Gardens, Kings & recent history

Located just outside Kandy is the large Paradeniya botanical garden that was originally kept for the royal family. The large grounds are kept immaculate and include just about every imaginable type of garden with plants imported from around the world. The gardens were one of the highlights of our trip as we wandered for hours in perfect weather through arboretums, bamboo groves and various formal gardens.

Giant bamboo is fairly common on the island, but it was our first encounter with stalks as large as palm trees.
One gardener motioned for me to check out this colorful spider and it's interesting web.

Another caretaker unrolled a large leaf he had pulled from his pocket to reveal a 4-5" scorpion. It was worth the few rupees he extracted from us for the photo.

Some of the trees grew to enormous size in this tropical environment. If you look closely at this picture you can get a sense of proportion by the lovers nestled in the roots of this tree under their umbrella.

Visiting Kandy where the Monarchs have left their legacy of the lake and gardens left me with an impression of just how powerful and luxuriously they had lived before the arrival the Portuguese, Dutch, and later the British. The isolated hill country of Kandy remained a region ruled by the last king of Sri Lanka until the early 1800's when local chiefs, who felt they would be better off under British rule than the oppressive king, banded together to cede the kingdom to the British.

Sri Lanka is a country that has been hard hit in recent history by a civil war between different ethnic groups and the politics of creating a government in the void left by British rule. Today there are soldiers and checkpoints everywhere you go, with locals frequently pulled over on the road at random. We were only stopped once where we were politely but thoroughly questioned about our itinerary. On the heels of the war the 2004 Tsunami hit the coast, where there are still remains of ruined buildings and many recent roadside graves, evidence of the devastation it caused.

Today Sri Lanka is at peace and is rebuilding at a rapid pace with new private and public works projects every where you go. You can feel the mood of the country in the air, and when talking to the locals, you get a sense of relief that the worst is behind them, and an optimism about moving on to the future.