streda 22. júla 2015

Sri Lanka - Royal Botanical Gardens


Right outside Kandy, in Peradeniya, you can find a beatiful botanical garden. It includes more than 4000 species of plants, including of orchids, spices, medicinal plants and palm trees. It is especially known for its orchids, but for me the different kinds of trees were much more interesting. I can imagine you can spend the whole day there, we have been there for a few hours. Here are some pictures from there if you are interested.

Hneď za mestom Kandy, v Peradeniy, sa nachádza obľúbená a krásna botanická záhrada. Nájdete v nej viac ako 4000 druhov rastlín, vrátane orchideí, korení, liečivých rastlín a pálm. Je obzvlášť známa pre zbierku orchideí, ale pre mňa boli omnoho zaujímavejšie rôzne typy stromov. Viem si predstaviť tam stráviť aj celý deň, my sme boli na pár hodín. Tu je zopár fotiek, ak ste na to zvedaví :-).



We had to stand next to all the trees to capture the sizes :-)

Huge bamboo trees

Monkeys again

Trees full of fruit bats



I really loved this palm alley


Different leaves in huge sizes

This tree was very, VERY wide


And an alley of bended trees whas quite funny



pondelok 6. júla 2015

Sri Lanka - Dambulla cave temple


The third day was critical. Critical thanks to bad decisions we made. It influenced the rest of our vacation, and not in a pleasant way I have to admit.
In the morning, we visited Dambulla cave temple. It is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. The rock towers 160 m over the surrounding plains. It consists of 5 caves, all of them filled with paintings and Buddhas and it is really worth your visit. It is not necessary to get a guide (I booked one and did not understand a word of what he was saying thanks to his accent, and later I found out that everything is written in Lonely Planet very precisely). The way on the top is not that long and offers you great views. There is a lot of monkeys at the entrance to the cave temple.

Náš tretí deň bol kritický. Kritický našimi zlými rozhodnutiami. Bol to deň, ktorý nám ovplyvnil zvyšok dovolenky, a nie priaznivo treba povedať.
Ráno sme šli do Dambully, do Kráľovského skalného chrámu. Je to najrozsiahlejší a najzachovalejší jaskynný komplex na Srí Lanke. Stojí 160 metrov nad okolitými pláňami. Interiér je plný malieb a Buddhov a jeho 5 jaskýň stojí naozaj za návštevu. Je úplne zbytočné si v Dambulle najímať sprievodcu (ja som to urobila a okrem toho, že som mu nerozumela takmer ani slovo kvôli silnému prízvuku, som potom prišla na to, že v bedekeri Lonely Planet je všetkým 5 jaskýň podrobne opísaných). Cesta nahor nie je dlhá a ponúka krásne výhľady. Pri vchode stretnete strašne veľa opíc. 


 

The interiors are truly beautiful, with Buddhas of different sizes and postures. Together there is around 150 of them. In one of the caves there is water dropping all the time (it is said that it actually goes from the bottom to the top of the ceiling), and they use it during ceremonies. Fish are painted all the way where the water appears.

Interiéry jaskýň sú skutočne krásne, s Buddhami rôznych veľkostí a v rôznych polohách. Dokopy ich je okolo 150. V jednej z jaskýň zo stropu stále kvapká voda (vraj tečie zdola hore), ktorú používajú pri obradoch. Okolo prameňa kde steká sú nakreslené ryby.








The way to the top actually starts at this kitchy builing of the Golden Temple . There is a museum inside, but we did not visit it.

Cesta hore sa začína pri tejto gýčovej stavbe Zlatého chrámu. Vo vnútri je múzeum, ale tam sme neboli.


From Dambulla we stoped at spice garden. You will find tens of them on the way to Kandy. First part of our visit was very interesting. We learned about growing and using lot of plants in ayurvedic medicine. After that, however, came the pressure to buy these products. A the pressure was quite intense and not very pleasant. We are weak personalities, having hard time to be harsh and impolite and it did not end up well. I have only one advise for you - refuse firmly. Know how to say NO.

Z Dambully sme šli do Spice Garden, ktorých sú popri ceste do Kandy desiatky. Prvá časť našej návčtevy bola veľmi zaujímavá, dozvedeli sme sa o pestovaní a používaní rôznych rastlín v ajurvéde. Potom však nastal tlak kúpiť si tie výrobky. A dosť nepríjemný tlak. A my, slabé povahy, čo nevieme byť drsní a nezdvorilí, sme nedopadli dobre. Jediná rada - rázne odmietnuť. Vedieť povedať nie.




We ended up our day in Kandy, watching the performance of Kandy dance show. It takes about an hour and ends up with walking on fire, and it is a typical presentation of culture in Kandy, offered by several clubs.
 
Večer sme absolvovali ešte vystúpenie kandyjskej tanečnej skupiny. Zhruba hodinový tanečný program zakončený chôdzou po uhlíkoch je typická prezentácia kultúry v Kandy a ponúka ho niekoľko klubov.