Category: Sri Lanka

We arrived at Galle just after 1 after a leisurely 1 hour drive along the coast from Mirissa.  The water got dirtier the closer we got to Galle. We drove past the fort and the Galle cricket ground on the way to our hotel Taavitti which got us all excited at the exploring to come.  Our hotel was lovely – it had been recommended by a friend of Deryn’s so we were expecting good thing.  Once again they put us all on the same floor so Taylor got upgraded to a nice double room.

We decided to get a local bus into town (probably about 2 km) so appease Deryn who had been wanting to get a local bus the entire trip.  You basically just flag a coloured one (not red as they are the intercity buses) and pay when you get off.  The bus was packed so we had to stand but we all enjoyed the experience.  Rp150 (75 cents) for the 5 of us. 

We wandered around the outside wall of the fort – every gun rampart on the wall seemed to be occupied by local lovers sheltering under umbrellas. We then wandered the lovely streets that were littered with lots of old colonial building that were now cafes or shops.   It had a lovely vibe and reminded Deryn and I of the old part of Macau when we visits there in 1996.  It was bloody hot in the sun though so we thought visiting one of the museums  would be a good way to get out of the heat.   We made our to the Maritime Museum (Rp350 each) and spent 20 minutes or so wandering around a rather dank and hot couple of rooms that were not being kept very cool by the 3 of 4 overworked fans.  So much for avoiding the heat – it felt cooler when we got back outside

It was nice seeing the famous Galle Cricket Ground which the legend Shane Warne rated as one of his favourites. So much so, the legend goes, that he contributed a substantial part of the rebuild costs post the 2004 tsunami.

We decided to head back to the beachside of the fort to an upstairs pizza restaurant where we could watch the sun set over the ocean while being cooled by the breeze.  We enjoyed a few beers and the usual game of 10&1 before ordering a couple of pizzas to share. It was lovely watching the sun setting and the literally hundreds of school kids – all dressed in pristine white uniforms – wander up and down the wall.  We noticed quite a few schools within the sort that appear to have 2 shifts a day.  We grabbed a couple of tuk tuks back to our hotel – we were told Rp1000 each which seemed reasonable until a day later we paid Rp300!!

The hotel offered to do us breakfast at Rp3000 a piece; a bit more than we usually spent but given the convenience we thought why not.  The breakfast was actually very good – not as bulky as others but certainly very tasty dal and chicken and fish curries.  We headed into town around 9 for a couple of hours before retuning to the hotel to chill by the pool and in our rooms to avoid the midday heat.  We headed back into town around 5 and found a bar with happy hour (not as cheap as the beach bars at Rp800 for a can of beer) and played cards again.   

We decided to splash out a bit for dinner so had a lovely meal at 1710; a lovely courtyard cafe / hotel that had an expensive gem counter on the way to the toilet.  The girls spent a fair bit of time exploring the stones without actually buying anything.   We grabbed some gelato’s on the way home to cap off an evening of culinary delights. 

Our flight out of Colombo was at 20 past midnight so we organised a taxi to pick myself, Dits and Taylor up at 7.  Conor and Amanda were staying another night was they were not fly in out until Sunday am.  We spent the morning chilling at the hotel before leaving all our bags in C & A’s room and then headed into town to explore the fort once again.  We were all struggling with the heat so after a couple of air-conditioned stops  – fruit juices and then balms before grabbing a small meal at a wind swept cafe. 

We decided to grab an early dinner at the hotel as we couldn’t face the great again so the hotel agreed to provide a seafood meal for Rp6000 each.  They sent someone down to the fish market to grab some fish, crab and prawns.  We had out last game of 10&1 – a double ton from yours truely and the our seafood dinner at 5.  The dinner was lovely but unfortunately it was spoiled by the plague of flies.  They were unbelievable. 

Our taxi arrived a bit early so it was a quick pack up; the usual challenges of using a credit card to pay the bill before a very sad farewell to Conor and Amanda.  Although the farewell to Conor was tempered by the fact he was coming to Aus in 3 weeks for Taylor and my party.  It was a 2 hour drive to the airport followed by various queues to get onto the plane.  Taylor was thankfully allowed into the lounge with Dits and I which was a bonus.   We then popped a Valium acquired earlier in the day from a chemist (Rp250 for 4) which knocked us all out for a good 8 hours.

