We got up early today to catch an early bus to Kandy. We had to wait half an hour in a hot bus before it finally departed. The bus was very pretty inside, colorfully decorated and with a Hindu God with flashing LEDs in the front.

The drive went through an endless landscape of lush woodlands of mostly coconut (?) palm trees, interspersed with small rice paddies. The bus filled up with passengers as it worked its way towards Kandy until it was completely cramped. As we approached the highlands of Kandy, we could briefly see some mountain views between the trees, but the great scenic spectacle remained absent today. It should be more impressive tomorrow as we take the train onward to Ella.

And then it happened - WE HAD AN ACCIDENT. While overtaking, the idiotic driver hit something hard and with a big bang we came to a halt. The bus stood still on the middle of the road and nobody knew how we could continue the journey. On top of it all it was pissing down! We remained in the bus until the police had come and inspected the accident after which the bus luckily was able to drive on. At this point about two thirds of the passengers had already abandoned the bus and the last 15 minute bus ride was spent in blissful spaciousness.

In Kandy we met a driver called Hansel (ja, wirklich) who drove us to our hotel and who we contracted to pick us up tomorrow morning and take us to the train station.

The hotel, Amanda Hills, was the really nice surprise of the day. It turned out to be a hotel turned vertical - a tall building with several small levels, perched on a hill with a view to the lake and the Temple of the Tooth on the other side. Each level has only a few rooms and a very attractive common sitting are, everything very stylish - and our room has a gorgeous view to the lake.

We were offered afternoon tea by the owner on the rooftop level when we arrived. The owner is a dude called Jude, who was fooling around with Michael.

Afternoon tea with a fantastic view!

After tea we took a stroll around the lake. Everybody was trying to get us to see some dancing show relating to the Temple of the Tooth (allegedly Budda's tooth - but of a size more fitting to a buffalo) but it smelled a lot like a tourist trap and the kids anyway weren't interested, so we decided just to take a walk. We saw a monkey and some seriously weird birds on the way.

Walking around the lake in Kandy.

It started to rain really hard and we got quite wet (we had only brought two umbrellas) before we reached the restaurant on the downtown side of the lake, that we had targeted for dinner (a recommendation from our guide book).

The restaurant, The Devon, was ridiculously cheap and we had freshly made fruit juices, and Philip and I couldn't resist the "Mixed Grill" item on the menu. It turned out to be a huge heap of various meat with a fried egg on top, drenched in a Chinese type sauce. We certainly got a lot for the buck - except quality...

Philip facing enough meat to feed a family.