August 20, 2005
The relaxing last stretch for home...
Hanging out in Kandy for about a week has been a brilliant decision. It's a wonderful city with plenty to do, and frankly running from one small town to the next, no matter the beauty and adventure is exhausting!
So the mad Englishman loved his "Black Forrest (ish?)" birthday cake surprise.
The next day we headed off for the stunning botanical gardens near by. They have a Javan Fig tree that is 1600 square meters (my american non-metric friends...that's BIG)! They have manicured it perfectly in the shape of an umbrella with minimal shooter roots (picture enormous tree trunks) for support. We reckoned you could fit an entire village under the canopy. Their other big show stopper is Burmese Bamboo, the largest bamboo in the world, growing up to 120 feet tall! (Yeah I know I sound like a "size queen"...but the beautiful little orchids were nice and they knew how to display them ;)
Liam spent the last hour or so taking the locals attention off my tattoos by doing back flips, (thanks monkey-boy, I needed a break!)
So, having witnessed the Pera Hera procession about 4 or 5 times now, we are pretty "festivaled-out." When you can announce the next section that will appear in a 3 1/2 hour parade before it happens, you've seen it too many times! It was splendid and we did discover more subtle nuances...like a section of the Tamil-Hindu boy troupe wears blue eyeshadow and ruby-red lipstick?!? And a rather mannish trannie brings up the rear? hmmm... Actually transgender male-to-females have a definite place in Hindu culture. They are considered spiritual beings not to be messed with! They will often show up unannounced at wedding parties and will perform, singing and dancing, (basically taking the place hostage!) until paid...then they leave. As a hindu, you wouldn't DARE throw them out. Fortunately she had the good sense not to do a daylight appearance during the final procession...our trannie looks a little rough by torch light, she might have been downright frightening during the day!
I finally paid my respects to the Temple of the Tooth. It's a massive complex (smaller than the Forbidden City, "but bigger than a bread-box"). One room was dedicated to the history of the tooth...from it being plucked from Buddha's funeral pyre to the present, much of the first 600 years I would say is mythical but about 2000 years is traceable! All of a sudden it hit me...this was not only a holy object but the "living" representation of this entire country's civilization, from it's first cut stone monuments to the present...It was a big "WOOOOOW!" Think if the Declaration of Independence was 10 TIMES as old with 10 times the history! It could be a dog's tooth or not even truly exist for all any of us know...(and that's not being blasphemous, that incisor has changed hands and kingdoms a dozen times)...the point is it's one hell of a powerful symbol of national identity as well as their most venerated religious relic.
Tomorrow is my last day. I plan to sleep in, go play in the jungle with the monkey-boy and catch a very, very long flight for home.
The next message will be photos of the trip after I've had a good rest and a sweet snuggle with the "honey."
Love ya, and hope you've all enjoyed this trip as much as I have!
xxpaul
The relaxing last stretch for home...
Hanging out in Kandy for about a week has been a brilliant decision. It's a wonderful city with plenty to do, and frankly running from one small town to the next, no matter the beauty and adventure is exhausting!
So the mad Englishman loved his "Black Forrest (ish?)" birthday cake surprise.
The next day we headed off for the stunning botanical gardens near by. They have a Javan Fig tree that is 1600 square meters (my american non-metric friends...that's BIG)! They have manicured it perfectly in the shape of an umbrella with minimal shooter roots (picture enormous tree trunks) for support. We reckoned you could fit an entire village under the canopy. Their other big show stopper is Burmese Bamboo, the largest bamboo in the world, growing up to 120 feet tall! (Yeah I know I sound like a "size queen"...but the beautiful little orchids were nice and they knew how to display them ;)
Liam spent the last hour or so taking the locals attention off my tattoos by doing back flips, (thanks monkey-boy, I needed a break!)
So, having witnessed the Pera Hera procession about 4 or 5 times now, we are pretty "festivaled-out." When you can announce the next section that will appear in a 3 1/2 hour parade before it happens, you've seen it too many times! It was splendid and we did discover more subtle nuances...like a section of the Tamil-Hindu boy troupe wears blue eyeshadow and ruby-red lipstick?!? And a rather mannish trannie brings up the rear? hmmm... Actually transgender male-to-females have a definite place in Hindu culture. They are considered spiritual beings not to be messed with! They will often show up unannounced at wedding parties and will perform, singing and dancing, (basically taking the place hostage!) until paid...then they leave. As a hindu, you wouldn't DARE throw them out. Fortunately she had the good sense not to do a daylight appearance during the final procession...our trannie looks a little rough by torch light, she might have been downright frightening during the day!
 |
| Love her! werq. |
I finally paid my respects to the Temple of the Tooth. It's a massive complex (smaller than the Forbidden City, "but bigger than a bread-box"). One room was dedicated to the history of the tooth...from it being plucked from Buddha's funeral pyre to the present, much of the first 600 years I would say is mythical but about 2000 years is traceable! All of a sudden it hit me...this was not only a holy object but the "living" representation of this entire country's civilization, from it's first cut stone monuments to the present...It was a big "WOOOOOW!" Think if the Declaration of Independence was 10 TIMES as old with 10 times the history! It could be a dog's tooth or not even truly exist for all any of us know...(and that's not being blasphemous, that incisor has changed hands and kingdoms a dozen times)...the point is it's one hell of a powerful symbol of national identity as well as their most venerated religious relic.
Tomorrow is my last day. I plan to sleep in, go play in the jungle with the monkey-boy and catch a very, very long flight for home.
The next message will be photos of the trip after I've had a good rest and a sweet snuggle with the "honey."
Love ya, and hope you've all enjoyed this trip as much as I have!
xxpaul
No comments:
Post a Comment