My key takeaways from the trip were:

 – travel with your kids. It makes it so much more fun

– curries for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

 – amazingly friendly people. 

 – preferred the hinterland to the beaches but that’s probably because of the summer heat

 – its not a place to go if everything needs to be tidy and organised 

 – the more you challenge yourself; the more you will get out of it. 

It was a 3 hour drive from Ella to Aragum Bay.  You could feel the heat intensifying as we left the mountains to by the time we got to AB it was a steamy 33.  AB was in the same touristy mould as Ella just with that real beachy vibe – ie no shirts or shoes. AB was nearly wiped out by the 2002 tsunami so it was good to see it fully recovered – although there were still a fee half built hotels around the place – monuments to covid. 

As always it took a few wrong turns before we found our hotel, Beach Way.  Unfortunately it was not near the water and was pretty drank and dingy in the kids downstairs rooms – Taylor’s room did not have AC so we upgraded to another with AC for $A15 per night.  Dits and my room was on top with a bit of a sea view and a decent breeze but with no internet.  

We grabbed our beach gear – Conor also sorted a board – and headed to the beach.  The set up was like a lot of Asian beaches where hotels/ cafes have recliners in front of their property that pundits can use if they buy food and drink.    It seems the ‘German principle’ applied where people would leave a towel draped across a couple of recliners and then wander off for many hours but expected their chairs to remain theirs. I gave it an hour and then removed the towel and made myself comfortable.  I pleaded ignorance when a couple turned up later asking for their towel.  

It was a bit of a drop off from the cafe’s to the beach proper as a result of the strong waves. You had to be careful heading out for a swim as you could very easily get dumped. We spent a lovely couple of hours chilling before heading down to the far end of the beach to see if we could see Conor.    The southern end of the beach was for locals (swimming in jeans!) and surf beginners on foamies.  Conor had gone around the corner so we could not watch him.  

We basically spent the next 2 days just chilling on the beach; doing a bit of shopping, playing cards and trying different spots for eating. Conor was the exception as he surfed most mornings and afternoons.  It was lovely after the very busy time we had had previously and I think everyone enjoyed the relaxation.  On the Saturday night we were all kept awake by a nightclub that went to 6am. It was weird hearing the 5am Muslim prayers clashing with techno.  On our last night there we went cheap at a local buffet – A$20 for 4 of us as Amanda wasn’t hungry. It was Conor’s pick. The fish in the fish curry was so hard it was like burnt Vogels toast. We all survived though.

We all agreed that 2 days was enough and we’re looking forward to our 3 days in a much more relaxed Mirissa Bay and our ‘fancy’ hotel Ballena Regency.

It was a 5 hour drive to Mirissa so decided to get away at 9.  The problem was that first van that arrived to pick us up would not have even managed 5 adults never mind our baggage.  So we upped the cost by Rp5k to Rp35K and sent them off to get a bigger van. We chilled in our favourite cafe, Pono across the road, for about half an hour later before the new van arrived.

We stopped for lunch in a little roadside traveller cafe for a round of rotti’s and a curry for Conor.  Our hotel was down a tiny little dirt road but any sense of foreboding vanished when we saw the place.  It looked amazing with a big 25m pool out front.  We were checked into 3 massive rooms on the second floor – Taylor was upgraded to a double to keep the family together.  We organised bikes for the following day and headed to the beach. 

The beach set up was similar to AB with cafes and recliners all along the waterfront.  The sea was rough but very refreshing.   We found a cafe with a happy hour and proceed to get stuck into the Rp800 beers ($4) and a game of cards.  For dinner we ordered a whole fish off the iced display out front ($60 for 5 of us).  It was delicious!! 

After a great Sri Lankan breakfast in the hotel we grabbed our scooters (pretty iffy lot); filled up with petrol (well Rp500 each) and then headed to a beach known for having turtles about 20 min away. Decidedly average and not a turtle in sight.  There were a few tropical fish but not worth the effort really.  

Then it was off to Weligama snake farm – it seemed like we went via Colombo in miles of pokey little roads.  When we finally got there, it was closed.  Dits rang the owner who turned up 10 minutes later.  We had read it was Rp1000 per person so were a bit meeved when the owner said it was Rp2500 – blamed it on covid??  We agreed on Rp2000 each. 

