We departed Colombo in the morning for Kandy, the last capital of the ancient Kings and the second largest city in Sri Lanka . We accidentally travelled in luxury, as the day before when we were too lazy to leave our hotel to go to the train station I noticed that it was possible to book a train ticket online. It turns out you can book online, but only for the Expo Rail car - a relatively new train experience whose slogan is "Train Travel Redefined." The cost was 3 x the amount of a first class train ($12 instead of $4), but I have to admit it was a lovely and comfortable train ride and much appreciated after the last few Indian trains we had been on! Ah, that romantic notion of train travel was back in our minds - starting with a train station void of rats and chaos!
We arrived in Kandy and took a taxi to our guesthouse, Amanda Hills. Our guest house was perched on the (you guessed it) hill above the city and our room had a terrace with a view of Kandy below and the Temple of the Tooth. The owner of our guesthouse, Jude, was fantastic and we arranged a driver through him to take us on a two-day trip to Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya starting the next day. We also got our ticket from him for the cultural dance show that night at half the price as he doesn't take the commission from his guests!
We walked down the hill and along the lake, passing by Sri Lankan couples and families, monkeys, river monitors and pelicans, and we made our way past the Temple of the Tooth to the centre of the city.
As we were in the Hill Country in the wet season, it started to rain so we made good use of our rain jackets and umbrella for the first time on the trip! (Something we certainly hadn't needed in India!) We made our way to the cultural dance theatre and were entertained by traditional dances from all over Sri Lanka, as well as fire walking to end it off.
The next morning we hopped into a van to start our journey around the cultural triangle, our first destination being the oldest of the ancient capitals, Anuradhapura.
The cultural triangle is centred around the ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, and Kandy (referring to the triangle the three points make on a map) and encompasses numerous ancient sites dotted around these northern plains (including the impressive rock citadel of Sigiriya).
Hindu Temple on the way
We drove past the rock citadel of Sigiriya, but would be returning the next day to climb to the top!
On the way our driver pulled over beside a little hut with a thatched roof and asked if we minded if he stopped for some tea and a quick snack. Dave asked if we could have some tea too, so the three of us dashed out of the van, through the rain and under the dry roof. The woman rushed off to make tea and started bringing various snacks out, one of which was a semi sweet treat which had been steamed in a banana leaf.
After the stop we continued on to Anuradhapura where it was still unfortunately absolutely pouring.
Anuradhapura was the capital of the island from the third century BC to 993 AD. The city is massive and you could easily spend days discovering ancient ruins. As we were only spending a few hours there, we opted to have our driver bring us around to the main sites with the help of a local guide to tell us a bit about each site.
Our first stop was Isurumuniya Vihara, an old Buddhist temple built out of a rock face and dating back to the third century BC. The sacred tooth relic had been kept here when it was first brought to the island.
Reclining Buddha at Isurumuniya
The most sacred place in Anuradhapura is the home of the Sri Maha Bodhi (or Sacred Bo Tree). The tree was supposedly grown from a cutting which was taken from the original bo tree in Bodhgaya, India under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. The original bo tree was destroyed shortly after but this one had survived and cuttings from it have been grown all over Southeast Asia. (We didn't really think it looked like a 2000 year old tree though....).
We left Anuradhapura and started onward to Polonnaruwa where we would spend the next morning. On the way there, our driver stopped at a roadside stand for mangos.
Colombo train station
Expo Rail - Train Travel Redefined
Kandy Train Station
We arrived in Kandy and took a taxi to our guesthouse, Amanda Hills. Our guest house was perched on the (you guessed it) hill above the city and our room had a terrace with a view of Kandy below and the Temple of the Tooth. The owner of our guesthouse, Jude, was fantastic and we arranged a driver through him to take us on a two-day trip to Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya starting the next day. We also got our ticket from him for the cultural dance show that night at half the price as he doesn't take the commission from his guests!
Our room
View from our terrace
We walked down the hill and along the lake, passing by Sri Lankan couples and families, monkeys, river monitors and pelicans, and we made our way past the Temple of the Tooth to the centre of the city.
River monitor
Pelican
Monkey and baby monkey
Offerings outside the temple of the tooth
Kandy City Centre
Hot coals (we could feel the heat!)
