Sri Lanka

---

The Buddhist Temple, Temple of the Tooth is in Kandy, Sri Lanka and is said to hold the tooth of Buddha. Lying on a gold lotus flower is the resting place of the Buddhas tooth. The temple itself sits within the gorgeous white palace complex. Inside is full of gold and art all over the temple walls and ceilings with various historical findings and story telling throughout. Tourists and worshippers can leave offerings and pray in the temples. 

Here you can also find the preserved body of Raja the elephant in a museum located in the palace grounds. Raja was loved by the locals and the owners at the palace and would appear in the annual processions. Known as a temple elephant, Raja was trained and assisted on palace duties throughout his life.

This place is full of history and is a must see when visiting Kandy. 

One of the best days ever!! We travelled from Kandy to Rambukkana to visit this elephant orphanage after my mum saw it on Blue Peter as a little girl and had always wanted to go.

What a fantastic experience! We started by visiting the orphanage sanctuary to see some of the larger elephants, who were all present to greet you upon your arrival and were free to roam around in their groups. The babies were then shown to us! The best thing ever, of course, is that we were able to give them some fruit!  

Following this, we crossed the road to the river (shown above) with the volunteers and elephants to sit and observe the elephants playing and bathing. This location was truly lovely; it was a restaurant with a view of the river where you could get a drink, cool off, and spend the next hour or so watching elephants! Dreamy!