After breakfast we headed down into Kandy town. We needed to find an ATM so had a bit of a wander round the central street soaking up the atmosphere before making our way down to this morning's target, The temple of the Tooth. It was even busier than we had come to expect and we found out that today is a public holiday. There is one month to celebrate the full moon and we might have guessed this after viewing the full moon last night! The temple of the Tooth relic is the most important Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka and many people come to pay their respects on the full moon holiday. We were approached by a young man who offered to be our guide for 500 rupees. Unusually for us we agreed, which turned out to be a very sensible move. Sandu was very knowledgeable about the temple, relics etc but his main value to us was in another area altogether. The whole place was absolutely heaving with people coming to pay their respects to the Buddha. Sandu helped us through the crowds to the place where foreigners can buy their tickets and leave their shoes. We joined the crowds pushing their way up the steps and saw a massive bottleneck queue clogging the entrance. Sandu took us in the opposite direction, moved aside a gate and led us through the back way onto the building. Yes, we took a short cut! We still had to join the crowds on the stairs and were squeezed along with the general throng up and along past the ancient relic itself along with several other shrines, but we never would have managed it without our trusty guide. He also took us into a special room where many ancient manuscripts are kept and the monks chant from these manuscripts on special occasions.

After a good look round we made our way out, past the shrine where the body of an old elephant from the procession is kept. The we had to brave the exit which was now even more crowded than when we came in! You just have to join the pushing crowds and hope to keep your feet when you come to the steps. Amazingly enough everyone seems to get through without mishap. We retrieved our shoes and returned to the car. Back to the hotel and time to cool down and enjoy a fresh lime soda in the bar before getting ready for this afternoon’s cricket.

We left early to avoid the worst of the traffic and stopped for lunch at The Earl Regency, a 5 star hotel along the way. We took the buffet lunch which was beautifully presented but very expensive and we agreed that it was not actually as good as the cheaper alternative we had enjoyed the day before at our own Swiss Residence hotel. Also the staff, although friendly, were not as competent and willing to please as the guys at our hotel so it just goes to show that stars are not always everything. As compensation though, we did line up at the buffet with Malinga the slinger, the Sri Lankan bowling star. Yes, that hair is for real and we can confirm that he does eat his curry with his fingers in true local style.

We arrived at Pallekele a little later than intended and heard the national anthems as we neared the gate. Luckily it was much less busy than our previous visit and we entered the ground quite easily. We were able to find a seat on the small retaining wall at the perimeter just in time to see the first ball bowled. We had a pretty good view in spite of people walking backwards and forwards in front. We were wearing our Barmy Army shirts and England floppy hats and, to our horror, at one point the roving TV camera came and focused on us. I sincerely hope that pictures of us were not beamed around the world as that is definitely not my best fashion statement!

In contrast to our last visit to Pallekele there was no alcohol being served as this is the full moon holiday. This was probably a good thing as the crowds seemed much more controlled than last time although things may look different during the Sri Lanka game. As England supporters we were delighted to see that England again made a good showing in the field but, this time, were also able to do well when they came in to bat. They were chasing 149 to win and made it with 8 balls to spare. Sighs of relief all round!

We decided not to stay for the Sri Lanka versus West Indies game and instead we went back to the hotel to enjoy it in comfort on the TV in the lobby. Yes we are wimps, but the ground is manic and really quite hard work. Knowing that no alcohol could be served in the hotel on full moon day we drank a quick beer in the room as Simon needed his daily fix. Down in the lobby they served us beer anyway. How about that!