We got the royal tour with video describing how precious stones are mined and then hand crafted into beautiful jewellery at the factory. Precious stones 8 and above hardness (i.e. diamonds are 10) and semi precious (below 8) are stones mined by locals who simply dig down about 15 metres and then set off with tunnels in different directions bringing back all the gravel and soil, which is raised to the surface and then panned in streams to reveal the rubies, amethysts, sapphires etc. The area is inspected after the mine is refilled to ensure that the land is left safe and as it was.
Geoff was in seventh heaven in the workshop, marvelling at the intricate processes to produce the jewellery.
We were very impressed by the way in which moulds are made for the jewellery using cuttlefish bones. The gold or silver is poured into the moulds, fired and then refined.
Savi succumbed to buying some stones to have made into jewellery in India from items she has got tired of: the whole process of smelting, moulding and creating starts all over again! The boys ushered the party out quickly, before the girls got any more ideas We moved on to the Kandy Botanical Gardens, which is a lovely lush area of thousands of trees, bushes and plants over a huge area.
Whilst Jason enthused about the unusual orchids, Savi found a tree that she wanted to adopt: "The Yesterday Today Tomorrow Tree". We did a bit of emailing from a Cyber Cafe, wandered around Kandy town centre, then back to Uncle Raja's for another lovely dinner with the family. What a life! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Kandy
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