Sri Lanka, Part 2 - Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Dambulla

On the third day we headed south to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Polonnaruwa.  This is the second most ancient kingdom in Sri Lanka (SL) after Anuradhapura.  Below are pictures from the grounds of the ancient city.  Admission is US$25 per person.  Following the tour we checked into the beautiful Giritale Hotel situated not far from the Giritale Lake.  My room overlooks the lake.  When I wanted to take a walk down the lake the hotel security guard warned me not to turn left at the main road and to return before it gets dark.  The reason?  There are wild elephants roaming in the forest nearby.

A Reclining Buddha statue

Entrance to a part of the grounds

A Sitting Buddha Statue

Entrance to a former structure

Statue guarding the entrance

Ancient upright structures

A water tank

More statues on the grounds

Another old statue

An Old Storage Tank

A Pond for Bathing

Statue of Buddha

Including the drive, the tour took about 3/4 of a day.  I am not disappointed to finish the tour early so I could enjoy the views from the hotel.

The following day we headed towards Dambulla where we will spend the night at the Nice Place Dambulla hotel.  On the way we stopped at a small village to get some demonstration of what village life is like.  First, we took a slow bullock cart to the edge of the lake.  Then we took a row boat to reach the village where our hostess met us.  She showed us first how she cuts up a coconut.  Coconuts are an important part of life in many poor countries in the tropics.  They can provide food, oil, and building material.  Then she ground and milled some millets which were then made into a flat bread.

BMW - Bullock Motor Wagon

Shaving the inside of the coconut to get flakes for cooking

Coconut sambar and millet roti

Sigiriya Rock Fortress

Walking up to the summit

Abandoned palace on top of the summit

The following day we drove to the Dambulla Cave Temple.  These caves were used only by the monarchs until the 20th century.  They are now opened to the public.  I was amazed by the conditions of a lot of the statues and the inside of the caves.  The complex has five caves.  They were built in the 1st century BC and is a World Heritage Site.  What is interesting about these caves is that they include a few statues of Hindu gods.  Both Buddhism and Hinduism originated from India and there might be some shared beliefs between the two religions.  It was definitely worth the US$10 entrance fee to the temples.

I compare these caves to the 9th century Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, China.  Although the latter is much more impressive its conditions had deteriorated to the point that the Chinese government is opening only a small section of the caves to the public.

Temple Cave in Dambulla

Reclining Buddha inside the Temple Cave

Buddhas inside the Cave

Paintings on the walls

One of the many Buddha statues inside the cave

Coming down from the caves in a different direction brings you to the Golden Temple.  This impressive Buddhas statue is part of the Dambulla Cave Temple World Heritage Site.

This area is blessed with very nice weather.  It is warm but not humid like in the tropics.  However, it has many tropical fruits like bananas, papayas, pineapples, mangos, guava, etc.  Papayas, pineapples and water melons are offered as dessert at almost every meal.  We saw many roadside fruit stands selling all types of fruits.

Red Bananas

Soursop, a delicious fruit.  A South American version is called cherimoya

A fruit stand along the road

 We passed a place where they offer elephant rides.  I was not interested because I've done this a couple of times in Thailand.  We stopped to see why a crowd is looking into the river.  Below is what we saw.

This elephant enjoyed soaking in the river that he pooped

Something that piqued my interest when I walked past some containers that looked like old British-style mailboxes.  On closer look they are recycling bins.

Recycling Dustbins or Cans