Kandy is in the middle of Sri Lanka, set on a plateau surrounded by mountains. 116km from Colombo, and it is a mild weather place. Kandy is famous for the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, and lake by the Temple, and it is the heart of the city.
Tourist Attraction
And it’s home for many tourist attractions. When you visit Kandy, you can see it has this unique architectural that the whole city follows, and it is beautiful. Queens hotel reflects this architectural style. Kandy has mild weather and usually has around 25 degrees temperature and cold temperatures. And it is the most polluted city in Sri Lanka due to the geometrical position it is in.
Journey
So I visited Kandy for a day! And here is my experience with it. If you take the early bus, it is only 2-3 hours’ journey to Kandy from Colombo. And it is a roller coaster ride which I really enjoyed! 😂
I arrived there around 6:30 and visited the Gatambe temple, which is an old temple placed in Peradeniya. Peradeniya is 6km before Kandy where you can get beautiful scenaries right by the Mahaweli River. Peradeniya botanical garden is a romantic place surrounded by excellent biodiversity with magical colours, no doubt, you willl definitely fall in love.
University of Peradeniya
And then I had a walk through the campus. The University of Peradeniya is the most nature connected University among Sri Lankan Universities as well as the one with charming sceneries. Personally, this is my favourite University!
If you have a friend from University, you get to see a lot of architecture and also lovely landscaping maintained by the University. And then there is Road to Hanthana through the campus, and the road to start the hiking place is just amazing.
Surrounded by trees, it is a beautiful road through the green. If you are that person who loves trecking, thus is one of the places you should go on a hike. And there is a tradition in Lankan universities, almost every university batch has a trip to Hanthana, and it has many stories of university romance around this.
And there is a circuit bungalow which you can reserve for parties which has a fantastic view.
In the evening, I went to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic and went by the lake to hunt the beautiful scenery. Kandy is busy during day time, and as soon as it passes 8 pm, which is the closing time of the Temple, The Town starts to sleep. Unlike Colombo, it sleeps calm, no more happenings at night. But if you love lurking around and hunt beautiful sceneries, welcome aboard. You’ve come to the place for it. Rent a bike, ride randomly through streets all night, you won’t be running out of lovely sceneries around Kandy. No! I’m not exaggerating. It is a charming city.
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a peaceful place. The warm street lights all around it with the lake beside the Temple gives you the fresh start. Queens Hotel, KCC(Kandy City Center) is just beautiful architectural designs you can see in modern Kandy.
Dining
There are dining places all around the city, and I visited “Cafe the Vibe” and had my favourite and most unique taste of Sri Lanka, Koththu! Cheese Koththu to be exact! The portion is decent, and the feeling is just right. And I strongly recommend the place if you are a fan of good Koththus, you should try this out. And it is a charming place for small groups or a date!
Night Ride around Kandy
Then, I started my journey around Kandy. First, I went to Bahirawa Kanda Viharaya. You can see this statue from anywhere in the city. If you visit during day time, you can climb up the statue. From the Temple, you can have an amazing view of the city with tiny little dots of lights. You can spend a whole night looking at the sight.
Then I went to the viewpoint of Kandy. This is a little bit off from Bahirawa Kanda Viharaya, (around 1.6km). You can sit there and look at the lake and the whole town. Including Bahirawa Kanda Viharaya and the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.
Then I rode back to the town and went through all the night lights and came back to the hostel where I spent the night with my friends! I got lucky enough to ride through campus as well.
Conclusion
There are places I couldn’t mention here, such as “Yaka Palama” (Devil’s bridge), which gives you goosebumps with sweet memories.
So I spent around 24 hours wandering through Kandy and Peradeniya on a busy day with the help of my friends at the University, and it was a day to remember.
So if you are planning to visit Kandy, take time to roam around to get the best feeling out of it. Kandy is lovely, sacred and peaceful where you can spend a priceless weekend.
Thank you Pasan, Gayanga, Kanchana and all of the friends for supporting ‘The Wanderer’.
