On a hill overlooking Kandy and Kandy Lake.

Closer-up. I was interested in knowing what the white structures on the left and the right hills were.

The one on the top of the hill on the left was a very large Buddha statue overlooking Kandy.

Closer-up.

The one on the right was a very large stupa near the top of the hill.

Looking down on a rooftop from where I was standing. Many monkeys (macaques).

Great smile!

Masks on a tree were being sold here.

More on the tree.

Closer-up.

I bought this colorful one and one other.

Next stop, the Hemachandras (Kandy) Limited gem lapidary and store.

Working on gems.

Tools of the trade.

Rocks containing gems to be worked on. The gem industry in Sri Lanka dates back to before the 2nd century. It has the highest density of gem deposits for a country of its size--nearly 25% of its land mass.

The gems of Sri Lanka include sapphires, Ceylon sapphires, rubies, alexandrite, star stones, chrysoberyl, cat's eye, quartz, amethyst, citrine, aquamarine, garnet, tourmaline, spinel, topaz, moonstone, zircon, tsavorite, and peridot.

In this photo, are citrine and tsavorite.

Tsavonite and aquamarine.

Orange sapphire and ruby.

Blue sapphire.

Looks like aquamarine ready to be made into rings.

Display of rocks with gemstones in them.

Amethyst.

Black tourmaline crystal.

Display of jewelry.

Another display of jewelry.

Finished gemstone ready for mounting.

Gem-encrusted elephants.

The jewelry store. It was very crowded.

A display by birth month in the store: here, for April.

For May.

For June.

Back on the road: driving through Kandy.

Further along.

The Kandy Clock Tower was built in 1950 by Haji Mohamed Ismail as a monument and in memory of his son who died in an accident. Our meeting place after walking around Kandy on our own was across from the tower.

I went with a tour mate to the marketplace across the street. Today was the Duruthu Full Moon Poya day in Sri Lanka, marking the first of Buddha's three visits to Sri Lanka. Full Moon Poya days are once a month and are civil and bank holidays. However, the market was in full swing today.

Many fabrics for sale.

Appliques for sale.

Close-up.

Blazers for rent.

Spices for sale. Cinnamon is the major spice grown in Sri Lanka, which was introduced by the Dutch. The spice industry grew under the British, but declined when the British developed their tea plantations, but still many spices are grown in spice gardens. In the photo, spice mixtures of chili, curry, and tumeric powder and of coriander seed, mustard seed, and desicated coconut.

Sri Lanka batik also was for sale.

An elephant on a batik cloth.

We were given instructions by Shyam, our tour director, to meet for lunch at a specific food court. My tour mate and I started walking toward the food court, but I don't think that we listened all that well to Shyam as we ended up in a different food court--where was everybody? But if we hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to take this photo of the Marilyn chairs. Anyway, the food where we ate was very good and the conversation was very good as well.

On the street, looking for the correct food court out of curosity (we did realize our mistake in the middle of our meal). Street vendors.

More street vendors.

We did listen to Shyam as to where our meeting place would be and made it back to across from the clock tower.

Back on the bus, driving past a marketplace.

More of the marketplace.

A square with beautiful buildings.

Probably a hotel.

We are close to the Buddha statue that we saw from the hill.

Our next stop was at the Temple of the Tooth Relic, which is located in a royal palace. I took this photo from the hill that we first went to. It was believed that whoever holds the tooth relic of Buddha controls the government, so temples containing the relic were built near a king's residence, which changed as the capital of the kingdoms were changed. In the photo, the Temple of the Tooth Relic is to the left of the building with a white/yellow roof, the Queen's Bathing Pavilion is in the front, and the Royal Palace is at the left.

The entrance to the Temple of the Tooth Relic. Notice that the line has only women in it.

There was a special entrance for women.

And a special entrance for men.

Walking to the Temple of the Tooth Relic. The flags are Buddhist flags and symbolize Buddhism.

There was water on the pavement. It may have been there as a purification and as "the aspiration to cultivate the virtues of calmness, clarity and purity with our body, speech and mind." Buddhists are mainly dressed in white as a sign of devotion.

The Temple of the Tooth Relic. The entrance to the temple had some very steep steps plus water on the pavement from where you left your shoes and the steps. I decided not to go into the temple, but see Album Day 8 for a link for photos of the inside of the temple.

A close-up.

A stupa on the temple grounds.