Trip to Kandy

We were able to do a little bit of traveling this weekend to a place called Kandy. This is probably the most historical city in Sri Lanka. It is where the kings of the country used to live. It is also considered the "Mecca" of Thera Vata Buddhism. There is a huge temple in the center of the city called the Temple of the Tooth. Supposedly they found a tooth belonging to Buddha and it is kept in the temple. (Janet Salmon told us that most people actually think the tooth is a canine tooth).

Anyways...We arrived at our hotel on Friday in the early evening. We were are pretty tired so most of us just hung around in the pool, ordered our favorite drinks (lime and soda), and relaxed. I know, I know, truly suffering for Jesus eh?

On Saturday we got up pretty early and shopped in Kandy for a bit. It was a little overwhelming since I don't really like shopping to begin with and this was extreme shopping. There are many open markets where people basically scream at you to buy stuff. There are also little stores along the streets. Bartering is a must, but I am absolutely horrible at it so I am pretty sure I got severely ripped off a couple times. Oh well. We also visited a tea factory. Sri Lanka is absolutely CRAZY about tea. It stems from the British rule of the country. They have tea time about every 3 minutes (or at least thats what it feels like). So we got to see how they make tea and such.

Yesterday we had a mini church service before leaving the hotel and then drove about 2 hours to a place called Sigariya. There is a huge rock there that you can climb and there is a city of ruins on the tops. We split into two groups abd half climbed the rock and the other half got to ride elephants!! Though I desperately wanted to do both I opted to ride an elephant, which I think was a very fine choice. They took us on an elephant safari through the jungle and we even went into the water for a while. It was a blast.

Now we are home at Samudra Sri once again. I can't wait to see the kids when they come home from school. I missed them. We leave on Wednesday evening and I am ready to come home, but I am also dreading having to say goodbye.

I can't wait to see all of you!