Sri Lanka: Kandy is Delicious.

We saw monkeys yesterday morning hanging out by Kandy lake. They were just running around and grooming one another. We also saw humongous bats in the trees, ick. The big groups of women in saris and cute little kids in crisp white uniforms on their way to school didn't pay them any attention. We however have plans to pick up monkey friends to bring home for Lian, Truman and Quinn.

We spent the day with an Austrailian named Ian that Avner met on couchsurfer. His room was taken so we couldn't stay with him, but he had the day off from work so he drove us around the mountain towns to look at some off the temples. It is so interesting to see the mix of religions in the temples. Sri Lanka is around 80% Buddhist, but there are many Hindu influences even right inside the temple rooms. There will be a huge central Buddha image with posters on Ganesh and Vishnu right alongside him. Also interesting is the use of bright flashing strings of "christmas" lights to decorate the shrines.

Ian has been teaching here in Kandy for four years and has a "membership" at a fancy hotel, so we took a dip in the pool in the afternoon. The bottom had gorgeous blue and white tiles, and it overlooked the river. I pretended I was in Hawaii. :P He also introduced us to the Sri Lankan food. Yum and HOT! You eat with your hand here, just the right one. Very interesting, but a bit tricky. Don't panic, I will not starve. Later that evening, we watched the sunset over the mountains at Ian's house. Just as the sky turned darker, a huge cloud of thousands of giant bats swooped past us through the valley. The just kept coming for fifteen minutes. Creepy and cool.

Today the monsoon rains came back. We are hoping to catch a bus up north later to the Cultural Triangle which is home to the ruins of the ancient cites. We will probably also eat a lot more delicious spicy food. :0