Kandy The City of Hills and Heritage

The Portuguese and Dutch colonizers could not take the Kandy kingdom. The last king of Kandy however who was held by the British was imprisoned in Colombo and then shipped off to exile in India in 1816. You can still visit his cell, which is in Colombo.

Kandy is said to be the most tourist visited city in Sri Lanka. It has a long history and was established back in 1470. The English name later used was Kandy, said to be derived from the Sinhala term "City on Hills".

The UNESCO world heritage Temple of the Tooth is the most important place to visit in the city. Pick your time carefully, queues are common in peak months of the year. For colonial history, I always take visitors to the Garrison Cemetery. If you're lucky, one of the caretakers will give you a guided tour. Each grave has a story. The staff may also tell you about the visit of the then Prince Charles back in 1998.

My favourite way to get to Kandy is to take the early train out of Colombo. You can actually go into the signal tower at the Kandy station. The road trip is slow, frustrating and dangerous to travel at night. The new highway is a dream away.

Kandy is a congested, polluted and a hectic place, so it’s best to have a plan and a list of places to go. My regulars are a walk around a part of the lake and lunch at the Royal Bar and Hotel, which dates back to 1860. Great atmosphere at night and reminds me of my pub nights in England.

I often find I’m in Kandy with friends from abroad who want to visit the famous sites. Those educated at Trinity College always want to go and reminisce. Sometimes I’m on the way to Victoria Golf and Country Resort via Kandy some forty minutes away, it  regularly wins awards and was voted one of the most beautiful courses in world. 

The Perahera is an amazing annual event of fifteen days. The pageantry, elephants and the relic of the tooth of Buddha presented to the masses. My experience twenty years ago was in a bedroom at the Queens Hotel with ten others on the balcony watching the spectacular event. I do hope the inhuman treatment of elephants will ultimately remove them from the event however. At one point, I asked the waiter if the balcony could hold all of us at one time. The conversation was somehow lost in translation. The hotel has lots of tales to tell and dates back to 1894. It awaits much-needed refurbishment.

I’m sure I’ll be back in Kandy soon hosting some more visitors and will ensure a visit to the whacky house called Helgas Folly. Kandy places for me still to visit include the Commonwealth War Graves and walk the full circumference of the lake. I am still to visit the churches  of the city and the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens.

The Portuguese and Dutch colonizers could not take the Kandy kingdom. The last king of Kandy however who was held by the British was imprisoned in Colombo and then shipped off to exile in India in 1816. You can still visit his cell, which is in Colombo.