Blogs from Dambulla, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 2

After a long drive from the coast to Dambulla, in the Central Province, we started our small group tour of the "Cultural Triangle". We visited the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura, dating from the 9th to the 12th centuries. There were well preserved temples, dagobas, pools and ruined palaces. All proved to be interesting, colourful and provided a vivid insight into life in Sri Lanka prior to any European influences. We moved on to Sigiriya Rock, also known as "Lion Rock" a vast granite monolith, 656 ft high, with an ancient citadel on the summit. There were also wonderful frescos dating from the 5th century. The afternoon tour provided a welcome respite from ancient ruins when we visited a nature reserve. We drove through verdant grassland, dotted with palm, teak and many other ... read more

Travelling from Kandy to Dambulla proved to be very easy. We traded the hustle and bustle of the bus station for an air conditioned minibus and a little over two hours later we had reached our destination. A tuk tuk driver then took us around a couple of badly located and well overpriced options before eventually taking us to the place we wanted to go to in the first place. Saman's Guest House proved to be in need of a bit of modernisation and a damn good clean, but it was fine and they served a mean Sri Lankan curry in the evenings. We were woken up at 7am by a tremendous clattering on the roof. Trish expressed her dismay that they had started working on the building so early but it turned out to be ... read more

After Kandy we headed to for Dambulla which is at the heart of the Cultural Triangle. After dusting ourselves down we headed for Minneriya National Park where we went on a safari by jeep through the jungle and by a large lake were the elephants were gathering. Lots to see including crocodiles, wild peacocks, many varies of different birds, monkeys and of course the elephants. The next morning was to be the ascent of Sigiriya Rock Fortress and is Sri Lanka's Ayres Rock. Lynne decided to opt out of thirds trip and spent a day round the pool. The rock is very impressive but quite a challenge in the heat. On top of the rock there are the remains of a 13th century palace. On our final morning in Dambulla we visited the very popular cave ... read more

This morning we set off to go on a 2 1/2 hour trek through a 'typical Sri Lankan village' this really wasn't what I'd imagined... For starters, we set off in a canoe we had a little boat guy and a guide rowing so that was alright. I can assure you I didn't look remotely elegant getting in or out of this thing! We went over to a farm where they grow chillis, pepper, tomatoes and of course coconuts. We were able to sample the coconuts and they gave us the low down on farming in Sri Lanka. We continued on with the trek through the trees and in parts it was totally amazing with sunlight bursting through a break in the trees and dozens of butterflies hovering round us. Next stop was a ride on ... read more

The fool of April arrived early on 31 march, we arrived at Thilanka resort and spa only to be told that we had no reservation. Aaaaarrrrggghhh. Grandad to the rescue Not all was lost as grandad sorted it out, and before long we had been given our 2 rooms at the resort and to cap it all upgraded for the rest of the stay in their 5 star Green Paradise hotel. Result! So, in Thilanka we sat around the pool and had a very relaxing day (31 March), the food was fantastic with plenty of variety. But this was only a taster to what was waiting for us at the Green Paradise. We woke up on April 1st to a very beautiful warm day. We went for breakfast early as we were of to see the ... read more