The farm was founded by the owners dad to rehabilitate injured snakes and then release them back into the nearby national park. The process for the next 45 mins was he bought out a snake; if it was non poisonous we all got to hold it; if not he played with it in front of us.  We got to hold the following non poisonous – green trees name; a young and a 5 year old python and a couple a couple of ‘ can’t remember’.  The poisonous snakes were an adder and a cobra. The owner got the cobra to strike at hi numerous time – the trick is to remember the strike range of the cobra is only the distance that they are elevated!

We then intended to head to Secret Beach but a sudden downpour put paid to that.   We were all drenched by the time we returned to our oasis. We headed out to find some lunch but didn’t have much luck so headed back to the beach cafe’ and grabbed a feed there.  We were all buggered so spent the rest of the afternoon chilling back at the hotel.  We had a lovely meal at Mirissa Garlic for dinner watched over by frogs. 

The next morning I relaxed at the hotel pool while the rest headed off to Secret Beach, a small little beach that didn’t sound very secret. It was then back to the beach for happy hour, cards and some whole fish.  We mistakenly got 2 small fish instead of 1 large and found the meat to bone ratio a bit disappointing.   We organised a van for a midday pickup to Galle the next day, wanting to spend as much time as possible at this lovely hotel.   I for one, am exited at heading to a place with lots of history and things to see rather than beach life. I guess living in Manly spoils you as far as beaches go. 

We had arranged for a local taxi to take us to Ella – agreeing on a minivan.  The first car that turned up was a 5 seater with barely enough room for us, never mind the bags.  After a phone call, a decent sized van arrived with a very friendly driver.   First order of the day was to find breakfast (breakfast in the hotel was terrible).  After a couple of false alarms we found an authentic local joint that cost us $A15 for 5 of.  It’s amusing how Sri Lankan’s have the same food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Hoppers / rice; daal, coconut mix and a curry.  And a dollop of very strong black coffee.  

We originally agreed to go via Kandy for a brief stop but after finding out it was going to add 2 hours to our journey we decided not to – thankfully as we heard it took 6 hours to get from Kendy to Ella.  Before arriving at Ella, we stopped briefly at a temple, bought some flowers and wished Buddha the best of luck.  The drive was spectacular once we hit the hills – made us a bit sad that the Kandy to Ella train was fully booked.  Tea plantations as far as the eye could see.  Once again finding our hotel – Misty Villas Ella was a bit of a challenge but we eventually got there.  First impressions were good although somewhat let down by the second bedroom in fact being a thoroughfare into the main bedroom.  So after some negotiations for we found Conor and Amanda a lovely room in a new hotel across the road (at half the normal rate for birthday boy Conor).

As per the new routine, the first thing to organise was the scooters.  Managed to get 3 for 2 days for $A12  per day.  After a quick swim we headed back into Ella and to Little Adam’s Peak.  First thing we needed to do was fill up the bikes with petrol – weird this practice of the bikes being empty.   It was a bit of a ride to the station but made pleasurable by a stop at a local cafe where we all had 2 vegetable rotti’s and a drink (for a total of $A7!!) 

The first thing that stuck us driving through Ella was the number of tourists – the place was swamped!!  Getting to the car park at Little Adam’s Peak was a bit of a mission on very bumpy dirt roads but we all made it successfully.  There was a massive club complex there that would not have been out of place at Ibiza – pools, bars and house music.  There was also a big swing ($25) and a flying fox ($125).  Certainly not the usual Sri Lankan prices. The climb to the peak wasn’t too bad with some pretty amazing views.  Ella is built around quite a decent canyon and its elevation keeps it a bit cooler which was lovely. We finished off the day with a game of cards,  a few beers and a western meal at The Barn to celebrate Conor’s birthday. 

Our plan for the following day was to cover 3 tourist attractions starting with the Nildiya Pokuna caves around 30km from Ella, then pop in to the secret waterfalls just around the corner before we visiting the Ravana Waterfall on the way back to Ella.  We drove past the Ravana Falls on the day to the cave and could see already it was a bit of a tourist trap – it was a nightmare by the time we drove past on our return journey so decided to give them a wide berth. 

