Kandy is a bustling city built around a lake in central Sri Lanka. It is listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO and is considered one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist World. It can be beautiful, loud and peaceful, depending on where you go.
How long do you need in Kandy
This depends on how much time you have. For us, we spent only 2 days and felt this was sufficient. An added third day would just be to relax, chill and get to know the city a little better.
The Best Way to See Kandy
Hire a tuk-tuk driver or taxi for the day. It’s the best way to use your time, all whilst having the opportunity to speak to a local about what you’re seeing/doing. We hired a tuk-tuk driver for 6 hours of sightseeing and we paid 2500 LKR ($16 USD). A car will cost 5000 LKR or more, depending on how well you can bargain.
Go the tuk-tuk route, it’s more authentic and fun! Otherwise, the city centre is very walkable by foot. It’s sometimes faster than the vehicles. The joys of traffic.
Top Things to do in Kandy
Kandy has enough going on to keep you entertained for a few days. See how we spent our time in this Sri Lankan city.
1 Visit the Tea Factories
Sri Lanka is #4 in the world for tea production. They produce a staggering 300,000 tonnes of tea yearly! Kandy is home to some incredible tea fields and factories so make sure to visit at least one. We went to the Embilmeegama Tea Factory which was founded 1940. We took a tour around the factory, saw how the machines worked and then finished off with a tea tasting of their most popular teas. The whole process from picking to packaging takes 24 hours with the majority (apart from picking) all done by large machines. Cost: Free
2. Traditional Kandy Dancing
Kandy Dancing – “According to the legend, the origins of Kandyan dance lies in an exorcism ritual known as the Kohomba Kankariya, which was originally performed by Indian shamans who came to the island, from which the locals adopted the dance. ”
Although this was very touristic, it was interesting to see their traditional dancing. Every day from 5-6pm people will gather in a giant hall for the one-hour performance (which should really be just 40 minutes). The Kandyan Dance is traditionally performed to percussion only, the most common drum is the ‘Geta Beraya’. Overall the production is colourful & interesting, although a bit repetitive. Cost 1000 LKR ($6 USD).
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