The Tooth Relic

It's been quite a week in Kandy with people pouring in from all over the country to see the tooth relic at the Temple of the Tooth. The relic is usually kept in a casket, but from the 6th it was on display. It was actually supposed to be on display until Tuesday, but because of a security scare yesterday the last 3 days have been cancelled. There are all sorts of rumours doing the rounds - including one that an LTTE cadre managed to sneak in disguised as a police officer - but according to the online edition of the Sunday Times this morning a suspicious electronic device was discovered.

I did think about going, but when I saw the crowds of people waiting in long queues for hours, I decided not to. People were camping out on the pavement overnight and by early morning there were kilometre long queues along the main streets and around the lake. Getting into work on Friday was a nightmare as overnight the police decided in their wisdom to make certain streets one way. It took me over 30 minutes to get into work and at one point I thought I'd never get there. Driving here is chaotic at the best of times, but Friday was the worst I've ever seen it.

On Tuesday I met up with Dhanushka - the first time we've spent any time together since we broke up last year. We've been talking on the phone over the past couple of weeks, so I suggested that we go to the botanical gardens then come back here for lunch. It was really good seeing him again and we had a good talk about what happened last year. He's coming over again tomorrow as he wants some help with an e-mail he has to write.

Am at home at the moment. There are still no new episodes of Forbidden Love, so I'm listening to a CD by a singer from Mali called Oumou Sangare, which a friend at work gave me. I don't know much about music from Mali, but I really like this - very catchy. Apparently she's very well-known. I don't really listen to much music at the moment - strange given that when I was in Japan I bought lots of CDs. I hardly listened to any music when I was travelling in India and Nepal - apart from what I heard around me, so maybe I got out of habit of listening to music. Maybe I should buy myself an MP3 player?

I haven't taken many photos lately, so have included a photo I took at the botanical gardens last year. I like the way I caught the early morning light on the tree trunk and the sense of peacefulness and solitude. Not much peacefulness when I was there on Tuesday as it was a public holiday, so the gardens were heaving with families and couples.