I got to Kandy pretty late, it was almost 10pm when I arrived at Castle Hill. Since I hopped into a car Kalum had arranged (it cost about Rs.7000), he too accompanied me on the trip down as ‘security’.
The drive up to the house was a little dark as the driveway was adorned by lush growth and it was dimly lit. As soon as I got into the house, the staff apologised for the electricity being out in the common room of the house, before getting me to sign the logbook and proceeded on to show me my room.
The electricity in my room was working fine but it was a huge room. It could sleep 4 and had it’s own little dining table inside the room apart from a patio area outside. Huge! But it did feel a little eerie. Anyways, I was excited about the view I would get in the morning as this place is set on a hill over looking the city of Kandy. And the view tonight was beautiful, despite the downpour earlier; it was still a beautiful view.
After bidding goodbye to Kalum, I proceeded to get ready for bed. Now Kandy is pretty much hill country area so it’s a bit chilly compared to Colombo or the Cultural triangle. The staff told me that the hot water takes about 10 minutes to heat up. I gave it 30 minutes and nothing. Cold water. The best part was that I couldn’t even find the staff later!
The drive up to the house was a little dark as the driveway was adorned by lush growth and it was dimly lit. As soon as I got into the house, the staff apologised for the electricity being out in the common room of the house, before getting me to sign the logbook and proceeded on to show me my room.
The electricity in my room was working fine but it was a huge room. It could sleep 4 and had it’s own little dining table inside the room apart from a patio area outside. Huge! But it did feel a little eerie. Anyways, I was excited about the view I would get in the morning as this place is set on a hill over looking the city of Kandy. And the view tonight was beautiful, despite the downpour earlier; it was still a beautiful view.
After bidding goodbye to Kalum, I proceeded to get ready for bed. Now Kandy is pretty much hill country area so it’s a bit chilly compared to Colombo or the Cultural triangle. The staff told me that the hot water takes about 10 minutes to heat up. I gave it 30 minutes and nothing. Cold water. The best part was that I couldn’t even find the staff later!
The house has an amazing view of Kandy, but honestly the setting was a little eerie especially with all the mist.
The door to the owner’s quarter and staff had a huge sign reading, ‘Beware! Dogs Bite!’ Now this was something that is super tempting for me to challenge. I walked in regardless of the sign to see if they would give me a chase while I looked for the staff. There was no one to be found and the dogs were so fat and lazy that they just looked at me, grunted and went back to sleep! So much for ‘Dogs Bite!’
I had a cold shower in the end. But something was a miss. While I was on the phone, I remember filling up the sink and turning the sink tap off. But as soon as I turned the tap off and hung up, the bathtub tap went on. ‘Did I turn it on? Maybe I did whilst on the phone’. Without giving it much thought I turned it off and carried on to prep for a shower. But there was this nagging voice behind my head assuring me that I did not turn it on.
Before going to bed, I turned on the stand fan they had in the room, as their ceiling fan wasn’t working, and kept it static and at the lowest fan speed.
Woke up to the chill in the wee hours of the morning and though that I’d switch off the fan and that’s when my suspicion hit the roof and I literally froze in position. The speed of the fan kept changing, from the lowest to the highest in sequence. And out of nowhere, the static fan started to swing! Okay, I was literally one-eye-open watching all this without moving a muscle. I don’t think I’ve prayed that much at all at once and so hard too, plus I force myself to sleep.
Yes, I didn’t run or scream instead I slept! Well I couldn’t find the staff and there was no one else in the other 3 rooms (this place only has 4 huge rooms) so even if I screamed, no one would hear me through these thick walls. Second, if I freaking out even more and did something, it might make this ‘thing’ do more freaky stuff and scare me even further! Well it could have gone either way so the only way to go it prayer and fall asleep! I think I did a year’s worth of praying that night.
I eventually fell asleep and was so glad to be woken up by the chants of monks from the temple below at 5.30am. The temple of the Tooth is just across the lake and the acoustics travels across the lake and up to the hills, which is quite relaxing in some ways.
At this point, everything was back to normal. The fan was behaving; it was just the way I left it last night before going to sleep. Creepy!!
So while waiting for the staff to wake up and get the hot water going, I watched the sun rise over the lake in Kandy. It was a beautiful view from up here, but the incidents of last night was still lingering in the back of my head and I was contemplating if to stay another night.
I had a cold shower in the end. But something was a miss. While I was on the phone, I remember filling up the sink and turning the sink tap off. But as soon as I turned the tap off and hung up, the bathtub tap went on. ‘Did I turn it on? Maybe I did whilst on the phone’. Without giving it much thought I turned it off and carried on to prep for a shower. But there was this nagging voice behind my head assuring me that I did not turn it on.
Before going to bed, I turned on the stand fan they had in the room, as their ceiling fan wasn’t working, and kept it static and at the lowest fan speed.
