Polonnaruwa in brief: around 800 years ago Polonnaruwa was the commercial and religious centre of Sri Lanka. It thrived for three centuries as the royal capital of the Sinhalese and Chola kingdoms, but in the early 13th century Polonnaruwa’s glory started to decline until it was sadly abandoned. The capital then moved to where Colombo is today and the city of Polonnaruwa was left to become the Polonnaruwa ruins.
Polonnaruwa ruins quietly wowed us. The ruins of the ancient city is another of Sri Lanka’s UNESCO World Heritage sites and we spent a happy morning admiring the main structures spread out east of Parakrama Sudraya, a large man-made rainwater reservoir. Knowing very little about ancient Sri Lankan civilisations, the larger ruins are astonishing when you imagine how magnificent they must have looked in the 12th Century. One of the palaces stood seven storeys high.
We spent several hours exploring the major ruins and as the morning warmed up we were once again grateful to have driver Rohan ferrying us around the leafy avenues which make up the ancient city. We did see weary groups on bicycles, which I had read was a good way to get around the sites, but considering the climate and size of the area biking would require great stamina. So glad we included Polonnaruwa in our cultural triangle tour. We rewarded ourselves with a second afternoon of poolside relaxation at our lakeside hotel, where we were still the only guests. Quite lovely having the pool and gardens to ourselves, and contentment continued as we replicated the previous night’s activities of sunset G&Ts and rummy.
Dambulla, Wednesday 13 December
We had a pleasant morning drive to Dambulla, the route being through a national park and several small towns. Once there, things didn’t go quite to plan. We took an instant dislike to the accommodation I’d booked and decided not to stay. Driver Rohan offered to take us somewhere he knew, so we put our trust in him and settled back into the car. After driving for quite a while down very poor roads, between farmland, rice fields and small rivers we arrived at Nice Place. Gordon negotiated hard and we secured a room for $60 a night. We wouldn’t recommend a stay here but it was ok for two nights - sparse clean room, good aircon. Rohan’s board and lodge was free, so he was happy. It was here at Nice Place that hotel staff sprinted (and I’m not exaggerating) towards Gordon to pull his backpack off his back when they saw him wearing it. He’s had few chances to carry his backpack in Sri Lanka as the sight of him wearing it makes guest house staff hurry towards him and remove it. I continue to be a fan of a luggage with wheels so we are rather mismatched in our travel style!
 |
| Dambulla caves |
Most come to Dambulla to see the cave temple complex and climb Sigiriya rock fortress, so this was our plan too. After a rest at Nice Place we headed out late afternoon to Dambulla cave temple which dates from 1st Century B.C. It was a hot and humid climb up hundreds of rough steps to the entrance to the caves. After removing our shoes we wandered through caves which contain statues of Buddha and intricate paintings of Buddha on the walls and ceilings. From the rock near the cave entrance there’s a great view of the surrounding countryside and we joined other tourist resting on the rock before making our way down. An interesting sight.
 |
| Reclining Buddha in one of the caves at Dambulla |
Sirigiya Rock, Thurday 14 December
Our early morning climb of Sigiriya Rock had me puffing and panting, but we easily reached the top in under an hour. Gordon's mania to be first up had to be managed, but it was good to admire the views from the top with hardly anyone else there.
 |
| Sigiriya Rock |
 |
| The final path to the top of Sirigiya rock |
What makes this a truly astounding experience is the realisation that the steep sided rock was part of a city complex and where we were standing had once been the site of a palace. It’s unbelievable to imagine the construction of a large building up there given how difficult it is to access the top. As we walked down, just after 8am, the way up was looking pretty congested and with the day warming up rapidly climbing Sigiriya in the heat would be hard. The area around the rock probably deserved some exploration, but we drove back to Nice Place in time to have breakfast, our day's "work" over!
 |
| Gordon with Rohan, our driver |
No comments:
Post a Comment