The journey to Kandy was an absolute mare. We got on our first bus
at Arugam Bay at 1pm, we arrived in Kandy at 10:30pm. The first two buses were
okay, we had a seat atleast. The third and last bus we got on was awful. We
didn't have a seat and it was so crammed with bodies you didn't even have to
hold on, you couldn't move. Luckily we were driving through mountains and it was
night time so despite being packed in like sardines it was surprisingly
cool.
The bus was packed with men, yet I only got offered a seat after 2 hours of standing when I must have turned green were I felt so ill. Fair play to the man though, better late than never. When we got on he also took our bags off us and put them on his lap so we could hold on properly. We got there safe and sound in the end though.
The whole reason we came to Kandy was because after extensive research it looked like our best option to get the FA Cup final. We really couldn't wait to watch the footy with a good few well deserved alcoholic beverages and have some western food in the English owned pub. We were fantasising about it for days. When we arrived here we were told there's a Buddist festival going on, started on the 4th and ended on the 6th. Great we thought, good timing. That was until we went looking for somewhere to watch the match.
Five and a half hours we spent power walking/jogging through the city looking for somewhere. Because of this fricking festival everywhere was closing at 8 or 9, if opening at all, and the game only started at 9:45 for us over here. We tried hotels too but none had the right channel.
After all the tears and disappointment we decided our only hope was to go back to the gaff and try and stream it on one of our tablets. We were absolutely gutted. To try and perk ourselves up we said we'd go supermarket and get a load of booze for the game. No no no,because of the God forsaken festival AGAIN, the sale or consumption of alcohol and meat has been banned. It was such a low point. In the end we watched the match on Lee's tablet propped up against the iron on the ironing board, more sober than a motherlover. To top it all off we lost. All that effort for what. Gutted.
Earlier on that day we nearly had a fight with a tuk tuk driver. After I bartered with him he said he'd do a fare for 200 rupees. I repeated this twice to clarify. When we got to our destination Lee gave him a 500 note and he short changed us by 50 rupees. I did wonder what he was doing when I saw him pull out two 100 notes and hesitate when he went to grab a third, then instead got a 50 note. We said hang on you said 200. He denied it and the three of us were arguing back and forth for a bit. He then went to drive off the cheeky prick, so I jumped in the back of the tuk tuk. His face illustrated that he didn't think of this scenario. He didn't know what to do but he certainly didn't want to pay up. It wasn't until Lee got aggressive to the point I thought he was going to smack him that he paid up, whimpering "I no like you people", presumably he meant English. How many muggy tourists have let him get away with that I wonder, probably very many.
Today we went to see the elephants! Yay! Our elephant was called Pooja, we got to bathe her and she gave us a shower with her trunk. Afterwards we rode her bare back (sorry sounds rude). It was absolutely amazing. My trip was tainted by the people working there though. Our mahout looked incredibly pissed off for whatever reason and I didn't like the way he was treating the elephant. I Know they're wild beasts capable of a lot of damage and they have to be kept inline, but the way he was poking her with his stick with such aggression just made me want to go home. The staff were trying to usher us in and out as quickly as possible and it felt as though they didn't care for the welfare of the animals, they just wanted money. They kept asking us for tips eventhough they'd done fuck all. If they were that concerned about the elephants then badger us for donations, not money for yourself. There were alot of volunteers from Europe, so I guess if the elephants were being mistreated they wouldn't be there? It was definitely worth doing though, just a shame the humans ruined it.
Did you know they make paper out of elephant poo? Nugget of useless information there for ya.
We each had a crack at driving a tuk tuk today as well, was quality. Roads are mad here though, the big vehicles get right of way so I thought I was going to get ran off the road a few times like but 'twas good :)
Guess what, it's the 7th which means the festival is over, which means.... ALCOHOL O'CLOCK!!
You're made to feel like a criminal here for getting alcohol. Where we went today you have to come out of the supermarket, go into a back street ally past all the bins and shit and then you start to see all these sheepish lookin' geezers carrying their liquor. You go a bit further then there's a concrete hut situation behind jail bars with a couple of lads serving. It was like doing a bit of a walk of shame. Felt like we were doing something really naughty.
