Saturday, October 11, 2003
Day 4 in Sri Lanka, Anuradhapura
We started off at 9am and got out some money to buy a "Cultural Triangle" tourist round ticket. This will save us a bit of money in the long run. The tourist attractions are quite expensive to visit. Plus you are expected to donate everywhere, pay to have your shoes looked after, and are quite often conned, unawares, into a mini tour and asked for payment afterward. Very frustrating. We'd prefer it if people were more up front with us.
We spent the hot part of the day visiting the ancient ruins. These dated back around 2000 years ago. Quite hard to comprehend. Anuradhapura is the oldest capital in Sri Lanka. The dagobas (religious monuments) are bell shaped mounds of bricks and the very old ones are not in very good condition but are being restored. We also visited some ponds and temples. At most of these places you have to take your shoes and hats off. My poor feet! Tip: to train to walk around these places try walking on hot coals!!! I got very hot and bothered and annoyed with the touts constantly hassling you to buy postcards, elephant bangles and "secret boxes"! ("You try to open, secret box, no need to buy....").
There were also many locals visiting these sacred sites as it was Poya day (full moon day), a monthly religious holiday. Very busy. I'm sure they were all chuckling to themselves seeing me hobbling around gingerly!
The most sacred place we visited was the site of the Sacred Bodhi Tree. This tree is the oldest recorded in the world and was planted by the princess sister of the prince who introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka. Quite incredible, you could feel the reverence when you were walking around. The tree wasn't that tall but the branches were supported by many metal posts.
After lunch we drove through a National Park to get to Giritale. We saw a cute elephant on the side of the road waiting to cross, " Hey don't these humans know that this is an elephant crossing!". Speaking of wildlife we have seen many amazing animals hanging out, i.e. monkeys, squirrels, snakes, a mongoose, bats, a chameleon, deer, porcupines and of course, elephants. You don't get to see many of them back in NZ!
The day ended well as the hotel in Giritale (just out of Polonaruwa) had a lovely swimming pool with a beautiful view of the tank (man made lake built by one of the kings 500 years ago). We floated around and watched the fantastic sunset. Ahhh, heaven.
We had a buffet dinner at the hotel and were serenaded by a trio singing traditional Sri Lankan songs.
Day 5 in Sri Lanka, Polonaruwa and Sigiriya
This is the second most ancient city in Sri Lanka. These places have many Buddhist temples, statues and shrines as Sri Lanka was set up to be a best practice example of the Buddhist faith. I must say that I'm getting a little tired of seeing reclining Buddhas etc.
The ruins here are in much better condition as they are more recent. You can really imagine what it was like in the Kings palaces and the monks monasteries. It also helped that we saw models of what the buildings would have looked like in a museum beforehand. A lot of the exterior decorative stone work is still in tact.
It was 38 degrees today...no wonder I was getting hot and bothered. Actually I survived the heat better today than yesterday as the ruins were more interesting and located closer together.
After visiting the ruins we drove to Sigiriya. We had a rest and freshened up at the hotel and then started the ascent to the Rock Fortress at 4:30pm. This is the perfect time to go as it is less busy and less hot! It wasn't as bad as I thought. There are just over 1,000 steps on the way up the rock. About halfway there are some impressive frescoes and at the top there is a palace complex complete with pool.
The story goes.... A prince killed his father to become king. His mother escaped vowing to have revenge. In fear of an attack the new king built the impressive fortress on top of the rock (think Ayres Rock with a massive palace on top). When the king's half brother eventually attacked the king foolishly rode on a elephant at the head of his army into battle. He took a wrong turn and got stuck in the mud. Left by his army he took his own life. A nice bedtime story for you (o:
Day 6 in Sri Lanka, Kandy
On our way to Kandy we visited a temple and a monastery. The monastery was a bit dodgy as it had a "house of horror" like section that depicted what horrific punishments are handed out to sinners in the afterlife, e.g. prostitutes being drawn and quartered by demons etc ...gross!
We are at the Hotel Swiss Residence on the outskirts of the city and had a nice time in the pool. We also chatted to a nice Dutch couple who were also at the hotel we stayed at in Giritale. You tend to see the same faces at the monuments, restaurants and hotels as everyone with a driver is doing the same tourist circuit.
We've decided that we enjoy traveling on our own more. That way you get to meet interesting people and the experience is more satisfying. Alas, in Sri Lanka, with the time we have available, it has been necessary to have a driver/guide.