We turned off the main road and followed a very windy track to the start of the caves.  It was $15 per person for a guided tour (not possible to do without a guide – we definitely would have got lost). Taylor was a bit ambivalent about entering the cafes when we saw the narrowness of the entrance and requiring to climb down 2 ladders.  We talked her into it but she remained very doubtful for the first 5 minutes as we had to clamber though some very narrow passages before the caves finally opened up.  The chambers were really dark – only our poor headlights providing light so we did not really appreciate their splendour.  The stillness was punctuated by the continual clicking of the bats in flight.  The rocks were slippery and in once instance I nearly slid over a steep drop.  We walked for about 800m before coming to the bottom of the cave which was filled with water up to a depth of 5 metres.  The water was that clear you would not know it was there until you stepped in it.  We all had a very refreshing swim in the cool water – definitely the highlight of the experience.  We passed 2 other groups coming down as we left which was a benefit of getting out early.  

After the caves we headed a couple of kilometres down the road to the Secret Waterfall.  They were a couple of fairly short waterfalls with some decent swimming ponds.  We all enjoyed the swim although there was something in the water that brushed against our feet and sort of nibbled on us – not in a painful way – that made swimming too long uncomfortable.  

 It was then back to the pool and some chilling before heading to the station to grab 4 return tickets (Amanda preferred some chill time) to Bandaraweta – about 20 mins away.  It’s called the Calypso Special train and it has 2 open roofed carriages so you can enjoy the beautiful surrounds. They even had a couple of local musicians entertaining us tourists with old legends like “Country Road”.  It was a lovely trip to Bandaraweta even if it took twice as long to get there – had to wait 20 min for another train to pass. 

Bandaraweta was a bustling town – the busiest we had encountered to date.  We had an hour to kill so went for a bit of a wonder around the town.  It was a hive of activity and we luckily encountered some sort of religious festival with energetic music with a load of woman ‘pulling’ a tractor which in turn was pulling a float.  Not sure exactly what we going on.  We grabbed a round of egg samosas before heading back to the station.  We grabbed some seats on the train but unfortunately we sat in the station for 45 minutes waiting for the non tourist train to depart.  Deryn went and got some drinks – tea for Conor and I and beer for her and Taylor.  The tea was undrinkable – the milk and honey – while the beer was warm. Anyway it was a fun afternoon.  We were all shattered so it was an early night.

We had a chill morning with Conor and I sitting in a cafe in Ella doing some stuff that required wifi (although it was shite) while Taylor and Deryn did some shopping – one small purchase between them.  Conor, Deryn and myself went and checked out the fabled 9 arch bridge.  A bit ho hum I thought – the drive on the windy roads was more interesting.  We had just returned to our scooters (around 200m from the bridge) when we head a train go past.  That may have made it more interesting although probably not!!

We gathered around 3 to head out to climb Ella Rock.  It was reported to be quite a tough climb so we wanted to do it later in the day.  We also thought, given we had scooters, bike to a spot closer to the Ella Rock trailhead to save 45 minutes.  We were all flashing low on petrol so there were a few nerves of running out – although as I pointed out it was 8.4km to the petrol station and a mere 8km return to our destination.  After a bit of going back and forward we found our destination.  It cost Rp100 each to park our bikes and after some initial directions we were off.  10 minutes in a local pointed out that we had ‘missed a turn’ so pointed us in the right direction – seemed he was heading the same way.  He effectively led us to the top via a few ‘short cuts’.   Looks like we had got ourselves a guide. 

The walk was pretty tough but it was beautiful.  Again we were amazed at the vast number of Eucalyptus trees. We literally walked through a forest of them. It cost us Rp930 (A$5) to visit the summit and enjoy the spectacular views. We then walked over to the eastern side of Ella Rock for some more spectacular view up the canyon and across the plains. The walk down was a lot easier – and quicker.  Deryn and I were remiss on the fact that we had not used our poles which would have made the walk a lot easier – and the reason we bought them!!

We all made it back into Ella without running out of petrol but decided not to risk returning to our villa before heading out for dinner. So it was a bit of a sweaty dinner but we were all so hungry it really didn’t matter.    We headed home all pretty satisfied that we had made the most of our time in this beautiful town.  Off to Arugam Bay tomorrow to another tourist hotspot. 

I wondered down after breakfast to meet with Bob to arrange him to tuk tuk us to Sigiriya – I also took the opportunity to pick up some supplies.  Not cheap!!  We chilled around the pool until midday after which Bob took us to Sigiriya (about 11km) via an ATM and a local tourist store to buy a pipe – got one that Sherlock would have been proud of.  

