*This post is sponsored by Mahaweli Reach Hotel

When we were planning our 16-day trip to Sri Lanka I found that I was the most excited about going to Kandy. Kandy is widely regarded as the cultural capital of Sri Lanka and is located in the Central Province. Kandy is known as being the last capital of the ancient kings era and as such, is held as a deeply special place in the hearts of all Sri Lankans. Kandy is also the site of the Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa), one of the most sacred places of worship for Buddhists in the entire world. The Temple was actually declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988; it is one of the main reasons Buddhists and tourists alike flock to Kandy. We decided to spend three full nights in Kandy and after a lot of research decided to stay with Mahaweli Reach Hotel along the Mahaweli River.

We arrived in Kandy after a meandering five hour drive from Ella. Originally, we had planned to take the very scenic seven-hour train ride on the famous blue train from Ella to Kandy…but felt uncomfortable about the safety on the train so soon after the Easter Sunday bombings. Instead, we hired a driver and made our way through tea plantations, gorgeous green switchbacks and beautiful vistas to the ancient city of Kandy. Under different circumstances it would have been awesome to take the train; this just wasn’t the time and we felt a lot more comfortable in the car with a dedicated driver.

From tea plantations to rice paddies, the drive from Ella to Kandy was a visual feast. We made several stops along the way when things looked interesting. Especially at this local market we came across about halfway through our journey. I have no idea where this was (I was too caught up in the moment to geo tag it or jot any notes down) but we were the only non-locals there and attracted a little bit of attention. We loved sorting through clothing and veggies and just taking it all in.

Due to the bombings, security was incredibly tight on the roads from Ella to Kandy. We were stopped at about seven checkpoints and had to get out of the car, show passports and have our luggage searched four times. I didn’t write about any of that on social media while we were traveling because I didn’t want to alarm anyone back at home (especially my family) but we never felt uneasy or in any danger. The police and military were simply doing their job and we always complied quickly. Still…after the fourth luggage search I was starting to feel a little “done”. As you can see from the below photo with just one of the military we had to work with:

We were excited to finally land at Mahaweli Reach Hotel and feel pampered. This hotel is absolutely beautiful. The landscaping (bougainvillea for days and days), the pools, the incredibly array of food, the service, the comfortable and indulgent accommodations – we felt like royalty while staying here. I knew that at this point in our trip (ten full days of traveling around the country) we would be wanting a little luxury and Mahaweli Reach really delivered on that front. It was a gorgeous visual feast every day and we adored it.

Kandy was super hot while we were there so we LOVED having a beautiful pool to plunge into after our daily adventures. The water was pretty cold and it took our breath away for a few minutes until we adjusted but then it felt perfect. We spent each afternoon at the pool bringing our body temperatures back down while taking in the view and/or watching Netflix.

We also took an afternoon to have some spa treatments done at Spa Ceylon right at the hotel. I have had spa treatments all over the world at some fantastic hotels and I can honestly say this was one of my favorite spa experiences ever.

I did a sugar scrub that had four different parts to it, ending with being covered in oil and honey and then showered off in a steam shower. Mind BLOWN. It was fantastic. Sam did a 90 minute massage and also really enjoyed it. The spa has a shop in the hotel and I purchased many souvenirs to take home because I just loved all of the smells of the products!

Mahaweli Reach was kind enough to upgrade us to a beautiful executive suite. This gave us a large king size bedroom, living room, dining nook, three balconies and two bathrooms. I still think about how nice that bathroom was (the shower had all of these wall jets and a rain shower head that was JUST perfect). We ended up eating dinner through the restaurant most nights in our room; a team would come up with our food and transform our dining area into an extensive feast for two in the comfort of our “house”.

We asked our driver (who we worked with through the hotel) to take us to the Temple of the Tooth and were pleasantly surprised to see that there was zero wait and zero crowds. We had been worried about crowds and lines here since this was one of the biggest tourist destinations in the country but due to the bombings there were hardly any people in the temple complex. Security was tight and we felt safe. The temple itself was peaceful and beautiful. This is one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in the world and you can feel the peace and importance throughout the temple grounds.

We purchased some lotus blossom offerings to take into the temple and for some reason I was completely unable to hold this offering AND take a photo at the same time. What?

