Our first day in Kandy – checking out the lake

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FlipFlopGlobetrotters.com - Kandy Lake Sri Lanka We traveled from Pollonaruwa to Kandy, a city in the center of Sri Lanka. I can’t really pinpoint how Kandy is different from the other places we’ve been, but it feels a bit less ‘foreign’ and has a nice vibe.

Polonnaruwa to Kandy by bus was actually very doable! It was the first time we took a local bus and it was actually an interesting experience. Much better than we expected. Of course, we got on at the starting point and each had a place to sit, which made the 4-hour ride much more pleasant. Our (absolutely ridiculous amount of) luggage got locked in the baggage space at the back of the bus, so that was no hassle either. And it was crazy cheap, only LKR508 for the three of us (about €3,30).

FlipFlopGlobetrotters.com - local bus to Kandy Sri Lanka.
Not the best picture, but you get the idea. As we drove on it got more and more busy on the bus.

Hotels in Kandy Sri Lanka

We didn’t book any accommodation ahead. Accommodation in Sri Lanka is pretty easy to come by. And we didn’t have enough time & too many choices on booking.com. But as with Anuradhapura and Jaffna it turned out well. We got off the bus at the city center. It was raining a bit so we found some shelter, dragged all our bags there and used our phones to check booking.com yet again. We said ‘no, thank you’ to a ton of taxi and tuktuk drivers, but just when we were about to book somewhere, just because we had to, a guy came up to us with a business card from the place called Lakelands Guest House. Since we couldn’t choose anyway, we thought we’d give it a try. It turned out to be a beautiful large colonial house with 6 rooms. Three rooms upstairs are in use by the family and the three rooms downstairs are for rent. We only pay LKR3000, which is pretty good. We have a large double room with a mattress on the floor for Jace. Breakfast is nice, but a bit overpriced at LKR500 pp. Our very low budget allows us to travel long term, obviously if you’re in Sri Lanka for a short vacation and depending on your travel style the costs of a Sri Lankan holiday might be higher but still very affordable.

Things to do in Kandy – touring the lake

Today we decided to take it easy. We actually wanted to go to the playground next to the lake. I read about it in some reviews and it looked really good. Unfortunately, it was closed because of a public holiday and Jace was very disappointed. So instead we decided to stroll around the lake and see what animals we could spot. We actually saw quite a lot! A beautifully colored kingfisher was a bit too fast for our camera, but we got some nice pictures of other ‘wildlife’ that we found near the lake. We found four huge monitor lizards, a pelican, lots of fish, turtles, cormorants, other bird species that we couldn’t identify and lots and lots of bats. There were lots of local people with kids around too. The lake is a nice place to be on your day off 🙂

We saw quite a few other people relaxing with their kids at the lakeside
We saw quite a few other people relaxing with their kids at the lakeside

 

More locals with kids
More locals with kids

 

We had a chicken sub and some short eats (small savory and sweet pastries) at one of the many bakeries for lunch and then went back to our guest house so Jace could nap. All in all a pretty good morning. Kandy has a good vibe and we enjoy being here.

There really are a lot of animals at the lake. Here they've all come together for a group picture :-)
There really are a lot of animals at the lake. Here they’ve all come together for a group picture 🙂

 

It was reaaaallly busy in the bat tree. We've never seen so many bats outside during the day like this.
It was reaaaallly busy in the bat tree. We’ve never seen so many bats outside during the day like this.

 

Near the Temple of the Tooth there are a lot of street vendors. We bought some fresh mango for Jace
Near the Temple of the Tooth there are a lot of street vendors. We bought some fresh mango for Jace

 

A young cormorant drying its wings
A young cormorant drying its wings

 

Another young cormorant
Another young cormorant

 

In many primary schools we see beautifully painted outside walls.
In many primary schools we saw beautifully painted outside walls.

 

Here's a detail of the primary school wall.
Here’s a detail of the primary school wall.

 

Jace just spotted a huge monitor lizard!
Jace just spotted the huge monitor lizard!

 

No need to go on safari, you can spot wildlife right here!
No need to go on safari, you can spot wildlife right here!

 

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1 thought on “Our first day in Kandy – checking out the lake”

  1. Klinkt goed allemaal, wij hebben onlangs 4 retourtjes Sri Lanka geboekt en gaan ook naar Kandy… leuk, deze voorpret alvast. Hopelijk kunnen jullie nog terug naar de speeltuin als hij wel open is. Njoy!

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