Hotel Shalini Anuradhapura

My Cathay Pacific flight was comfortable and the food was good, but I wasn't interested in the films as I was desperate for sleep! Altho’ I didn’t get much, I hoped I’d get a bit more at Colombo airport, but it turned out a bit more difficult than I’d imagined. After a snack at a tumble-down shack across the road, I tried in vain to sleep for a couple of hours on the chairs before starting a nightmare trip of grotty buses and dodgy men, to ...

8th October We knew it was going to be another long day of travelling today so we were up and ready to go by 6am. We were heading to Anuradhapura, another point on the "Cultural Triangle", and another town I was eager to see. As Polonnaruwa was a 1-street town we figured it'd be pretty easy to flag down a passing bus but it wasn't quite that straight forward. 2-3 buses flew passed at high speed and we had no idea if they were going where we wanted as the destination sign was in ...

... to buy alcohol, although some of the touristy guesthouses and hotels will discretely sell you a beer if there aren't many SL's around. The Ancient Cities The Ancient Cities are a bit of a trek from Tangalle so really we needed a long weekend to do them justice. They are North of the hill country in one of the driest parts of the country and were the original centre of Sri Lankan civilisation. This area is often known as ...

... d write how i feel rather than where and what we have been doing! Apart from being scorching hot and feeling like a beast (I've ate too much again) I'm feeling quite sad! Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with beautiful very friendly, helpful, kind and generous people, yes there is the occasional con-artist among them (and Helen and i always manage to find them) but 99% of them are lovely. However as the Buddhist/ Hindu New Year (13th) dawns near ...

... 3 times by security before being able to enter. There are a few Bodhi trees here with some of the branches being supported by columns - makes it look very fragile indeed. We decided to check out the Ruvanelisaya Dagoba on our way out. We took off our shoes and the ground was so hot it was burning through my socks and i had to scramble from one shady bit to another... The elephants that line the front are impressive ...

... nearby there are caves that people used for contemplation. Moving on we saw the monks reflectory ruins and the assembly hall. There is 1 huge trough and a smaller one - these were filled with rice (in the big one) and curry - the staple meal still in Lanka! Next to this is the Relic House with 2 big stone tablets with writing on them that describes the servants duties and the duties of the monks. Up some stairs we saw the snake pool where the ...

... on top of the vertiginous Sigiriya rock palace when the heavens opened -- with no shelter in sight -- at least I got to become brollie buddies with a couple of russians -- its certainly well worth a visit though -- its water guardians stretching out and its monks cells and frescos hidden by the rocks contours from the aforementioned elements -- and attendent "helpers" to aid the protly westerners up some steep climbs and point out heavenly beauties imperfections ...