We started off at 9am and got out some money to buy a "Cultural Triangle" tourist round ticket. This will save us a bit of money in the long run. The tourist attractions are quite expensive to visit. Plus you are expected to donate everywhere, pay to have your shoes looked after, and are quite often conned, unawares, into a mini tour and asked for payment afterward. Very frustrating. We'd prefer it if people were more up front with us.
We spent the hot part of the day visiting the ancient ruins. These dated back around 2000 years ago. Quite hard to comprehend. Anuradhapura is the oldest capital in Sri Lanka. The dagobas (religious monuments) are bell shaped mounds of bricks and the very old ones are not in very good condition but are being restored. We also visited some ponds and temples. At most of these places you have to take your shoes and hats off. My poor feet! Tip: to train to walk around these places try walking on hot coals!!! I got very hot and bothered and annoyed with the touts constantly hassling you to buy postcards, elephant bangles and "secret boxes"! ("You try to open, secret box, no need to buy....").
There were also many locals visiting these sacred sites as it was Poya day (full moon day), a monthly religious holiday. Very busy. I'm sure they were all chuckling to themselves seeing me hobbling around gingerly!
The most sacred place we visited was the site of the Sacred Bodhi Tree. This tree is the oldest recorded in the world and was planted by the princess sister of the prince who introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka. Quite incredible, you could feel the reverence when you were walking around. The tree wasn't that tall but the branches were supported by many metal posts.
After lunch we drove through a National Park to get to Giritale. We saw a cute elephant on the side of the road waiting to cross, " Hey don't these humans know that this is an elephant crossing!". Speaking of wildlife we have seen many amazing animals hanging out, i.e. monkeys, squirrels, snakes, a mongoose, bats, a chameleon, deer, porcupines and of course, elephants. You don't get to see many of them back in NZ!
The day ended well as the hotel in Giritale (just out of Polonaruwa) had a lovely swimming pool with a beautiful view of the tank (man made lake built by one of the kings 500 years ago). We floated around and watched the fantastic sunset. Ahhh, heaven.
We had a buffet dinner at the hotel and were serenaded by a trio singing traditional Sri Lankan songs.
Day 5 in Sri Lanka, Polonaruwa and Sigiriya
This is the second most ancient city in Sri Lanka. These places have many Buddhist temples, statues and shrines as Sri Lanka was set up to be a best practice example of the Buddhist faith. I must say that I'm getting a little tired of seeing reclining Buddhas etc.
The ruins here are in much better condition as they are more recent. You can really imagine what it was like in the Kings palaces and the monks monasteries. It also helped that we saw models of what the buildings would have looked like in a museum beforehand. A lot of the exterior decorative stone work is still in tact.
It was 38 degrees today...no wonder I was getting hot and bothered. Actually I survived the heat better today than yesterday as the ruins were more interesting and located closer together.
After visiting the ruins we drove to Sigiriya. We had a rest and freshened up at the hotel and then started the ascent to the Rock Fortress at 4:30pm. This is the perfect time to go as it is less busy and less hot! It wasn't as bad as I thought. There are just over 1,000 steps on the way up the rock. About halfway there are some impressive frescoes and at the top there is a palace complex complete with pool.
The story goes.... A prince killed his father to become king. His mother escaped vowing to have revenge. In fear of an attack the new king built the impressive fortress on top of the rock (think Ayres Rock with a massive palace on top). When the king's half brother eventually attacked the king foolishly rode on a elephant at the head of his army into battle. He took a wrong turn and got stuck in the mud. Left by his army he took his own life. A nice bedtime story for you (o:
Day 6 in Sri Lanka, Kandy
On our way to Kandy we visited a temple and a monastery. The monastery was a bit dodgy as it had a "house of horror" like section that depicted what horrific punishments are handed out to sinners in the afterlife, e.g. prostitutes being drawn and quartered by demons etc ...gross!
We are at the Hotel Swiss Residence on the outskirts of the city and had a nice time in the pool. We also chatted to a nice Dutch couple who were also at the hotel we stayed at in Giritale. You tend to see the same faces at the monuments, restaurants and hotels as everyone with a driver is doing the same tourist circuit.
We've decided that we enjoy traveling on our own more. That way you get to meet interesting people and the experience is more satisfying. Alas, in Sri Lanka, with the time we have available, it has been necessary to have a driver/guide.
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