Blogs from Polonnaruwa , North Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 2

Ich stehe kurz nach 6 Uhr auf und mache einen kleinen Fotoausflug zum nahen See. In den Bäumen sitzen einige Schlangenreiher und eine Gruppe junggeselliger Pfaue. Einige Einheimische sind mit einem kleinen Boot zum Fisch unterwegs. Zum Frühstück bin ich zurück im Hotel, wir bleiben wohl die einzigen Gäste. Schade eigentlich, die Anlage und Zimmer sind recht schön. Heute ist lokales Frühstück angesagt, String-Hoppers (kleine Reisnudel Spaghetti-Häufchen), Hoppers (eine Art aus Reismehl gebackene Teigschüssel), mildes Kartoffelcurry und gebratene Eier. Hoppers kann man mit allem Möglichen kombinieren, vom warmen Curry bis zu Marmelade und Butter. Alles sehr schmackhaft. Nächster Versuch eines Kaffees, kein Erfolg. Um 9 Uhr sitzen wir im Tuk-Tuk nach Sigiriya. Sigiriya ist ein 200m hoher Felsmonolith auf dessen Gipfel sich die Reste einer ehemaligen Felsenfestung befinden. Der Name leitet s... read more

Today started back in the van for what we hoped was not a long journey, and we were lucky it was only 1 hour. We headed to Polonnaruwa, a village of Buddhist ruins from the 1100-1300 AD period. They consisted of a number of Stupas (round big buildings you can't enter that Buddhist pray around), the image houses that had statues and images of Buddha and a third thing we can't remember. It was hot and humid but nothing compared to Vietnam as there was a breeze to cool it a bit. The ruins were nice and some well restored, but you had to take off your shoes and hat at every one and walk around in your socks or bare feet. After about the 7th one we got a bit tired of this and were ... read more

Another day starts at Cinnimon Lodge, had a lazy morning and late breakfast. Rested Fran's ankle and applied ice to ease the swelling before our afternoon activity. In the afternoon We met our guide at the front of our Lodge and got into a safari jeep and drove to Eco Park to see some wild life. The jeep was driven by the safari guide and trundled along the road at about 30 MPH towards the park. The speedo, fuel and temperature gauges were not working and the safari guide has to move the steering wheel through 180 degrees before the front wheels would turn, ummm!!! I think there was some wear and play in the steering. We suddenly turned off road and down a dirt track through the dust and pot holes (some were 30cm deep) ... read more

Took the bus to Polonnaruwa - another of the ancient cities. I was a bit daunted but it actually was great fun. Everyone uses the local buses here - families, school kids, little old ladies, labourers, businessmen and even monks. You just jump on - sometimes as the bus has started moving! There is incense burning constantly which I love, colourful garlands everywhere and they showed a Sri Lankan movie which seemed to be a dramatisation about the arrival of Buddhism here, and felt very like a Sinhalese 'Game of Thrones'. An old lady sat next to me and suddenly picked up my wrist and tied a Buddhist thread around it. I am blessed! The journey was a bum-numbing three and a half hours but I totally enjoyed it. Arriving in a wet Polonnaruwa early afternoon ... read more

January 5...After finally getting my aunt on her way back to Vancouver (missed connection in Hong Kong due to late departure from Colombo, she then had to wait until next day to catch it), George and I were able to do a bit of sightseeing Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. We visited the Gangaramaya Temple - apparently, the temple has never disposed of any items gifted to it, making the collection especially eclectic - I particularly liked the collection of ivory pieces and the the two cars out front! Biera Lake was nearby, so we walked over and saw a modest temple built out over the lake. Later Saturday afternoon, I experienced my first Sri Lankan train trip - a 20 minute or so journey south from Colombo took us to Mount Lavinia Hotel, the one-time ... read more