Inside Polonna – ruwa

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by Polona

After purchasing yet another pair of flip flops for me (I do blame the moving bus and me not being able to keep my balance with my huge backpack, but mostly the fact that the bus began moving while I was in the middle of getting off 😊) we arrived to one of the many bus stations in Kandy. As we were in no hurry, we went to one of the local eateries, had our “usual” platter of quick eats and I had my first experience with the Sri Lankan public toilets (ayayay, well, it's OK, as long as you close your eyes, hold your breath and think happy thoughts), and by then it was about time to had on back to the chaos that was the bus station and find the bus to our next destination: ME! Well, OK, not me per se, but a place called Polonnaruwa. But how awesome is that! And not only do I have a place called after me (I am just being modest here 😊), but for the first time in our travels, no one had any problems with my name!!! And that, my friends, is priceless.

OK, so where were we...Oh, so we got hauled onto one of the many buses, squeezed in the first row with a kind, elderly lady, and off we were. The thing is, in Sri Lanka you kind of don't mind being squashed with so many other people. So far everyone in Sri Lanka is so kind and nice, they are curious about us, but they never pry and all we get are loads and loads of smiles from them.

The trip to Polonnaruwa didn't last long, but man, it was an adrenalin rush riding in one of the buses. How can I explain the traffic here? There is usually a two lane, narrow road, with people driving fast like maniacs, dodging all the tuk – tuks, bikes, motorbikes on the side of the road, and somehow, there is always one or two vehicles in the middle of the road, and I mean MIDDLE, taking over another truck, bus...We had the front seat and let me tell you, every 5 seconds I just gasped for air, thinking “OK, this time we ARE going to crash”. But we didn't, and after 3 hours we arrived safely and in one piece to Polonnaruwa.

Polonnaruwa used to be a big and thriving city in 12^th century (I still insist it was named after me) and was the centre of the kings ruling the central plains of Sri Lanka. The archaeological remnants around the city give a pretty good idea as to what the city looked like so many centuries ago.

On the day we arrived, it was already a bit too late to go and visit the huge park with all the ruins, so we went around town, which took us about 5 minutes, and found a place to eat, which became our hub for the 2 days while in Polonnaruwa. The town also has a huge lake that completely disappears during the dry season and becomes a gathering spot for “wild” elephants, or so we were told. The lake gives a certain charm to the town and it's worth seeing. Apart from the ruins, the town has nothing much to offer, so we pretty much hung out at our hostel.

The next day was “go day”. We rented our bikes, coughed out $25 for the entrance fee (entrance fees for foreigners in Sri Lanka are ridiculously high, for example, while the locals pay 40 rupees for the entrance to the ruins - $1 is about 112 rupees, the foreigners pay about 2800 rupees, and it's like that everywhere you go in Sri Lanka) and off we were. After seeing so many ruins already on our trip, we didn't expect much, just another set of ruins (I know, I know, big mistake, how can something with Polona in it's name be anything less than astoundingly beautiful 😊), but there we were, cycling towards the park with no big expectations.

Getting to the park, we noticed right away, that everything was really well marked, so it was difficult to get lost (which we still managed), cycling itself through the park was simple and actually nice, with a lot of green around, providing enough shade for Jan's delicate and pale skin 😊. When we arrived to the first huge set of ruins, we were in for a surprise – it looked amazing, so much of the original features of old temples, palaces, etc. still remained and it was quite a sight. The funny thing was that whenever you entered a ruin that used to be a temple, you were instructed to take off your shoes, as you were entering sacred grounds, which was a first for us. As I mentioned, it was really simple to find your way round the park, every ruin was really well marked, with a description of the original purpose of the building, when it was built, etc. One of the ruins that impressed both of us was a huge stupa, with the whole roof intact (see pics) – you just find yourself staring at it, this huge thing that was built a gazillion years ago, with basic tools and bare hands. OK, I will stop rambling now 😊.

Anyhow, after almost 3 hours in the park, we were certain that we've seen it all, so we cycled back to town, towards the Archaeological museum, which offers you a better understanding of the ancient civilization. There is a huge map in front of the museum, where each individual ruin is marked, and we noticed that there are some things that we actually missed – like the huge statues of Buddha, another well preserved building amazing for the well preserved frescoes and carvings, called Tivanka Image House, we missed the Lotus Pond...and we were like “Damn! How could we have missed those things!” We were so sure, we've ticked all the things on the list.

At the museum we met a group of travellers from Croatia (and one from Bosnia) who came to Sri Lanka for a wedding. We shared the view of how boring Kandy is and they warned us that Colombo is much, much worse. To make it clear they used the following comparison “Kandy je Dubrovnik napram Colombu” (Kandy is like Dubrovnik compared to Colombo). P.S. Dubrovnik is amazing as my mum was named after it.

So, we went to have a bit of an energy boost – we stopped for a Coca Cola 😊 - sugar ruuuuuush, mounted our bikes and went all the way back to the park. To reach all the things I listed, it took us another 5 kilometres in the scorching heat, but it was so worth it. The Buddha statues were HUGE and you could just stare at them for ages and the Tivanka House was beautiful as well.

Oh, and we ran into a tuk – tuk driver from our hostel, that told us how to get back to town on a different road, passing a wood carving village on the way, so with the last atoms of energy we stopped at the local workshop, where they showed us how they create the traditional masks, souvenirs, amazing (and expensive) furniture...Jan and I saw a lot of things we would buy in a flash, if we were loaded with money - anyone interested in donating to our bank accounts feel free 😊 - an elephant shape chair is 'ony' 1400 Euros. So, empty handed we rode back to town and stopped at our usual eatery to get some food – we couldn't imagine going back to the hostel first and then returning to town for dinner. We looked tired, we were sweaty, but I think we were both happy we decided to come to Polonnaruwa after all, as it was worth the money.

The town itself has nothing else to offer apart from the ruins, so we packed up our stuff again, decided what our next location will be, and off we were to the East Coast and the town called Trincomalee. But I am sure, nothing can surpass me in Sri Lanka 😊. Polonnaruwa just rocked.

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