Woke up to the chill in the wee hours of the morning and though that I’d switch off the fan and that’s when my suspicion hit the roof and I literally froze in position. The speed of the fan kept changing, from the lowest to the highest in sequence. And out of nowhere, the static fan started to swing! Okay, I was literally one-eye-open watching all this without moving a muscle. I don’t think I’ve prayed that much at all at once and so hard too, plus I force myself to sleep.
Yes, I didn’t run or scream instead I slept! Well I couldn’t find the staff and there was no one else in the other 3 rooms (this place only has 4 huge rooms) so even if I screamed, no one would hear me through these thick walls. Second, if I freaking out even more and did something, it might make this ‘thing’ do more freaky stuff and scare me even further! Well it could have gone either way so the only way to go it prayer and fall asleep! I think I did a year’s worth of praying that night.
I eventually fell asleep and was so glad to be woken up by the chants of monks from the temple below at 5.30am. The temple of the Tooth is just across the lake and the acoustics travels across the lake and up to the hills, which is quite relaxing in some ways.
At this point, everything was back to normal. The fan was behaving; it was just the way I left it last night before going to sleep. Creepy!!
So while waiting for the staff to wake up and get the hot water going, I watched the sun rise over the lake in Kandy. It was a beautiful view from up here, but the incidents of last night was still lingering in the back of my head and I was contemplating if to stay another night.
Imagine this: You drive in through dense foliage, and as you look up you see this house on a hill, all dim with dark misty clouds looming above. That's what I saw and sorry that you won't be seeing any pictures of that as its permanently burnt into my skull and I don't need a reminder!!!!!
Finally, I see someone, and again was told I need to give the hot water 30 minutes to heat up. So I waited and I waited almost 3 hours before going to check on the hot water and still nothing. Since the staff hardly spoke English I rang the owner who was away and asked if I could use another bathroom since mine wasn’t working. Instead of a reply I got yelled at saying,
“You can’t leave the water running, THAT’S why it isn’t heating up. You don’t know. There is nothing wrong with the heating, it’s old so it take time to heat up”
Yeah, like I’m 5 and stupid to leave the tap running! Honestly the owner is an obnoxious woman who won’t even look into complains. And it’s not like she is here to know if it was working well! Anyways told her I gave it 3 hours and it still wasn’t working, only then she agreed to speak to her staff.
They were helpful and got me to one of the portable cabins out back to have a hot shower in, which didn’t work too well. Regardless, it was a hot shower I was grateful for. After breakfast, which was just ‘okay’ I decided to just find another place to stay for the night. For Rs. 4500, it was over priced, wasn’t too clean, the hot water didn’t work and it was certainly haunted!
When I came back from my little excursion of looking for a place, I proceeded to pack my things. Now this confirmed that this place was haunted. There is only one set of keys to my room and no one could have been in, and certainly no one has come into my room.
The bedside table is low and heavy and the plug point was at the same height to the table and just behind it. I clearly remember placing my charger and hairdryer on the table and let the cable run over the table to the plug point just behind. There is no need to place the cable under the table, and mind you it’s a heavy table! But all my wiring was under the table and coiled around one of the legs of the table!!!
That was it, I had enough, I’m outta here! Talk about creepy-scary plus the accommodation wasn’t anything great for the price. Apart from the amazing room there was nothing to shout about. To add to that, the electricity in my room went off too. Should have checked Tripadvisor, how silly!!!
Do NOT stay at Castle Hill! It’s not worth it unless you’re into this creepy stuff.
Up Next: The city of Kandy
“You can’t leave the water running, THAT’S why it isn’t heating up. You don’t know. There is nothing wrong with the heating, it’s old so it take time to heat up”
Yeah, like I’m 5 and stupid to leave the tap running! Honestly the owner is an obnoxious woman who won’t even look into complains. And it’s not like she is here to know if it was working well! Anyways told her I gave it 3 hours and it still wasn’t working, only then she agreed to speak to her staff.
They were helpful and got me to one of the portable cabins out back to have a hot shower in, which didn’t work too well. Regardless, it was a hot shower I was grateful for. After breakfast, which was just ‘okay’ I decided to just find another place to stay for the night. For Rs. 4500, it was over priced, wasn’t too clean, the hot water didn’t work and it was certainly haunted!
When I came back from my little excursion of looking for a place, I proceeded to pack my things. Now this confirmed that this place was haunted. There is only one set of keys to my room and no one could have been in, and certainly no one has come into my room.
The bedside table is low and heavy and the plug point was at the same height to the table and just behind it. I clearly remember placing my charger and hairdryer on the table and let the cable run over the table to the plug point just behind. There is no need to place the cable under the table, and mind you it’s a heavy table! But all my wiring was under the table and coiled around one of the legs of the table!!!
That was it, I had enough, I’m outta here! Talk about creepy-scary plus the accommodation wasn’t anything great for the price. Apart from the amazing room there was nothing to shout about. To add to that, the electricity in my room went off too. Should have checked Tripadvisor, how silly!!!
Do NOT stay at Castle Hill! It’s not worth it unless you’re into this creepy stuff.
Up Next: The city of Kandy