Lawayn Next

A travel journal enriched with travel stories, tips and photos

Kandy, Sri Lanka, The Royal Botanical Gardens

A Lesson at The Royal Botanical Gardens

We stopped near the Bamboo trees. Our guide looked at us and asked, “Do you notice anything special in this area?” we looked at each other and wondered. We had been to some better-looking corners of the garden, so why would he ask us now? Some of us took further steps and even grabbed a bamboo trunk and looked further behind it. “There’s a river!” one of us shouted. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, the Giant Bamboo of Burma, these are the tallest bamboo stalks in the world. You had been fascinated with the marvelous collection of orchids that this garden is famous for, but when you hear the story of the bamboo you’ll appreciate these tall and thick stalks more.”

As if he just rang a bell, everything went silent. “You might wonder how tall these bamboo are? Some might reach 40-meter-tall with a thick-walled and resistant hollow stalk reaching a diameter of 35 cm. These plants are very slow during their first 3 to 4 years. Some might think that these bamboo plants are barely surviving. Reaching maturity around the fifth year, these unique plants can grow 30 cm a day. Some have reported a growth rate of 90 cm in 24 hours. Isn’t it a miracle?” he continued: “Some consider the Bamboo Tree as the perfect parable to learn from. We should motivate ourselves and remain persistent even when we are unable to see any growth on the surface”.

  • Royal Botanical Garden, Kandy, Sri Lanka
  • Royal Botanical Garden, Kandy, Sri Lanka
  • Royal Botanical Garden, Kandy, Sri Lanka
  • Royal Botanical Garden, Kandy, Sri Lanka
  • Royal Botanical Garden, Kandy, Sri Lanka

Our visit to The Royal Botanical Gardens comes in second place after the Temple of the Tooth visit. We highly recommend doing both when you’re in Kandy. If it’s your first time visiting the gardens we recommend that you hire a guide at the entrance. The gardens consist of more than 200,000 square meters dedicated to the flora of Sri Lanka. There are over 110 endemic plants, as well as major collections of palms, bamboo, cacti, flowers, and orchids in a delightful orchid house. Therefore, it is best to have an expert to guide you around and provide you with valuable information. You can easily spend the whole day walking around the gardens and exploring nature’s magnificence.

The six of us, including Edmond and Layal who joined us yesterday in Kandy, had a fantastic day at the Gardens. We shared some laughs with the guide who had a unique sense of humor, and at noon we had lunch at the gardens’ restaurant. Some people might argue that it is a bit overpriced but for someone paying in dollars, it should be affordable. After lunch, the weather changed suddenly, and it started pouring rain. We ran to a shelter along with dozens of other people, until we had a break to walk back to our mini-van. That late afternoon we drove back to Kandy through foggy and wet weather with intermittent showers. It was our last night in Kandy before we headed to our next destination, Nuwara Eliya.

  1. Exploring Sri Lanka in a Mini-Van 
  2. Sri Lanka, it makes you wonder
  3. Trust the locals
  4. Home of Buddha’s tooth
  5. A Lesson at The Royal Botanical Gardens
  6. Pinnawala and the peer pressure
  7. The Tea Factory at Nuwara Eliya
  8. The pilgrimage, Adam’s Peak, Sri Lanka.
  9. A Luxurious Stay, a Bank and an Unforgettable Safari

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Royal Botanical Garden, Kandy, Sri Lanka

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