Cultural Heartlands Of Sri Lanka
Posted On Monday, January 16, 2012 at at 12:06 AM by Alvin
We landed in Sri Lanka around mid-night and made our way in the mild climate to the seaside town of Negombo, where we relaxed for a night followed by a even more relaxing breakfast by the roadside - the laddie whipped up an energising multi-fruit shake to power us up. Negombo had a nice laid-back village vibe to it and we felt our Winter blues melting away along with the sea breeze. This town had a large fish market where fishmongers auctioned their catch of tiger prawns, sardines and tunas from the Indian Ocean as well as from the Negombo lagoon. All this relaxation could wait, we thought, and after breakfast we took a bus via Kurunegala to the island's famed UNESCO cultural heartlands : Anuradhapura, Dambulla, Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa.
Anuradhapura was dotted with numerous dagobas, sacred ponds, water tanks (Wewa) as well as the famous Sri Maha Bodhi Tree - an ancient sacred tree continuously tended by an uninterrupted succession (even during war times) of guardians for over 2,000 years ! We took our time acclimatising to the low land humidity (and mozzies ... ) with frequent tea breaks - ah, a nice hot cup of Ceylon tea ! We next based ourselves in Dambulla, a busy town and a major transport hub for the region, where we visited the famous Cave Temples. The guesthouse we stayed overlooked an open field towards the back, where we witnessed the amazing sight of giant air balloon landings during dawn. We took a bus to Sigiriya, where the incredible site of the Sigiriya Rock awaited us. The Rock is basically a surviving solidified volcano lava plug whilst the rest of the volcano cone had been eroded away over the millenia - a supreme and stunning example of volcanic geology. The summit at the top of The Rock had since been used by monks for meditation and contemplation of Life. The visit to the last of the ancient cities : Polonnaruwa was a very relaxing affair consisting of, chatting with locals on the hour-long bus, walking around a few ruins, strolling along the shores of the Wewa and sampling more Ceylon tea at the Polonnaruwa Rest House right by the Wewa. The Polonnaruwa Rest House was built for QE2 when Her Highness visited some years back - I guessed the lovely and peaceful views out to the Wewa had not changed much since - how wonderfully relaxing.
