From Galle we caught the train up to the mountain town of Kandy. It is a pretty little town centred on a lake made by one of the regions previous kings. Interestingly to swim or fish in the lake carries a 14 day prison sentence. The train is much less crowded than in India and so much easier to book; they are little more run down however.

Unfortunately for us Kandy is essentially a transport hub for the real mountain villages. Without the time to move further into the hills the sights were limited. We saw a cultural dance show and did a city and surrounds tour. On the tour we went to Pinawela, an elephant orphanage. Since Thailand we have avoided elephant riding places like the plague as the animal care regularly seems dubious. This was much more enjoyable. The elephants both brought to and born at the reserve are allowed to roam as they please. Twice a day they are herded through a market down to the river to bathe and the tourists follow behind. It was wonderful to watch a herd of over 30 elephants playing and bathing without the burden off overweight tourists on their backs. The adolescents would wrestle in the water attempting to hold one another under while the babies seemed more curious at the people watching them. One even tried to climb up some rocks, it managed to get up but then fell down on the way back to the river. Given it wasn’t hurt it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  Elephants don’t fall gracefully or lightly.

The orphanage had a sadder side as well. One of the elephants was brought there after stepping on a land mine. It’s front leg blown off from the encounter. It was amazing to see such a large animal moving around on only 3 legs.

We also took in a tea factory as part of the tour. To see how tea is made and sorted was very interesting. Fortunately for us the expensive tea wasn’t that tasty to us so we didn’t buy any from there. We did end up buying some spiced tea however trying to continue the Chai experience from India. I had dreams of sipping the different teas on a balcony overlooking the tea plantations, unfortunately they were much further afield and apparently that level of comfort was not included in our $15 day tour