Bat Man Returns....

Our visit to the Kandy War Cemetery was moving and much more emotional than we had anticipated.  The cemetery lies peacefully nestling in a small valley and the grounds are beautifully maintained by the British War Graves Commission.  The 203 graves contain the remains of solders from all over the world who died in Sri Lanka during WW2.  East African riflemen and Indian labourers lie alongside RAF crew and assorted ranks of the British Army.  Although the Japanese never invaded Sri Lanka, many people were killed when the Japanese bombed the important British naval bases in Colombo and Trincomlee in April 1942. 

In the evening we visited the Kandyan Cultural Centre to see the Kandyan dancers and drummers work through their athletic routines.  We realised early on that this was not quite West End more local amateur dramatics and at times we struggled not to laugh.  Our worst moment was during what looked like the ‘Dance of the Bic Lighters’ when 5 demure women dances performed a silky routine whilst each holding two lit candles.  Unfortunately, one of the dancers looked like a last minute replacement being a good 10 seconds behind her group in all movements and the silent hilarity worsened when both her candles blew out.  Next came the Carmen Miranda Appreciation Society – a group of 5 serious male dancers who came on looking like extras from Priscilla Queen of the Desert.  Their outfits and their camp routine brought tears to the eyes.  Finally, the fire walkers who defied pain as they crossed hot coals - one of whom looked decidedly apprehensive before each walk and revealed in his face the pain in his feet.

Carmen Miranda Appreciation Society do Priscilla Queen of the Desert

We started the following morning with a leisurely visit to the Peradinaya Botanic Gardens which was both relaxing and interesting.  Plants and trees from all over Asia were on display and provided plenty of shade from the fierce sun.  The beauty of the wild orchids and huge clumps of bamboo and palms were incredible.  

A Japanese fig tree covering the equivalent of 4 tennis courts was awesome with the tree requiring posts to hold up its drooping branches to stop them from breaking under the weight.  We learnt that the tree had recently lost some of its splendour when it was cut back due to the enormous breath, and the weight being carried on those outer branches.  I would have loved to have seen it prior to the hair cut.

One of the biggest clumps we've seen!

Next stop the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic – it seems we can never escape dentistry for too long.  It houses Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic  but as Temples go it was nothing new and coupled with a bossy guide who rushed us around we were glad for the tour to finish.

We visited our second cemetery, the British Garrison Cemetery which is at the top of a steep hill.  Here we found the graves of the pioneers of the British Empire, many of whom died either in infancy or in their twenties.  The most surprising aspect of the cemetery is the caretaker, a Sri Lankan of Scottish descent called Charles Carmichael.  His devotion and care of the grounds is matched only by his wide knowledge of the lives of the people buried here and his ability to recite the inscriptions carved on each headstone from memory.  He showed us the grave of James McGlashen who survived the battle of Waterloo only to succumb to malaria.  Here lay victims of wild elephants and tragic accidents including a baby who was poisoned by her mother’s breast milk after her mother was bitten by a cobra. The mother survived.

The cemetery was rescued from the jungle in 1998 when it was thought that Prince Charles would visit.  In the event he did not come but the caretaker has remained ever since and is funded from private subscription. 

A mad dash from the cemetery took us on to a spectacular sight at sunset.  Ramesh our driver told us we would see ‘millions of bats’although there were no other tourists to witness this and no reference in the guidebooks.  We suspected hyperbole but within 10 minutes were treated to the impressive sight of thousands of bats leaving their roost to feed – the air was literally full of large bats diving and swooping and milling about in the darkening sky.

Our photos do not bear justice to this most extraordinary display of some of which looked like Dracula’s vampires with silent movement on broad black wings. We drove a little further down the highway to an area lit by a street and we had a second chance to see at close quarters large bats flying in and out of the overhanging trees. A stunning end to a full day in Kandy.