Right now I am sitting in the shade of a beautiful old tree in Kandy's Botanical Garden while Kat sketches a nearby pagoda and Saff reads her book. We decided to let the rest if the group go on without us this afternoon as the opportunity to just relax and be by ourselves for a bit was just too appealing, especially given such beautiful surroundings.
Earlier today, we visited the Sacred Temple of the Tooth Relic which (as it suggests) is said to be home to one of Buddha's teeth. The relic in question is protected by a beautiful golden casket and the three keys which open the various layers within are kept by three different Buddhist monks, two from monasteries outside the city and one from the temple itself.
It was very special to watch the thousands of devotees who had traveled far and wide to visit the temple, all of them dressed in white to signify the purity of mind in which they must enter this sacred place. The chanting taking place was mesmerising and I said my own little prayer as I placed my lotus flower on the altar in front of where the casket is displayed.
An altogether different kind of worship was underway at our next stop - the gem factory and museum. Lots of pairs of eyes lit up as we walked into the showroom having learnt a little about how gems are mined in Sri Lanka and the various kinds of stones on offer. Don't tell anyone but I might have bought myself a little souvenir. Well sapphires are the national gemstone of Sri Lanka and they do go with my eyes...
And now we find ourselves in thrall to nature as I gaze out over the Great Lawn of the Botanical Garden taking in the apparently famous Double Coconut Palms and drunken pine trees, so called because they bend in all sorts of directions having been buffeted by the Monsoon winds each year. It's a lovely, peaceful moment and one I'm happy to savour before rejoining the hustle and bustle and catching my first tuk tuk back up the hill to our hotel and this evening's 'cultural show'. Who know what's in store for us!
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