Item 01: Irene Victoria Read letters from her husband, 27 November 1914-1 November 1915 - Page 86

[Page 86]

Each bedroom has a large electric fan which was not really wanted while we were there as it was so nice & cool. In the evening I left some negatives to be developed by the local photographer.
After breakfast next day we hired a [indecipherable] & did the sights of Kandy. We first drove up to Wace park, the hill in front of the hotel overlooking the Lake. From here we got some lovely glimpses of Kandy, the Lake & surrounding Mountains. We then did the Temple of Buddha's Tooth & saw the paintings depicting the punishments ordained by Buddha for various offences, the sacred turtles, the crystal image of Buddha, Buddha's foot print & numerous priests beggars & cripples. The tooth was not open for inspection unless you had an order from the Governor of Ceylon. We next drove out to the Botanical Gardens at Peradenya [Peradeniya?] & spent half an hour looking at the wonderful collection of tropical plants & trees. There were not many orchids in bloom. The avenues of palms were very fine. Amongst other plants seen there were :- duranta, lantana, tecoma capensis, crotons, caladiums, solanums, a very large aristolochia monstera deliciosa, ferns galore & all kinds of spice trees. After doing the gardens we had a light lunch (bad tea & stale cake) at the rest house & the three nurses then caught the train back to Colombo.