Not long got back armed with a litre of Smirnoff with Redbull and juice! Nom nom nom. Oh and a big bar of chocolate! Nom nom nom... HAPPY FACE!!!
The bus was packed with men, yet I only got offered a seat after 2 hours of standing when I must have turned green were I felt so ill. Fair play to the man though, better late than never. When we got on he also took our bags off us and put them on his lap so we could hold on properly. We got there safe and sound in the end though.
The whole reason we came to Kandy was because after extensive research it looked like our best option to get the FA Cup final. We really couldn't wait to watch the footy with a good few well deserved alcoholic beverages and have some western food in the English owned pub. We were fantasising about it for days. When we arrived here we were told there's a Buddist festival going on, started on the 4th and ended on the 6th. Great we thought, good timing. That was until we went looking for somewhere to watch the match.
Five and a half hours we spent power walking/jogging through the city looking for somewhere. Because of this fricking festival everywhere was closing at 8 or 9, if opening at all, and the game only started at 9:45 for us over here. We tried hotels too but none had the right channel.
After all the tears and disappointment we decided our only hope was to go back to the gaff and try and stream it on one of our tablets. We were absolutely gutted. To try and perk ourselves up we said we'd go supermarket and get a load of booze for the game. No no no,because of the God forsaken festival AGAIN, the sale or consumption of alcohol and meat has been banned. It was such a low point. In the end we watched the match on Lee's tablet propped up against the iron on the ironing board, more sober than a motherlover. To top it all off we lost. All that effort for what. Gutted.
Earlier on that day we nearly had a fight with a tuk tuk driver. After I bartered with him he said he'd do a fare for 200 rupees. I repeated this twice to clarify. When we got to our destination Lee gave him a 500 note and he short changed us by 50 rupees. I did wonder what he was doing when I saw him pull out two 100 notes and hesitate when he went to grab a third, then instead got a 50 note. We said hang on you said 200. He denied it and the three of us were arguing back and forth for a bit. He then went to drive off the cheeky prick, so I jumped in the back of the tuk tuk. His face illustrated that he didn't think of this scenario. He didn't know what to do but he certainly didn't want to pay up. It wasn't until Lee got aggressive to the point I thought he was going to smack him that he paid up, whimpering "I no like you people", presumably he meant English. How many muggy tourists have let him get away with that I wonder, probably very many.
Today we went to see the elephants! Yay! Our elephant was called Pooja, we got to bathe her and she gave us a shower with her trunk. Afterwards we rode her bare back (sorry sounds rude). It was absolutely amazing. My trip was tainted by the people working there though. Our mahout looked incredibly pissed off for whatever reason and I didn't like the way he was treating the elephant. I Know they're wild beasts capable of a lot of damage and they have to be kept inline, but the way he was poking her with his stick with such aggression just made me want to go home. The staff were trying to usher us in and out as quickly as possible and it felt as though they didn't care for the welfare of the animals, they just wanted money. They kept asking us for tips eventhough they'd done fuck all. If they were that concerned about the elephants then badger us for donations, not money for yourself. There were alot of volunteers from Europe, so I guess if the elephants were being mistreated they wouldn't be there? It was definitely worth doing though, just a shame the humans ruined it.
Did you know they make paper out of elephant poo? Nugget of useless information there for ya.
We each had a crack at driving a tuk tuk today as well, was quality. Roads are mad here though, the big vehicles get right of way so I thought I was going to get ran off the road a few times like but 'twas good :)
Guess what, it's the 7th which means the festival is over, which means.... ALCOHOL O'CLOCK!!
You're made to feel like a criminal here for getting alcohol. Where we went today you have to come out of the supermarket, go into a back street ally past all the bins and shit and then you start to see all these sheepish lookin' geezers carrying their liquor. You go a bit further then there's a concrete hut situation behind jail bars with a couple of lads serving. It was like doing a bit of a walk of shame. Felt like we were doing something really naughty.
Not long got back armed with a litre of Smirnoff with Redbull and juice! Nom nom nom. Oh and a big bar of chocolate! Nom nom nom... HAPPY FACE!!!
Oh dear - bet that bottle of vodka didn't last long! Love you x
ReplyDelete