The next morning we hopped into a van to start our journey around the cultural triangle, our first destination being the oldest of the ancient capitals, Anuradhapura.
The cultural triangle is centred around the ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, and Kandy (referring to the triangle the three points make on a map) and encompasses numerous ancient sites dotted around these northern plains (including the impressive rock citadel of Sigiriya).
Male peacock on the side of the road looking for a lady peacock
On the way our driver pulled over beside a little hut with a thatched roof and asked if we minded if he stopped for some tea and a quick snack. Dave asked if we could have some tea too, so the three of us dashed out of the van, through the rain and under the dry roof. The woman rushed off to make tea and started bringing various snacks out, one of which was a semi sweet treat which had been steamed in a banana leaf.
Our dry escape from the rain
Sri Lankan snack
After the stop we continued on to Anuradhapura where it was still unfortunately absolutely pouring.
Anuradhapura was the capital of the island from the third century BC to 993 AD. The city is massive and you could easily spend days discovering ancient ruins. As we were only spending a few hours there, we opted to have our driver bring us around to the main sites with the help of a local guide to tell us a bit about each site.
Google Satellite image showing the size of the city and its huge tanks
Our first stop was Isurumuniya Vihara, an old Buddhist temple built out of a rock face and dating back to the third century BC. The sacred tooth relic had been kept here when it was first brought to the island.
Isurumuniya Vihara
The moonstone and mat completely covered in water as we walked around barefoot in the pouring rain!
Elephant carvings in the rock - made to look as though the elephants were bathing in the water
Reclining Buddha at Isurumuniya 
Look closely - this cave was full of bats
Isurumuni Lovers
Baths near the temple
Rice paddies (dotted all around the city)
Mirisavatiya Dagoba
Mirisavatiya Dagoba
Ancient squat toilet
Peacocks
Ruwanwelisaya as seen from the Basawakkulama tank. The Basawakkulama tank was created around the fourth century BC.
Nagaraja guardstone at Ruwanwelisaya.
The Ruwanwelisaya stupa stands on a terrace whose outer face is decorated with life size elephant heads. Symbolically the elephants support the platform on which the dagoba is built, just as in Buddhist cosmology they hold up the earth itself.
Ruwanwelisaya (also known as Maha Thupa or "Great Stupa"). The stupa is the third largest in the city and is fully restored and painted white. It is believed to enshrine various remains of the Buddha and so is the most revered in the city. It stands 55m high (much lower than its original form).
The four identical Buddha statues date back to the eighth century and are thought to represent three previous Buddhas and the historical Buddha.
The fifth (modern) statue is of the future Buddha, Maitreya, wearing a tiara and holding a lotus
Moonstone
Monastery Ruins
Worshippers
Thuparama - the first dagoba to be built in Sri Lanka. The dagoba is actually a reconstruction of 1862 when it was restored in a conventional bell shape - the original structure was built in the slightly slop-shouldered "heap of paddy" form. The original dagoba was enclosed in a new roof supported by four concentric circles of pillars - the surviving pillars now topple unsteadily in all directions.
The most sacred place in Anuradhapura is the home of the Sri Maha Bodhi (or Sacred Bo Tree). The tree was supposedly grown from a cutting which was taken from the original bo tree in Bodhgaya, India under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. The original bo tree was destroyed shortly after but this one had survived and cuttings from it have been grown all over Southeast Asia. (We didn't really think it looked like a 2000 year old tree though....).
Pilgrims praying
Offerings
The sacred tree in its enclosure (and being helped up)
Praying
The enclosure
Lovamahapaya - said to have once been nine stories tall. There are 1600 pillars.
We left Anuradhapura and started onward to Polonnaruwa where we would spend the next morning. On the way there, our driver stopped at a roadside stand for mangos.
The woman selling the mangos let us sample from a few different mangos.
Home behind the mango stand
After sampling from a bunch of mangos, our driver purchased a bag of 20 of them and gave four to us. When Dave asked him how much they cost, he said 20 rupees! (But she had wanted 30 rupees and he said that was too much). 20 rupees is basically 16 Canadian cents for 20 mangos!! When we told him how much a mango costs in Canada he was shocked!
Lots of people on bikes
Just your average roadside sight
On the way to Polonnaruwa we spotted some wild elephants on the side of the road (they were within one of the national parks)
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