Advertisement
Published: June 25th 2017
Edit Blog Post
Massive Temple
Huge and very impressive. The second part of our mission in Polonnawara was to visit its ancient city. We rented bikes again for the day, and by 8 a.m. we were on our way. We were not disappointed. Unlike the temples of Anchor Wat in Cambodia, which were created in different time periods by different civilizations and rulers, these ruins really felt like one large city. You could get a sense of the community that had existed here a thousand years ago, which is in amazingly good condition given its age. On our way home, we stopped by a carving factory, where we watched carvers at work, and then were absolutely blown away when we stepped into the warehouse and discovered the vast array of excellent work they had produced. Sculptures, masks, and beautiful, master crafted furniture were all on display. If only we could afford to have some of that furniture shipped home! But the life size elephant carving stole the show.
We have one more ancient city to visit before we leave, in Anuradapura. Those ruins are considerably older, larger, and spread out over about twenty five kilometres, so we will be hiring a tuk tuk for that mission.
Our time
here is almost over. Sri Lanka has definitely stolen our hearts, not only because of its beautiful and diverse landscape, but because of its super chill, happy, always smiling people who have made us feel so welcome here. There has not been a bus ride that we have taken where people have not greeted us with a smile when we got on, or waved at us when either they or we were leaving, and we have taken a lot of buses in the past month, and have usually been the only foreigners on the bus. Same goes for people on the street as we passed by. You need to know also that the bus stations have been crazy hectic, with twenty or thirty buses squeezed in very tightly, bus ticket agents doubling as conductors ushering buses in and out of stalls with buses leaving every thirty minutes. Somehow, with our five bags, somebody always made sure we got on the right bus, cause we certainly had no idea, since our literacy in Singalese is somewhat limited. Furthermore, we would travel a hundred and twenty kilometres, or three to four hours, for a combined total fare of around two dollars.
Stan at a Stuppa
We inquired today as to what was inside these stupas, and learned that it is believed they contain precious items belonging to someone important, much like the Egyptian tombs, that were then sealed permanently. The same energy could be found on trains. Our first train ride in this country was a six hour journey, which began with us finding ourselves squeezed onto a train with standing room only. And then an assortment of vendors paraded through, stepping over us and our bags, selling their foods. I told Stan "I can't do this." But then someone offered Stan a seat when he sat on the floor, and soon after the story telling began. By the end of the train ride we had made a number of friends, and it went down as a good and memorable experience.
There is a calmness and a warm spirit to this country that is priceless. Hopefully we will retain something of it always.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.207s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 9; qc: 50; dbt: 0.085s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb