Kandy woods, or is it a Jungle?
Just bordering the lake to the North is a woodland/forest reserve and sanctuary, according to the tourist map. Has to be worth a look - a good old trek in a forest usually finds me spotting something unusual! No specific entrance point is marked on the map so going to be trial and error. A northerly direction from the temple corner of the lake would be a reasonable start and maybe it's one of these roads leading off to the right - a tree lined road that doubles as a parking lot for the council buildings on the left. Worth a photo here since the architecture is reminiscent of the old colonial era. Further up and a group of monkeys seem to be mischief making, jumping around on parked cars, throwing things from the high wires. It's good that they are per-occupied as I hurry past not wishing to attract undue attention. Following the road up into the wooded area, perhaps this is it then. A large wrought iron gate with a booth, manned by someone presumably ready to make my wallet just that little bit lighter. 600 rupees, just over £3.00 to pass and after signing the book, the woman there grins and lets me in. Just inside and more monkeys - better find a stick since there could be trouble ahead!
Not sure how big this place is but anyway, let's just follow the trails and see if a leopard jumps out from behind the scrub, or maybe an elephant might be lurking somewhere. 1145 now, got water, found a stick (to beat off trouble) so let's go.
Signs naming trails and pointing in hopefully the right direction along with wide tracks, wide enough for a jeep, are making this trek quite easy. It's an odd mix of woodlands, Forrest and jungle but it's quite cool with a nice breeze. A few more monkeys, a deer, some butterflies and a few flowers spotted so far, nothing incredibly exciting, yet. Kodimale view point, a name that's appeared on a few signs nailed to trees. Must be a good spot for a photo then, so let's go there. Hmm, a fork in the road and no directions to Kodimale. Eeni meeni minee mo is as good as any method here. The steepest and longest path is also the better guess. A good guess as it turns out, because just over the bow of the hill is this view point - only one problem, no view! All that effort only to be greeted with a dilapidated platform surrounded by jungle, but in a brief moment of consolation trying my best to peer through the foliage, I can imagine how a view point might have looked!
Only one way to go from here - down. The place isn't really that big, I'm sure I passed this spot a few hours ago. Down, leads to the pond - the Royal pond according to a sign. It's muddy, very muddy indeed as viewed from a dilapidated walkway through the middle. Turtles coming up for some much needed air. It's hard to see what can actually survive in this other than a swamp monster of course!
Another sign points to Kandy Town View Point. Yes, but will there be anything to view? Curiosity gets the better of me and off I trek again, this time through some pretty overgrown tracks. About 20 mi utes later and a clearing and yes, there is a view. Quite a scenic view over part of the town and lake. Further on, a building labelled as a conservation centre. It's closed for repairs apparently!
I wonder if there is a short cut to the lake from here? Not looking good as each track seems to be a dead end. And a hornets nest in the distance, looks like someone's upset their home as thousands of them turn the sky from blue to a rather menacing shade of black! Time to get out of here before I'm spotted and receive some real trouble!
In interesting few hours but best to stick to the official pathways and tracks. It's all quite tame, nothing strenuous about these woods/jungle. Nothing really exciting to spot either, but of course spotting nature is just one of those good luck moments. The Kandy Town View Point is worth the effort though.
The only way out is the official entry gate as far as tourists are concerned anyway. Back along the council offices road where those monkeys are even more mischief making. Sliding down the wire, squabbling, some real fights occurring and again dropping things from the high wire. This time, an almost full bottle of orangeade - that might have dented a tuk tuk!
Just bordering the lake to the North is a woodland/forest reserve and sanctuary, according to the tourist map. Has to be worth a look - a good old trek in a forest usually finds me spotting something unusual! No specific entrance point is marked on the map so going to be trial and error. A northerly direction from the temple corner of the lake would be a reasonable start and maybe it's one of these roads leading off to the right - a tree lined road that doubles as a parking lot for the council buildings on the left. Worth a photo here since the architecture is reminiscent of the old colonial era. Further up and a group of monkeys seem to be mischief making, jumping around on parked cars, throwing things from the high wires. It's good that they are per-occupied as I hurry past not wishing to attract undue attention. Following the road up into the wooded area, perhaps this is it then. A large wrought iron gate with a booth, manned by someone presumably ready to make my wallet just that little bit lighter. 600 rupees, just over £3.00 to pass and after signing the book, the woman there grins and lets me in. Just inside and more monkeys - better find a stick since there could be trouble ahead!
Not sure how big this place is but anyway, let's just follow the trails and see if a leopard jumps out from behind the scrub, or maybe an elephant might be lurking somewhere. 1145 now, got water, found a stick (to beat off trouble) so let's go.
Signs naming trails and pointing in hopefully the right direction along with wide tracks, wide enough for a jeep, are making this trek quite easy. It's an odd mix of woodlands, Forrest and jungle but it's quite cool with a nice breeze. A few more monkeys, a deer, some butterflies and a few flowers spotted so far, nothing incredibly exciting, yet. Kodimale view point, a name that's appeared on a few signs nailed to trees. Must be a good spot for a photo then, so let's go there. Hmm, a fork in the road and no directions to Kodimale. Eeni meeni minee mo is as good as any method here. The steepest and longest path is also the better guess. A good guess as it turns out, because just over the bow of the hill is this view point - only one problem, no view! All that effort only to be greeted with a dilapidated platform surrounded by jungle, but in a brief moment of consolation trying my best to peer through the foliage, I can imagine how a view point might have looked!
Only one way to go from here - down. The place isn't really that big, I'm sure I passed this spot a few hours ago. Down, leads to the pond - the Royal pond according to a sign. It's muddy, very muddy indeed as viewed from a dilapidated walkway through the middle. Turtles coming up for some much needed air. It's hard to see what can actually survive in this other than a swamp monster of course!
Another sign points to Kandy Town View Point. Yes, but will there be anything to view? Curiosity gets the better of me and off I trek again, this time through some pretty overgrown tracks. About 20 mi utes later and a clearing and yes, there is a view. Quite a scenic view over part of the town and lake. Further on, a building labelled as a conservation centre. It's closed for repairs apparently!
I wonder if there is a short cut to the lake from here? Not looking good as each track seems to be a dead end. And a hornets nest in the distance, looks like someone's upset their home as thousands of them turn the sky from blue to a rather menacing shade of black! Time to get out of here before I'm spotted and receive some real trouble!
In interesting few hours but best to stick to the official pathways and tracks. It's all quite tame, nothing strenuous about these woods/jungle. Nothing really exciting to spot either, but of course spotting nature is just one of those good luck moments. The Kandy Town View Point is worth the effort though.
The only way out is the official entry gate as far as tourists are concerned anyway. Back along the council offices road where those monkeys are even more mischief making. Sliding down the wire, squabbling, some real fights occurring and again dropping things from the high wire. This time, an almost full bottle of orangeade - that might have dented a tuk tuk!
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