Blogs from Dambulla, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 3

Geo: 7.85125, 80.6542Back in her glory days DH was something of an accomplished runner. In fact, when we were home owners I was required to build and maintain three distinct DH Shrines in the basement; the first chronicled her volunteer firefighter accomplishments, the second housed her policing awards (and given the enthusiasm with which coppers hand each other award plaques, this took up significant space), and the third was reserved for her many athletic trophies, most of which centred around running. Then came the knee injuries and the first operation. In an act of defiance of medical advice, we climbed Kilimanjaro, which led to a second knee operation and more medical advice that effectively said your running and climbing days are finished. I only mention this because one of the most important sites in Sri Lanka ... read more

The rock temple at the top of Dumbulla rock has been around for at least 1500 years or more. It was an ideal sanctuary as it's quite a climb to get up to the temple complex and it's relatively easy to defend. Just roll a few rocks down, and you can bowl down many marauders. A perfect hermitage. The new structures at the base of the rock are very recent. Probably less than 10 years old. There's a new temple and a dagaba at the base, and now all foot traffic must go by those structures to get to the stone steps. Didn't take pictures inside the temple of the large reclining Buddha or of the numerous seated Buddhas. It was very dark, but it didn't seem proper to use a flash in that surrounding. So ... read more

Today started with a lie but also the invention for a new family character, "Sri Lankan Lion". Daughter #1 was not being co-operative eating her breakfast, so I told her that in Sri Lanka, they have lions waiting outside that peek through the windows and spy on naughty children who don't eat their food. I left it to her imagination to extrapolate that the lions then eat the children. Somehow breakfast was magically eaten at record speed. Interestingly enough Sri Lankan changed from menacing sneak to friend of the family by the end of the holiday, and today, the kids even invite him and his cubs to tea parties in their bedroom. Anyway, back to the blog. After breakfast, we were picked up by our driver Kumara. A friendly chap, he was to be our companion ... read more

*note on buddha: since i'm using his name and giving no royalties... ...for the first time, i've bothered reading a tad into the imagery associated with buddha/buddhist art. ...and the thing I love most - that I always thought was some Vanity Smurf complex or tribal ID like in africa - has its own meaning as it turns out. check out the buddha's droopy earlobes (I actually sung to 1 of the 100 buddhas I saw today do your ears hang low? do they wobble to and fro... but they didn't even crack a smile beyond their usual slightly amused look. man, rock sculptures are a rough audience. OK OK. so, the droopy lobes are reminders of the jewels buddha once wore in his lavish lifestyle before he threw them and all other comforts away to ... read more

Friday 19th His… Woke up early and checked out of our guesthouse, ready for our two hour bus ride to Dambulla, an inland town surrounding the “Cave Temples“. Half an hour into our trip and Miranda needed the toilet, we had coped just fine up until now with the public transport because we had used trains with toilets, but on a bus we had no choice but to get off and then wait for the next one. All the buses coming past were too full to fit us and our massive backpacks on so we ended up opting for a tuk-tuk instead. About ten times the fair of the bus but meant we could stop and buy food, water, use the toilet and look at things of interest. The driver was a nice guy as well ... read more