#i wanted to make this a double pic post but sizing wasnt working for me n i have a mc server to update so one it is

[strangecowplant]

she loves giant smores cookies and Will kick your ass with her platform boot if you mess w her or her friends

[metalasian]

Kandy

The next morning, I hopped on an early morning bus from Dambulla to Kandy. Despite being quite cramped, I was able to get a seat fairly quickly. Not too long afterwards, the little kid next to me barfed in a bag and his mom tossed out the window.... so it goes in Sri Lanka, I guess....

The bus was funny. Like all things in Sri Lanka, there’s an odd culture of decals, tons of neon and weird messaging - everything feels like a 90′s post-capitalist nightmare. Hard to explain but something you just have to witness when you visit. Contrast that with the blaring local music on the radio and you’ve got a proper assault on the senses at hand. 

After a few solid hours on the road, we make it to Kandy. It’s a little less idyllic than it’s described online (I wasn’t the only one who felt this way). It’s mainly just a busy city in the hills with a big lake in the middle (a manmade one, at that). 

I didn’t spend too much time wandering around, but I did manage to get this scenic shot at the top of a hill. 

View of Kandy from the hills

After cruising around for a bit, I went for a bit of a bang-bang: started out by going to Muslim Hotel, where they fucked up my order: I wanted some Kottu, but they gave me a Kabul instead (at this point I have no idea what anything is). 

Turns out that a lot of Sri Lankan food revolves around Roti’s, which are kind of like flour tortillas but slightly different (I think they have coconut mixed in as well?). Anyway Kottu roti, which were probably the most ubiquitous dish around, are basically chopped up Roti’s that are then stir fried with other stuff (usually with cheese too) on a flat-top grill. The chopped up rotis end up having a gummy consistency - kind of like those of pad thai noodles. Pics to come later. 

What i got was a Kabul roti, which was a roti stuffed with chicken and other stuff. I’ve never heard of this referred to as a “Kabul” anywhere else, but I looked it up and this may come from the Afghani food item “Bolani,” which itself is a stuffed flatbread. Tl;dr these were like Sri Lankan Crunchwrap supremes. 

After my first meal, I then wandered over to Bolaji Dosai, a South Indian spot which specializes in (big-ass) dosas, and got myself a masala dosa the size of a small baseball bat.. see exhibit A. 

Exhibit A: The size of a Dosa at Bolaji Dosai

After crushing some Dosa I went for a quick wander in Temple of the Sacred Tooth (but couldn’t bothered to actually stay for any ceremonies). After a quick walk-through, I opted to hit the bar instead. 

The place I wound up was a rooftop bar aptly named “Slightly Chilled” (ever-so slightly). This was a good pace to unwind with an ice cold lion beer. The owner was also a funny bald, middle-aged British guy who doubled as the house DJ. 

The view from Slightly Chilled bar

I ended up chatting up the girl I was sitting next to, a cute Turkish girl named Cagla working for Doctors WIthout Borders, and her friend, a Malaysian girl who at one point studied at Berklee. 

After a few beers and cigarettes, we cruised to Hipster Hideout, which was a Hostel that had a pretty cool bar to hangout at. We met a funny Indian and Israeli couple (I believe she was a bollywood writer and he oversaw Israeli tourism in India). 

We ended up going out for late night food around 1am. After turning down two places, then realizing there was nothing else open, and coming back to realize those original places had closed as well, the Indian girl managed to convince a shop owner to open up his doors again and feed us some leftovers (chicken and fried rice). 

Late night food with the couple from India

We ended up being accosted by some interested Sri Lankan teens who wanted selfies with us. They called the Turkish girl “beautiful” and tried to catcall the Indian girl, who promptly proceeded to tear them a new one. I really don’t think these kids knew any better, but they certainly won’t be harassing any women in the future. They danced for us (it was bad).