The train to Kandy from Nanu Oya was packed so we couldn't get a seat - Em sat on our bags in a makeshift seat for a way while I stood by door, and got to sit out the door for a bit too - actually pretty fun, watching the incredible scenery roll past. Plus I made friends with some Sri Lankan university students who were also visiting Kandy for the festival.

Kandy was crazy busy when we arrived due to the Esala Perahera. Families grab spots on the side of the street in the early morning and sit there all day to get a good spot for the evening procession and tourists pay thousands of rupees for seats. Luckily our guesthouse - the Olde Empire (an impressive colonial building with wooden floors and high ceilings) was right on the procession route and had a very handy balcony from which we could watch for free!

As the town was so busy we popped out to sit by the lake but not for long as we didn't want to get trapped outside our guesthouse when the streets closed. We sat on the balcony and watched the chaos until the Perahera started.

The Perahera starts with a deafening cannon fire. The procession is made of of 5 different processions from the Temple of the Tooth and it's four devales - temples to other deities related to Buddhism (in order -Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama and Pattini) It starts with boys cracking whips followed by a group of very young fire dancers. Then each procession consists of hundreds of drummers, dancers and elephants - all in highly decorative dress relating to their temple. Each finishes with a large tusker elephant carrying a relic from the temple - in the temple of the tooths case it's a replica, followed by officials of that temple.

It was an amazing spectacle and lasted nearly 3 hours! So many people and elephants! Crazy.

The next day was packed. We started with the Temple of the Tooth including filing past the relic contained in its golden dagoba, and 3 of the 4 devales temples. Afterwards we visited the Britosh Garrison Cemetry - where the lovely caretaker took us round explaining each gravestones story - many were young British men and women whi died of tropical diseases or elephant attacks in colonial Sri Lanka.

We briskly walked round the lake before stocking up on supplies before heading to Peradynia Botanical Gardens - just outside Kandy. Here were a beautiful collection of plants and trees set in lovely grounds - and loads of trees had thousands of resident massive fruit bats which made it even more interesting!

Back in Kandy we walked up the steep hill to Helga's Folly - a bizarre hotel owned by the eccentric Helga De Silva. We had a drink in the lounge which is covered with murals, trinkets, puppets, newspaper articles and massive dripping candles. Dingy lighting gives the place an impressively haunted house atmosphere.

From here we rushed back into town to avoid getting stuck outside the guesthouse due to the festival but were too late - the roads were already closed. We watched the procession up until the tooth replica on hard concrete sidewalk down a side street before giving up and going for food - fantastic naan and rotti at a Muslim cafe. We waited by the lake which had an incredible view of the lights of the festival until it finished. It was amusing watching the massive crowds rushing across the crossroads to catch buses afterwards! We squeezed through the exiting families back to the guesthouse and went to bed for our 5am start the next day.