Once we were inside the temple we ended up chatting quietly with a Sri Lankan couple about the importance of the temple and also about Kandy itself. It was cool and dim inside the temple (a welcome respite from the awful heat and humidity outside) and felt good to walk around barefoot on the chilled floors. I dislike being barefoot in general but totally adapted and liked it while I was in Sri Lanka.

While staying at Mahaweli Reach we also took a riverboat cruise from the hotel down the river and back. It was leisurely and gave us an opportunity to see the vastness of the river and what life was like along it. We saw monitor lizards and some HUGE bats as well as colorful birds. Moving along the water with a sunshade over our heads was quite pleasant.

While in Kandy we visited some of the most well known temples in the area. First up was the Embekke Devalaya Buddhist temple, famous for its intricate wood carvings on the walls and ceilings. It was stunning and probably my favorite temple that we visited in Kandy.

Right around the corner from this temple complex was a woodworker whom we purchased a carved elephant from. Just down the block from him was a post office that Sam became fascinated in; he ended up buying a block of every denomination of stamps! Every. Single. One. It was pretty entertaining to watch the translation between Sam, our driver and the post office worker :).

The second temple we spent time in was called Lankathilaka, an ancient structure constructed sometime in the 14th century. It is set upon a huge natural rock named Panhalgala Rock (which tends to feel VERY hot on those bare feet that you need to have while on the temple grounds). It is a Buddhist temple and has four sections making the shape of a cross. The entire building used to be about three stories but today only the ground floor and part of the first floor of the temple are now visible. My favorite part of this temple (other than seeing the stark whiteness of the structure against the rock and the blue sky) was the curved brick ceiling inside – it was stunning. It was really hot outside…but still stunning.

At the base of this temple were several artisans and shops where we ended up buying a really old knife for our oldest son, some carved wooden boxes and a few other souvenirs.

The last temple we visited was the Bahirawakanda Buddhist temple (also known as Sri Maha Bodhi Viharaya). The Buddha statue is so large (88 feet tall approx) that it can be viewed anywhere in Kandy. On this particular day it was SO hot and the tiles on the ground felt like they were boiling. Remember that game you played as a kid, stay off the lava? That’s what this felt like getting into the temple! I have no problem removing shoes in sacred places but we learned very quickly that a pair of socks really protect your feet on these hot tiles. Lesson learned: we used socks at every subsequent temple we visited. This temple is worth seeing because of the enormity of the Buddhist statue; just make sure you wear socks or your feet will burn on those tiles. ALSO: any time you want to take a photo with a Buddha you must remember not to take the photo with your back to the Buddha. It is very disrespectful to do so; instead, angle your body so that your back is not facing the statue. Being in Thailand taught us this so we were pros when it came to Sri Lanka!

On our final night in Kandy we enjoyed the sunset from our balcony, watching bats fly around in the distance. I wish I could have better captured how the sky looked like cotton candy. It was beautiful.

We felt incredibly pampered and comfortable while at Mahaweli Reach. We used the hotel extensively for all of our arrangements (spa, drivers, tours, meals) and they delivered perfectly each time. There is a high premium on great service at Mahaweli and we appreciated it. Our bed was super comfortable and the suite gave us plenty of room to relax and spread out. We truly felt like we were at “home” while there. Also that pool was phenomenal. WOW. When you are in a very hot country like Sri Lanka the importance of a cold pool cannot be stressed enough. The whole hotel was just brimming with beautiful flowers and landscaping so it felt like an oasis.

While we were in Kandy we really felt the effects on tourism of the Easter Sunday bombings. There were very few guests not only at our hotel but at ALL hotels and attractions throughout Kandy. The short term effects of this are noticeable but the long term effects are devastating. Staff at hotels and restaurants will need to be laid off, shops and eateries will need to cut their hours and eventually close, families will go hungry and become desperate as men and women find it difficult to secure jobs. Tourism is a vital ingredient to the wonderful mix of Sri Lanka. It is a vibrant, beautiful country and the more time we spent there the more we loved it, Kandy especially. I hope that tourism will again flourish in Sri Lanka and people will come BACK to this amazing place. And when they go to Kandy I will strongly encourage them to go to Mahaweli Reach for some luxury and pampering! Thank you, Mahaweli Reach for a perfect four days – we loved it.

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