of artists offering shows in this area, and for our part, we were asked to go to the Kadyan Art Associations Hall. And if we said yes, it's because it only cost us 500 Rupees (3€ at the time) each, for about 1 hour of show.
Simple dinner by the lake
By the time we had finished talking with the guy from the shows, night was already starting to fall. It was time to finish our loop around the lake and head back to our hotel. We were pretty exhausted from our day and couldn't be bothered to go back to the city centre to eat (even if we took a tuk tuk). So we headed off to the area around the guesthouse hoping to find something. We did and we sat down. at the Garden Café, located within the Kandy Garden Club.
The Garden Cafe is a small roadside restaurant at the other end of the lake, the closest to our hotel (only a 5 minute walk). The next day, we were going to get into the thick of things and visit the main points of interest in the city.
[EDIT: the latter did not survive Covid and has since closed its doors. It is much cosier and therefore more expensive but not far away, you have a very good restaurant: the Hideout Lounge]
