Polonnaruwa Resthouse

A day looking around the ancient site for 750 for a tuk tuk for the morning and $25 entry to the sites.

We had a sri lankan breakfast of a hopper (rice pancake) with lentil and potato curry, roti and a pot of tea and we were set for the day. The ruins are on one dirt road and we saw all the sites in our own time in 3 hours. As usual we did not have a guide we just listened to what the tuk tuk ...

... an outer moat and city, an inner moat and ramparts, a lake, entrances, a mirror wall and paintings, a Lion Platform, a palace on the summit and so on.

Nestled within a forest, this was a lovely place to visit. It’s quite remarkable what one king could transform so much out of rock! Initially, you pass over the inner moat, which is kept beautifully, with lovely clean waters. Then a short walk takes you to the royal gardens, where you can see straight ...

... into a book. The ones the monks made in the olden days are really cool because the papers are long and thin instead of the standard wide paper we are used to (they use the bamboo leaf which is thin). They then cave whatever they want to write with a sharp instrument to make an indent in the paper and then push ground up coal into the indent for the letters to show up. It's a really cool technique and a monk made one for Greg and myself to take home (for a ...

... together in places. Now, breakfast was lovely - warm Roti onion bread with butter/jam and a choice of egg if you wanted. After brekkie we headed out. First up was another elephant experience - an elephant ride. We climbed up a ladder onto a boarding platform and onto the elephant...... four of us on one elephant. We headed past a load of houses, down a tree lined path and into a lagoon. There was a Mahoot to steer and a friend to take pictures of us. He earned his ...

... the state of our union and that it's time for a change. I'm sorry if you are/were a McCain fan, he fought a great battle, but in the end, I believe, America has chosen the best candidate for the job. I stayed at a guesthouse with a tv so can wake up early in the morning to watch the polls closing and the results come in. Sri Lanka is 11.5 hours later than Chicago time. I woke up at 5:30 AM, turned on the ...

... our bags the hostel owners came into our room looking worried and informed us that a bomb had just gone off there a couple of hours ago! A quick look on the net showed it was quite serious (link) so we altered our plans and decided to head to Polonnaruwa instead. We grabbed a tuk-tuk from the hostel to the bus station before boarding a bus towards Polonnaruwa. The bus station was rather confusing and we ending up trusting the judgement of ...

... back to the 10th century, are also quite impressive and worth visiting. The Buddha statues carved in the rock, although smaller then we thought, were quite nice. It was really hot in Polonnaruwa. PT: Após visitarmos Sigiriya, dirigimo-nos a Polonnaruwa, onde ficamos num hotel bastante acolhedor e com vista sobre um lago. A principal razão que nos levou a Polonnaruwa foi visitar as ruínas da 2a capital histórica do Sri Lanka, mas acabamos por também fazer ...

... vydali smer Sigiriya a uz kolem pul sedme jsme dorazili na misto. Skalni pevnost Sigigiya pochazi ze 6. stoleti a je postavena na 200-metrove skale (nechapu, jak to tenkrat zvladli). Kolem pevnosti jsou pozustatky vodnich zahrad a palacu. Jelikoz jsme vyrazili tak brzo, byli jsme tam uplne prvni turisti, takze mame nektere fotky bez lidi, ale kolem 8 uz se to zacinalo pekne zaplnovat a davy prijizdely autobusy. Cela prohlidka nam zabrala pres 3 ...

... Highland council in Scotland has of clearing snow. We skipped past a couple more tourist sites as we headed for he coast and some sun. Over a thousand steps to reach Buddha's footprint and all uphill seemed just a little extreme to us and what is there to see at a waterfall but water. One must try to avoid being in the same situation as Geldorf when he saw Timbuktu and exclaimed "That's it!" Not wishing to rush things and recognising that one ...

... first stop - the Kings Council Chamber and the Royal Palace. Great ruins. It is believed that the Royal Palace once stood 7 stories high - not bad for something built around the 12th century. Only about 2 stories remain now.. We also say the long brick wall that once surrounded the entire complex. Our guile must have been a bit of a nature lover as he was spotting birds, eagles & turtles the whole way.. Once another downpour settled we cycled ...