Wake up call at 7.30, but had woken a little before, breakfast at 8.00 to leave hotel at 8.30. First stop was a batik workshop where we were shown how batik was made. We then piled on board the bus to our next stop, a gem museum and workshop. There we were shown a full sized model of a mineshaft followed by a short DVD explaining how the gems are mined. They are still all mined by pick, shovel and hand, and the mineshafts shored up by nothing more than timber, (a very time consuming and dangerous job). We were then taken through to a separate room where we were shown the different gems of the world and Sri Lanka. After this had been explained in detail we were taken through and shown the gem workers at their trade, making the jewellery available to purchase down in the shop, which we were of course shown to at then end. I am afraid I caved in and have decided to have a silver mounted blue sapphire pendant made, I am so easily led.
After this, we caught the bus to visit the Botanical Gardens of Kandy. They are spaced over 140 acres and divided into various areas, including an orchid house, spice garden, fernery and flowe garden to name but a few, and all situated round a large lake. The botanical gardens date back as far as 1371 when King Wickramabahu III ascended the throne. Later in 1780 this was made a Royal Garden and from 1780 - 1798 King Rajadhi Rajasinghe had a temporary residence erected erected for him in the grounds. The British then continued this tradition during their occupation of Ceylon, and the gardens moved to their present position in 1821 by Alexander Moon. We spent over 1.5 hours walking round the grounds with our guide telling us about some of the various plants and trees and their uses.
After exiting the Botanical Gardens some of us changed money before heading to the vegetable, meat and fish markets as well as the bazaar, which we walked round for a while before stopping for lunch.
After lunch it was a free afternoon, so most of us headed back to the hotel for some R & R, I decided to follow suit and had a dip in the pool and relaxed at the poolside. The monkeys round the hotel can be quite vicious and forward, which you are warned about in your room where you are advised to keep the windows locked when not in residence. One couple in our group witnessed this at first hand, when some monkeys broke into a neighbouring room and proceeded to chuck things willynilly through the now open window. Kat and Roger, another 2 people in our group were sitting by the pool having a cup of coffee when a monkey came up to them, grabbed the nearly empty cup and through the contents over Kat as she tried to grab the cup from it, it the proceeded to put the cup down carefully before trying to grab Roger's bag, before he realised and grabbed it from the monkey, quite a scary experience. We then all met in the lobby before taking the bus which took us to a rooftop restaurant overlooking the city for dinner.