Tuk-Tuk-ing the Uncharted Kandy

The sacred city of Kandy

The sacred city of Kandy fondly known to Sri Lankans as Maha-Nuwara, the Hill Capital, or Senkadagala is a proud UNESCO World Heritage City resting in the island central.

From the Temple of the Scared Tooth, the supreme place of worship for Buddhists, to the pleasant climate; Kandy flaunts many attractions for the wayward and the malleable traveller.

Escape from the well-trodden, exhausted enticements and join us on an exploration that will take you through the unspoilt and unknown nooks of Kandy in a Tuk-Tuk. Less than three meters in length with an average speed of 45Km/hour, Tuk Tuk is an iconic vehicle that makes traveling in tropics a spectacular experience. Without the conditioned air and the hindering darkened windows this tiny vehicle offers you an amusing and a merry journey as it slowly chuffs through the country roads.

Start from the city centre and drive through the side roads of Hantana mountains, a mountain range that overlooks the city adding to its splendour. Within 10 minutes you will leave behind the noisy city, tainted air and the conventional traveller.

As minutes turn, the buildings will be replaced by foliage and the balmy humidity with an amiable breeze. The slow climb will enable you to catch glimpses of miniature tea plantations, blue clad mountain tops, and people who will beam at you with innocent wonderment. The free roaming farm animals might delay your journey a bit, enabling you to stop at a roadside Hindu shrine. Colourful, redolent and at times musical these shrines are something encountered only by locals or a fortunate off-road traveller.

An excursion does not complete unless you get to taste Sri Lankan nibbles and other refreshments seated in the gardens of a resident host. If the time is right you might be able to hand pick some tropical fruits and add a myriad of memories that definitely will not fit on a home-bound postcard within the span of less than four hours.