Thursday 10th May 2012 - Kandy, Sri Lanka

I woke up at like 4am today - still in Nilambe mode! My headache was still so prominent so I drugged myself up with migraleve and ibruprofen and went back to bed. I kept waking up every couple of hours but going back to sleep until the headache was gone - which wasn't until 11am. I got up and got ready and left my accommodation armed with the lonely planet book that Nathalie had given me and the one Karen had given me. My first stop was going to be the lake and then the tooth temple.  I walked to the lake which was like 10minutes walk from Burmese Rest. It was just literally a lake. There wasn't really anything spectacular about it or anything that made it different to lakes in England but it was nice all the same. In the guidebook it warns you about touts that operate around the lake so when this one old guy came over to me constantly asking where I am going and if I want to see this that and the other I ran a mile (well ran across the traffic covered road to get away). Other than annoying touts, the walk around the lake was really nice -  there were lots of school kids walking around and they all giggled as I walked by, some even asked to take photos with me.  Whilst walking around the lake I came across the Kandy Arts Association, which I had read a little about in the guidebook, so I stopped to have a look at the bits and pieces they had to offer and also bought tickets for the Kandyan Dance Show later in the evening.  The guidebook told me that the temple of the sacred tooth temple was close by so that was my next stop. Upon entering the grounds this man approached me showing me his i.d card saying he is a guide commissioned by the government and started telling me what everything was. He was far too fast, loud and helpful for my liking and quite honestly, I really couldn't understand what he was saying. I then remembered something the book had said about guides offering their services so I pulled out the book and bam, there it was "freelance guides will offer their services for around Rs400, and free audio guides are available at the ticket office." I looked up at the guy and asked him if he was going to try and charge me for his services to which he replied yes. I then said thanks but no thanks and he went on his way. I wonder what would have happened if we got to the end of the tour and he tried to tell me to pay him and I refused!?! Would have been interesting to find out actually.  The tooth temple itself was very aesthetically pleasing yes, but was honestly the biggest money making waste of time. There was some special event happening today and the president was coming to the temple - this equalled a crazy amount of people, heat and waiting. I spent maybe two-hours there trying to see the tooth and actually got literally a second to see the caskets in which the tooth is in. You are in a massive queue of people that push you constantly so when you actually get around to the caskets you quickly get pushed forward by the masses of Singhalese people eager to see. By the time I had gone through the hell of being pushed and pulled everywhere I was so thirsty and fed-up that the free museum that was included in my ticket no longer interested me - I walked in and walked out. While I was in the museum my phone kept ringing like crazy - it was Shana. This guy seriously doesn't give up - if I don't answer the first time what makes you think I am going to answer the tenth consecutive time. When I got outside the museum I finally answered. He was telling me that the driver is going to be in Kandy in the evening and that he is going to send him to meet me to take me to see the Buddha in the mountains. I told him I already had plans but as usual he had a way around it, damn it! The driver would meet me after the show :-( I really felt kind of pressured so reluctantly said ok, just call me and let me know what time he will meet me.  Anyway, once out of the museum I was walking around aimlessly when a lady came from inside a restaurant and gave me a flyer for her restaurant. It was a Chinese restaurant and had wifi - I was sold. Whilst I stopped talking to this lady a guy who was standing close by was like "ah she's my good friend, I cook in their kitchen." She didn't deny it or anything so i talked to him. He then started talking about lots of random things and asked if I had been to the local market. He told me about the low prices and how I could check out a real pashmina. He was so friendly so me being the gullible idiot that I am walked with this guy to the market where I ended up buying way too much stuff and spending way too much money in one shop. Although I bargained I knew inside that I was being ripped off because the prices were close to London prices. Anyway, I left with my things and went to the Kandyan dance show. It was Rs500 for a ticket which isn't exactly cheap for Sri Lanka and to be honest the dancing was all over the place. Some parts were good and others just looked so unrehearsed and a bit of a joke. The finale was guys walking on fire which was good but overall the show was only an hour long. At the end the dancers also asked for tips - I saw one of the dancers who was sitting near the exit slipping some of the notes into his own pocket instead of in the tip box which was a bit shocking.  After the show I caught a tuk tuk to the restaurant the lady had given me a flyer for. I had just eaten my starter & was starting on my main course, and was in the middle of skyping my beautiful lickle bambino when Shana started calling me saying the driver would be with me in 10-minutes. Damn it!!!! Grrrr!! I didn't want any of it, I just wanted some freedom to do what I wanted to do and just relax but instead I had to ask for my food to be put into a take away box and wait downstairs for the car.  The driver came and it was the same guy that stayed at Shana's and also had to do the long ass drive to the kite-surfing place when I got the ear infection. I instantly felt sorry for him because having him take me to the temple on the hill was no doubt Shana's idea and it was already 8pm and the poor guy still had to do a three-hour drive back to Colombo afterwards and hadn't eaten. I tried to tell him that he could just drop me home and we could tell Shana that he took me then he could go home and sleep but he doesn't speak much English and I had no idea how to say it in Singhalese so we were stuck. The statue was cool - up close it actually has scaffolding all around it which you can't see from far away. We stayed for maybe ten-minutes then we left. He dropped me back at my place and hopefully then he went to eat! I didn't feel much like eating my food anymore so just went to sleep.