First week on the road | Kandy | Dambulla |

My first week in Sri Lanka flew by. There is so much to see in this beautiful country, which I was crossing at maximum pace. I arrived to Kandy by train from Colombo. At the viewpoint over Kandy I was able to capture this beautiful vibrant city, in spite of being smart enough to forget to pack my tripod 🙂

While Kandy has a lot to offer, my new travel buddy Charlotte and I decided to visit some places surrounding Kandy. In Peradeniya is one of Sri Lanka’s most famous botanical gardens, where one could easily get lost for an entire day exploring the beautiful flora & fauna of this country. “Just don’t wander off without paying attention to those cheeky monkeys who might steal your food”.  So I decided to shoot them instead. With my camera, off course.

 

After a few days in Kandy, my body was craving some change and Charlotte and I travelled to Dambulah. If that long bus ride was very good for my body is a different question of course, as Sri Lankan buses are not very famous for their comfortable seats. From Dambullah we arranged a safari in Minnerya Wildpark. Our first encounter with two wild elephants was soon overwhelmed by multiple big groups of elephants passing by. Apparently September is the season when a phenomenon called ‘The Gathering’ takes place. At the end of the safari we had seen more than 200 elephants!

That night we decided to take it slow, as our friendly tuk tuk driver picked us up at 4:30 AM (!) the next morning to climb Pidurangula Rock. We climbed this temple near Sigiriya in pitch dark in order to witness the sunrise. And what a sunrise it was! Everything was lit so magically as we gasped at the magnificent views around us.  

Off to a new adventure, a little less busy, a beach maybe?