We must be suckers for punishment as we know how long it takes to get anywhere here in Sri Lanka. Today, with one of Ant’s more inspirational ideas, we decided to take a car and driver to Anuradhapura. However why use a straight road when you can take all sorts of side trips turning our three hour journey into a nine hour marathon. Our first stop was the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage famous throughout the world for rescuing elephants. Kev and Gill had already been there before but it was a first for Ant. It was touristy but cute to see the elephants (Male working elephants, mothers and loads of babies) as they fed and wandered down to the river to bathe.
We then turned north towards the cultural triangle, the ancient cities of Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. These are the cradles of Sri Lankan Buddhism and civilisation having been occupied in some cases for over 2,500 years. We started to feel sorry for our driver as the rain got heavier and heavier – reaching monsoon proportions with roadside lakes spilling onto the road, potholes appearing from nowhere and visibility down to a few yards – god knows what it must be like in the wet season!
Our lunch stop was at Sigiriya – a famous abandoned city sitting on a volcanic plug 200 metres high that is billed as “rising out of the dusty plains of central Sri Lanka”. The books have got it very wrong – we could hardly make it out in the mist and rain that surrounded it (see the two now you see it, now you don’t pics). Neither of us were sorry not to be able to climb it because of the weather! As the rain got even worse we had to move on to our ultimate destination, Anuradhapura. This was all of 60 kms away and we were told it would take 3.5 hours. Groaning in the back we accepted our lot and finally made it here with the rain still beating down to an alcohol free hotel. But we had come prepared…..
The hotel used to be the home of the British Governor of the District – so is another Raj era relic, set in acres of woodlands filled with monkeys. The dining room, white with peeling paint, stained yellow tablecloths, original huge wooden furniture and tiles worn smooth by the feet of hundreds of years. As we sit here on the old verandah we can hear the monks chanting, interrupted by staccato gunfire (well we hope they are really firecrackers as it’s full moon…..) in the distance from the neighbouring temples – very atmospheric.
Re the booze – we have smuggled two bottles of wine into this sacred city so we are fine – we have alcohol in an alcohol free hotel, in an alcohol free zone on an alcohol free day – result!
We then turned north towards the cultural triangle, the ancient cities of Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. These are the cradles of Sri Lankan Buddhism and civilisation having been occupied in some cases for over 2,500 years. We started to feel sorry for our driver as the rain got heavier and heavier – reaching monsoon proportions with roadside lakes spilling onto the road, potholes appearing from nowhere and visibility down to a few yards – god knows what it must be like in the wet season!
Our lunch stop was at Sigiriya – a famous abandoned city sitting on a volcanic plug 200 metres high that is billed as “rising out of the dusty plains of central Sri Lanka”. The books have got it very wrong – we could hardly make it out in the mist and rain that surrounded it (see the two now you see it, now you don’t pics). Neither of us were sorry not to be able to climb it because of the weather! As the rain got even worse we had to move on to our ultimate destination, Anuradhapura. This was all of 60 kms away and we were told it would take 3.5 hours. Groaning in the back we accepted our lot and finally made it here with the rain still beating down to an alcohol free hotel. But we had come prepared…..
The hotel used to be the home of the British Governor of the District – so is another Raj era relic, set in acres of woodlands filled with monkeys. The dining room, white with peeling paint, stained yellow tablecloths, original huge wooden furniture and tiles worn smooth by the feet of hundreds of years. As we sit here on the old verandah we can hear the monks chanting, interrupted by staccato gunfire (well we hope they are really firecrackers as it’s full moon…..) in the distance from the neighbouring temples – very atmospheric.
Re the booze – we have smuggled two bottles of wine into this sacred city so we are fine – we have alcohol in an alcohol free hotel, in an alcohol free zone on an alcohol free day – result!