Took as a while to find our accomodation – Cloudz Sigiriya – as it was out in the middle of nowhere.  The place is nice – just needs some more money to bring it up to excellent.  Paying was a bit of a problem as they didn’t accept cards and so had to TT the money using a very average internet.   We then arranged to hire 3 scooters for the 4 days ($14 per scooter per day) as we needed transport to get in and of Sigiria and to visit the Lion Rock and Pidurangal Rock.  Conor and Amanda arrived around 2 so Conor and I grabbed a lift with the ‘resort’s’ owner and went and picked up the scooters.   The scooters were empty so before heading home we had to fill them up with petrol – mine ran out just before the station but I managed to bunny hop the last 1km.  Filling both scooters cost $18.  

We headed home and picked up Amanda and Deryn and headed back onto Sigiriya for lunch / early dinner.  The food was quite different to that previously eastern – the noodles had a dollop of tomato sauce on the side?  After eating we headed over to Pidurangal Rock for the climb to the summit.  A bus arrived as we arrived so we made a quick beeline for the steps to the summit in the hope of avoiding the crowds.   The going was challenging but OK until we got about 100m from the summit at which point everyone had stopped.  It was a choke point between those wanting to get up and those that wanted to get down – both groups had to funnel through a narrow gap in the rocks.  After a few minutes and no movement I got sick of it and basically barged my way through having to do a few rock climbs; whereas after 10 minutes Conor shimmied up a gap between 2 rock and received applause when he made it to the top.  The girls arrived 10 minutes later.  

It was certainly worth the effort as the summit was huge with magnificent views – including of Lion Rock in the distance.  Getting down was challenging again but less so than on the way up.   Getting home was also a bit of a challenge as by now it was dark and we ended up driving long a very narrow and bumpy dirt road before finally making it back to our accommodation.  

We had a very average breakfast at the hotel – an awful fish curry, mango honey mix and diced onions and tomatoes soaked in lemon juice.  All topped off with a fried egg and loads of coffee.  We then spent the morning waiting for Taylor to arrive.  Poor thing had had a torrid time since arriving in SL.  Firstly there was a mix up in taxis to pick her up from the airport and she ended up paying for 2 cars.  Then the hotel had no air-conditioning and her driver to Sigiriya got lost and they ended taking an hour longer to get here after travelling a long way on dirt roads.  The ultimate insult was having to wait 30 mins for her room to get ready in a hotel that only has 3 rooms in use and about 6 or 7 staff milling around.  You think they would have had the room ready knowing that she was expected at 1.

Anyway she dumped her bag, got changed and then we all headed into Sigiriya for lunch – Taylor’s scooter had been dropped off earlier.  I paid one of the staff $1 to go fill it up – seems the practice here is to return the scooter on empty. We found a chilled restaurant and spend a lovely couple of hours chilling over some curry and beers.  The kids then headed into Dambulla to visit the Cave Temple while Dits and I spent a couple more hours using the restaurant Wifi to do some organising.   Dits thought it was going to cost us $400 to get a van to drive to Ella (unfortunately the train is fully booked) but we managed to negotiate with a company we found in town to take us for $150 including a 1 hour stop in Kandy on the way. 

We headed home around 6.  The kids turned up around 730pm after being forced into a detour because of some wild elephants on the  road.  The next morning we were up at 630 to head into town early to climb Lion Rock. While dawn is meant to be perfect,  the hotel concierge told us it would be very busy because of all the locals attending on a Sunday.  

According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle, the local area was a large forest, then after storms and landslides it became a hill and was selected by King Kashyapa (AD 477–495) for his new capital. He built his palace on top of this rock and decorated its sides with colourful frescoes. On a small plateau about halfway up the side of this rock he built a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of this place is derived from this structure; Siṃhagiri, the Lion Rock.  The capital and the royal palace were abandoned after the king’s death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.  Sigiriya today is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site. It is one of the best preserved examples of ancient urban planning.

It was pretty busy when we arrived at Lion Rock but after purchasing our tickets (USD35 each!) we joined the troops making the journey to the summit.  Thankfully there were quite a few 2-way sections which meant the crowds were not too much of a problem.  It took about 30 sweaty minutes (certainly cooled a bit by the occasional wind gusts) to reach the summit.  It reminded Dits and me of a slightly less impressive Machu Picchu.  We spent about 20 minutes on the summit before Taylor’s stomach insisted that we head into town a find a restaurant for breakfast.

