Friday morning we set out for the Central Highlands and Dambulla. We left at 7:30 am but got halted by an ATM machine which decided to chew Demians credit card. "Out-of-order, not able to return card!" was a lousy start on the day, but HSBC bank were sorry and ensured us we would get it back on Monday so we decided to move on.
Traffic in Sri Lanka is probably far more dangerous to ordinary tourists than the infamous military conflict, and travelling in Sri Lanka can be a challenge in general. Not so much due to the poor road standards as to the number of people, motobikes, tractors, trucks and other traffic coming at you from all sides and directions. A 30km/h is basically all what you can hope for travelling at daytime. And we hadn’t gone far as we came upon a young puppydog lying in the middle of the road, obviously been hit by a traveller and screaming in agony as life was running out. A motorcyclist lifted the poor puppy and laid it to rest roadside, but without relieving it from its misery. The smalltalk in our car basically closed down for the next few kilometres. Later we passed this mini-van which had had an encounter with the lorry i the background.
Winding roads, often with a steep drop on one side, lead us into the Dumbarra mountain range of central Sri Lanka.
And a break to enjoy the view was well deserved. Here we are half way from Colombo to Kandy (this is called Highway A1... :)
The Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage.
After a few hours on heavily congested and narrow roads, we made it to Pinnewale where the elephants were just having their morning bath in the river. A spectacular and enjoyable sight!
An elephant community is a very female-dominated world.. :) This Matriarch is the current ruler, she's probably in her 40's something, and holds a firm grip on everything that goes around in the elephant society.
The orphanage is designed to care for elephants that has been affected by war, either by loosing a leg to a mine, or other having sustained other injuries. But they also care for young elephants occasionally left by the mother (killed, or whatever the reason..).
Pinnewala is a must see when you come to Sri Lanka!
As we continued to gain altitude the heat was somewhat reduced and as we got to the Kandy at 850 metres above sea level, it was at a bearable 28C. Kandy is the old capital of the island, and where Kings used to reign. Nowadays it’s mostly famous for the Temple of the Tooth which presents itself with the Golden covering visible from afar, and said to be holding a relic tooth of Lord Buddha himself.
Most Sri Lankan towns and villages are made up by some main road passing through, with low-rise buildings and shops strewn along for a mile or so. Often the village is no more than a block or two wide on each side. Village life is centered along the road itself.
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