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Published: March 24th 2015
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Ooops. Well, I suppose aiming to keep an up to date blog whilst on your honeymoon was a bit ambitious!
To be fair, the hotels we are in only have wifi in the lobby and it's dreadfully slow at that, but actually, we are just really enjoying ourselves and I've not wanted to turn my latop on, having as many echos of work as it does.
Anyway, a quick fire through some of our highlights from the last few days.
Temples and Ancient Cities. We've had a whistlestop history of Sri Lanka, from before the 1st Century, through the 3 Ancient capital cities and colonisation by the Dutch, Portuguese and, of course, the Brits. Actually in this case, the British don't have a totally terrible reputation as they did much to restore some of the ancient sites which had lain long forgotten and covered by jungle. So far, we've visited Anuradapura (the 1st Ancient capital), Polonnaruwa (the 2nd) and tomorrow we are off to Kandy (the 3rd.) It's been interesting to learn how these places are all linked, and to see the architecture and buildings, which were all pretty grand. They were very organised, with city
administrators specifying everything from wages across to the board to monthly accounts that the monastries and businesses had to do. The irrigation was also pretty advanced and one spectacular feature of the landscape is the number of reservoirs (that now just look like beautiful lakes) which were built over 1000 years ago to help the farmers irrigate their fields. Because of Indians attacking sporadically, it wasn't viable to have the capitals on the coast, so they were all quite far inland, so having a year round water supply was essential. In fact, Sri Lanka actually used to export rice to China, which we thought was pretty cool.
Buddhism is a big thing here, and we have been to see a lot of temples, which comprise a Bodhi tree, a stoopa (like a pagoda) and the buddhas. You have to be covered and take your shoes off but the ground is really, really hot so after the first day I started taking socks with me because between the searing hot concrete and jaggy little stones it was pretty difficult to enjoy the experience at first. They are amazing though, and although you'd think going to lots of temples quite similar,
in fact they are all placed in such interesting and breathtaking locations. Today, for example, we climbed to Dambulla Rock Temple at Sigiriya, a temple housed in five caves up hundreds of steps and with the most gorgeous view of all the jungle laid out below. Earlier, we had climbed Lion Rock, the main attraction here. Over 1200 steps to the site of an ancient palace. Our guide was probably almost 70 and leaping up like a mountain goat, while I huffed and puffed behind! Owen's taken lots of pictures though, and the sights are just magnificent, which leads us to...
Landscape I think we have both overused the word Wow since we got here. But it really is gorgeous. Everywhere you turn there is something new. So many different types of trees and flowers, and birds (which I don't often see in time, but Owen is very good at spotting). There are so many shades of green. It would be really interesting to come back during the dry or rainy seasons I think, because apparently then it is totally different again. Just now, we are mainly in the mountainous region, but we will
be going all over. Luckily Owen bought two extra memory cards for the camera before we came out!
Wildlife This was a big part of why we'd booked Sri Lanka and we have not been disappointed. Not only have we gone on two safaris so far and seen wild elephants up close and personal (including a two week old), wild boars, deer, lizards, crocodiles, but we've also seen lots just when we are wandering about. The hotel we are staying does a free bird watching tour in the morning, and Owen went today and loved it. Said it was great to learn not only more about what things were called, but their habits and habitats. There is always the sound of some animal, somewhere and when we are in bed we can here the crickets and other creatures calling to each other. Of course, having a lizard in our bedroom was not so fun, even if it was tiny! And there are monkeys around all the temples, although we have been warned that they will attack.
Food And of course, the food. We've been eating as much Sri Lankan food as we can. The curries are
lovely, sweeter than I'm used to because coconut milk is the staple but really nice. Owen is enjoying the spicier ones, and the coconut sambole, which is like a seasoning to make it even hotter. I'm loving the fresh fruit (still no mangoes yet!) and juices and we both like the pancakes and coconut honey we get for breakfast.
Our itinerary so far Two nights in Anuradapura, Randiya Hotel: En route visit Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Jeep Safari in Wilpattu National Park, Explore the Anuradapura Ancient City, Visit Mihintale Buddhist Temple, Visit Aukana Buddha's Statue
One night in Polonnaruwa, Rice Villa:Explore the Polonnaruwa Ancient City, Relaxation Ayurveda Herbal Therapy, Evening Jeep Safari in Minneriya National Park
Two nights in Sigiriya, Nice Place Hotel: Explore the Sigiriya Lions Rock, Experience the Hiriwadunna Village Tour, Visit Dambulla Caves Temple
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Pushpitha Wijesinghe
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Another Spledid City in Sri Lanka
Kandy is a spectacle! With some rich culture and some exotic places to explore one would surely look to good accommodation to retire to after a long day. Cinnamon Citadel Kandy is a pretty good hotel with some massive offers. Always worth a try.