We found a lovely restaurant on the main roads back to Cloudz that served western food and had an espresso machine.  6 omelettes and 8 coffees later we headed back to our hotel for some R&R by the pool.  

We were picked up at 610am for our elephant safari in the Minneriya National Park.  When we stopped to fill up with petrol, our guide asked if we had the 62k rupees for the park entrance fee.  Deryn said it wasn’t necessary as we had paid it as part of our tour ticket.  So off we drove.   After a bit more investigation we discovered that we in fact had not paid the park entrance fee.  Thankfully Amanda had a chunk of change plus the guide chipped in 12k which was enough to get us over the line.  

While we only saw elephants over the 2 hours; we got to see a lot and some of them really up close.  There was a bit of debate whether the A$100 per head was value for money but Deryn pointed out it was putting valuable money back into the local economy.  The rest of the day was spent as per usual – eating in Sigiriya and relaxing around the pool at Cloudz. 

There was a bit of drama going on in the background as it was taking a while for the funds I transferred using OzForex to get into the hotel owner’s account.  He could not understand that it wasn’t coming from my account directly but via OzForex (when we checked in they could not accept credit cards – cash only – and we did not have enough cash so he suggested TT).  He wasn’t going to let us leave until the money cleared until the local hotel manager (Leel) agreed to act as guarantor.   What a lovely man. 

There was a bit of drama going on in the background as it was taking a while for the funds I transferred using OzForex to get into the hotel owner’s account.  He could not understand that it wasn’t coming from my account directly but via OzForex (when we checked in they could not accept credit cards – cash only – and we did not have enough cash so he suggested TT).  He wasn’t going to let us leave until the money cleared until the local hotel manager (Leel) agreed to act as guarantor.   What a lovely man. 

We decided on a Sri Lankan holiday as it was literally half-way between Aus and Sweden (where Conor now lives).  Like Conor (and Amanda), Taylor is also joining us for the second and third week of our holiday leaving Dits and I some time to travel alone.  

We arrived in Negombo on 24 July midnight (430am NZ time) after a pretty tough 11 & 1/2 hour flight. I’m still getting used to turning right when we get on the plane.  Deryn had thankfully organised a car so after grabbing some E-sims (USD10 for 125G) we headed to Mama’s Boutique Beach Hotel, about 20 mins from the airport.   

The 4.5 hour time difference meant we were up pretty early.  Had a swim and then breakfast in the hotel before walking into town to sort accomodation and our onward travel.  We really struggled with the heat (33 degs), probably made worse by the jet lag. A couple of first impressions was that it was relatively quiet (Sunday?); there were a lot of half finished abandoned hotels / houses – a legacy of the Covid crisis and a fair bit of rubbish.  And did I mention the heat – makes sense that the peak tourist season is November to April. 

We stopped for lunch and had our first authentic Sri-Lankan meal.  Similar to Indian but different – hoppers instead of rice, very hard nan bread (more like biscuits) and the curries are less creamy.  And probably the spice level is a bit higher and daal comes with everything.  We walked home for a swim and an afternoon kip before heading out for an evening walk and a feed. Lovely to be back in the hustle and bustle of an emerging economy.  

Our driver picked us up at 10am for our 3 hour drive to Anuradhapura.  We were both surprised at how long it took for us to get out into the “country”.  Colombo has a population of 650k out of a total country population of 22m – quite amazing how dispersed the population is.  We got a bit nervous an hour out when the driver kept changing gears (it was an automatic) and even one stage slammed it into park so the car stopped suddenly in the middle of the road. We made it eventually. It took us a bit of a mission to find the Emerald Homestay – it was on a dirt lane between a truck tire shop and a timber yard.  The owners were very welcoming and the room comfortable.  They had only opened the homestay earlier in the year, with the husband recently retiring from a successful career in banking.  Our room was lovely although we both agreed that a pool was a future requirement of any accommodation.

We optimistically headed out into the heat to explode the area.  The main street of the new town was a hive of commerce – a lot of banks, mechanics and Singer stores.  We walked around one of the many lakes in the area before trying to find a bike rental shop. Both shops shown on google no longer existed (again a covid casualty?) I was starting to get a bit grumpy so calm Dits took control and found another bike shop and magically a tuk tuk appeared to carry us to our mission.   The bike shop (Sun Cycles) was brilliant.  In no time we had hired bikes for 24 hours (plus a sarong for me) for USD20.  We then rode through the free part of the old town and visited a few of the many stupas in the areas (a sepulchral monument or burial building).  Certainly very impressive.  You are required to remove your shoes (and you have to leave them outside in a designated area and not allowed to carry in your backpack), caps and have your legs covered (hence the sarong).  Some of the religious areas are huge so after 3 weeks here we are going to have toughened soles (and softer souls!)

