Tie a yellow gibbon...
It’s odd, really. At the monastery we were introduced to a trainee monk who showed us round. The training takes six years. He tied a three part cord around our necks with some sort of significance that escapes me! When it falls off I am meant to hang it on a tree. Since I need all the luck I can get right now (We have the builders in modifying the house and fitting a kitchen!), I am still wearing mine!
So, here I am with a piece of yellow cotton round my neck as a talisman!
We were on the way to the Temple of the Tooth relic when he diverted us. It was a great diversion. I far preferred the monastery to the temple. They run a school at the monastery, and this looks as if it might be an exam in progress.
So far we haven’t seen a schoolroom with windows. I’m really not sure what happens when the monsoon rains come. We know it rains like crazy from a snippet about Kandy Station. Apparently, though not obviously, it is being refurbished at present. A prime concern is rainwater drainage. So what happens to schools in the rain?
Good lord. I meant to write all about the Temple of the Tooth relic here. I guess I got sidetracked. But, for those of you who can stand it, there will be more!
The one thing we kept noticing is the urgency with which taxi and tuk tuk drivers hustle for fares. Locals use them, of course they do, but tourist money would be a major boost to the economy. I can’t see why we stay away en masse.