Kandy, Sri Lanka,
Yesterday I worked from home in the morning, then I went on a walk around the city center in Kandy.
I decided I will stay a total of 1 week here. It is a very interesting place, denser than what I first thought.
It is in fact a ‘real’ city, in the center they have paved sidewalks which makes it very more enjoyable to walk and give it a European feel to it. The distances are way bigger in reality than when looking at the map, and I surprised myself since I thought it was smaller. I am happy to be now in this city, I feel my internal mode has switched from rural to urban after almost 3 months of countryside living. It reminds me how nice I also enjoy city life, where human life is bustling and you can find all sorts of people, shops, architecture,… in just a few minutes walk, it is almost overwhelming. They also have a very nice cafe here too, and despite the covid restrictions, I was happy to be able to enter, sit, and enjoy wonderful coffee while taking a rest from the noisy chaotic streets. I learned that Ceylon (Sri Lanka) was the world’s largest coffee exporter in 1860. Then I stroll around the lake which has great scenery and holds a wide variety of birds, even wild birds nesting there, but also some of my beloved flying foxes. I was really dazzled by how all these animals can live and coexist with the very noisy road that passes there just a few meters away, there is a constant flow of traffic, with regular trucks, and old smoky cars. Yet birds don’t seem to be bothered, it’s astonishing. Around my walk, I recorded some ambiences but mostly I only listened and scouted if any place would be interesting. The bus station is quite frankly interesting, with ticket sellers shouting at a fast pace. I am still trying to reach out to an Elephant place, they are very reluctant and slow to get in touch with me. This might be because of covid. I hope I can figure this out. I also finally buy a sarong, the traditional cloth that almost every Sri Lankan wears particularly in the countryside, it’s very comfortable to wear and I’m happy I could get one.
