Polonnaruwa ruins and Eco Park

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We had another early start and headed off to the medieval ruins at Polonnaruwa - the ancient capital of Ceylon. The site itself is massive and there are ruins spread out across a large area. We started off in the museum where there is a scale model of the site to give you an idea just how vast it is. There are quite a few artefacts to view from coins to medical equipment to religious statues.

Polonnaruwa was the capital of Ceylon from the 11th to 13th centuries and saw the beginning of Buddhist arts and architecture in Sri Lanka. The first ruin we visited was the Inner Citadel, a royal palace (originally 7 storeys), the upper storeys were wooden so there are only the brick walls remaining. There is some evidence of plaster walls decorated with frescos, but, most of it has disappeared.

Next stop was The Quadrangle where the vatadage is located - a circular shrine with the outer walls decorated with lions and lotuses. In the centre is a carved Buddah. I decided to venture in and as with all Buddist sites I had to take my shoes off... Word of warning for anyone visiting and going inside, the floor I was absolutely boiling hot, I think I lasted circa 30 seconds in there... And I ran!! Socks might be an idea assuming you don't mix it up with sandals as well ;-)

We spent much of the morning looking around the many ruins and there are far too many for me to go through, plus, I don't want to bore you all to death! The only other one worth a mention was the swimming pool, it gave a real idea of how grand it must've been with the water pouring through stone dragon carvings and a complete drainage system, grand steps and plenty more carvings in and around the surrounding walls.

Next we headed off to the Gal Vihara rock sculptures, there are 4 buddha statues located here, all carved into a granite cliff face. They really are impressive. The forth statue depicts Buddha at the point where enlightenment has been reached and he is about to die. This can be determined by the positioning of the big toes, if the big toes are not in alignment it means Buddha is about to die (or has already). If the big toes are side by side it shows Buddha resting. All the statues here are really serene and it's a very peaceful place until you head back out and you find yourself surrounded by monkeys! There are loads of them wandering about and as you'd expect they're pretty mischievous and entertaining to watch. They're clearly used to people and just ignore you.

As always at these things there are several people selling tat and that's pretty much what it is!! Thankfully, it's easy swerved unless you show the remotest interest and they would literally chase you back to the UK with some badly carved random things!

The rest of the afternoon was spent at Eco Park on a 4x4 jeep safari to watch wild elephants. I know I went on an elephant ride the previous day, but, to see the elephants wandering around on their own terms was something else. We ventured off into the trees in the jeep and soon found that the tracks we were following were pretty horrific and bounced us all over the place! I persevered with it and stood at the back of the open top jeep looking for elephants and we weren't disappointed. Initially we saw a couple in the distance, we continued down the track and there was a huge bull in the middle of the track feeding on some leaves... He was not for moving and at one point was looking like he might charge, guess he wasn't happy we disturbed his dinner!!

We continued off spotting various birds, nests and trees native to Sri Lanka. We came across a few more elephants on the way round, my favourite was a baby feeding from her mother - so cute and I guess quite a rare site.

Again, another incredibly hot and busy day but loved it!!

For those of you who know me, just a quick update on the people on the tour... There are 6 of us and 4 of the other people are fantastic, we're getting on really well and having a laugh. The 5th one is a little bit, shall we say, different! In fact, he's absolutely mental!! I've a feeling there could be a few issues and I'll keep you posted with goings on.

For my cousin, I can confirm I've attracted the attention of a waiter who declared he's like a "wild cat" not sure he got my humour when I asked if he climbed trees! A school boy, yes a school boy asked our tour guide about me and the tour guide has started calling me "baby" - rest assured, I've steered well clear as I'm holding out for a tea picker!!!

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Photos

My favourite!
Mother and baby wild elephants