We spent about 90 minutes cycling around the free area of the old town before deciding to head home and grab some food.  We were returning the next morning to explore the ticketed part of the old town.  We found an air conditioned restaurant on the way home and grabbed some fish curry.  A mistake as the fish tasted way too fishy – a note to ourselves – only eat fish on the coast. Still it was only A$16 for dinner and drinks.  

We started the day with a hearty Sri Lankan breakfast.  Seriously it could have fed 6 of us. We then cycled back to the old town to explore the ticketed part of the site.  Anuradhapura was the capital of Sri Lanka from about 400BC until around 1000AD. Its also a major Buddhist pilgrimage site with many religious sites.  We sent the first hour exploring the ruins on foot before getting on our bikes for the remaining couple of hours.  It was all very chilled and as we were doing it relatively early in the morning, deserted.  We encountered a few tourists – mainly German and Dutch. Locals kept asking if we were German – German Turks perhaps?

We headed back to our room to chill for a few hours at which point decided that there was no point spending another day in  Anuradhapura as we had seen all we wanted to see.   Lovely.  We booked a couple of nights at a ‘luxury’ lodge in Dambulla – USD50 per night but with a POOL!  As a treat we walked into town for a pizza from PizzaHut.  At 4 we headed back to Sun Cycles to drop off the bikes.  We arranged for the hubby to take us to Mihintale – another sacred site on top of a hill with amazing views of the surrounds.  On the way we stopped off at an incredible tree covered in vines – over 1000 years old according to our driver.  

Mihintale was very cool.  I would hate to be there with lots of tourists (a benefit of being here in the hot season) as getting up and down the little peak would be a nightmare. The views were definitely worth the climb. We also had our first up close and personal encounter with the local monkeys (tufted grey langur) when one tried to get into our open bag.  Very cute. 

We got picked up the next morning at 9am. Deryn found that Booking.com had the ability to book taxis. $40 for a 90 minute ride to Dambulla. Things were progressing smoothly until about 20 minutes out when a motorbike turned unexpectedly into the side of our car. It took about 45 mins of quiet talking and some money changing hands before we were on our way.

The Sunduras Resort and Spa was everything we had hoped for with a lovely big pool and plenty of recliners. It even had a bar with seats in the pool. We relaxed for a couple of hours and then around 4 headed to the nearby Dambulla Royal Cave Temple and Golden Temple. The caves and their drawings are another national treasure and when viewed you can completely understand why. We explored the big golden Buddha at the base of the hill (covered in actual gold) before climbing the hill to reach the Cave Temple at the top. On the way we passed the usual assortment of flower sellers (to leave at alters in the temples); mango and drink stalls. We saw a few more tourists than we had encountered previously.

The caves were impressive – although again we were glad we were not there in peak season as some of the caves would have been very claustrophobic (and sweaty) with a lot of people in them. The views were also lovely – as was the cool breeze although Deryn and I both noted that we were becoming a lot more acclimatised to the heat.

On the way to the summit we passed a local who as per standard asked where we were from. As soon as we said NZ, cricket came up. He then told us that the Sri Lankan women’s team were playing Thailand that night at the intentional Dambulla CG. It was free as well. So after making our way down the hill through throngs of monkeys (they have very large incisors when growling!!!) we jumped into a Tuk Tuk and headed to the cricket. It was lovely and really impressive to see so many young girls in the crowd. Sri Lanka smashed Thailand although we left after 10 overs. It was a fun night.

We spent the next day basically chilling by the pool with a brief sortie back up mounting to enjoy the view before heading to The Uprising for a local meal. It was a Rasta themed outdoor restaurant that looked pretty run down but the food was really good. Given the theme of the restaurant it was hardly surprising the owner was named Bob. His family had lived on the property for over 100 years and just recently had to fight off an attempted acquisition by the local monks. We agreed that he would tuktuk us to Sigiria the next day to meet morning to meet up with Conor and Amanda!!