Polonnaruwa Ancient City
On the Way to Polonnaruwa
John is feeling much better this morning but still a bit weak. We have a light breakfast at Yashi’s Place before our driver arrives at 9:00 am. We are going to the ancient city of Polonnaruwa.
I am delighted to see that our driver is Mellawa. I thought that after yesterday’s adventures he would want to stay far away from the Scutts.
We start chatting as soon as we enter the car: discussing health care, schooling, work, housing family, food and so much more. Mellawa informs us the stray dogs and an ever thriving monkey population are a problem in Sri Lanka. This is one of the things we enjoy about travelling, being able to talk to local people and learning about life in other countries.
Mellawa stops the car at the side of the road when we spot a huge male Tusker elephant calmly grazing.
Polonnaruwa Museum
takes us about an hour to get to Polonnaruwa which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. From the 11th-13th century it was Sri Lanka’s second capitol (after the 1st, Anuradhapura, was destroyed in 993 AD). It was the ancient capital for both the Sinhalese and Chola Kingdoms.
Our first stop is the museum where we get some knowledge of the history and we can see reproductions of some of the main buildings during their glory days.
The setting around the museum is so lovely. There are tons of monkeys all over the place. I get a chuckle at one little guy sitting on a swing.
King Parakramabahu Statue
Our first stop after the museum is the King Parakramabahu Statue (1100s AD).
In and Around the Ancient City
We continue and check out the Council Chamber, Royal Pool, the impressive royal palace, monasteries, temples and so much more. We need to take our shoes off in to enter most of the places.
Original Temple of the Sacred Tooth
We visit the Dalada Maluva where the Sacred Tooth of Buddha was originally enshrined. Some of the carvings are very intact, almost as if they were made this century.
There are so many buildings, statues, ponds and structures to see in the ancient city. You can almost visualize it’s original grandeur. The entire site would take 1.5 days to see but we are just seeing the highlights over 3 hours.
Thivanka Image House
One of my favorite buildings is the Thivanka Image House. It is so well preserved for its age. Some of the wall murals inside are still clear. There are some wonderful engravings on the outside. I find many of these buildings have similarities to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I smile at the “Welcome” mat someone placed at the entrance of one temple.
The weather is hot and very humid. It is sunny one minute, sprinkling rain the next and back to sunny. John is still a bit tired but doing well.
Lunch with a View
We ask Mellawa to take us to a restaurant where John can get some very bland food. Mellawa knows of a family run place with a beautiful view where we have boiled chicken, whole grain rice, vegetables, buffalo curd and fruit for under $10 each.
Rest of the Day
We return to Yashi’s Place where we rest up before walking to the small village of Sigiriya. We check out the beautiful view of Lion’s Rock (also known as Sigiriya Rock).
There is a fortress at the top of the rock that John has been really looking forward to seeing. To get there you need to climb more than 1,250 steps.
I have been looking forward to this part of the trip as much as I would look forward to stabbing my eyeball 1,250 times with a sharp pencil.
John informs me that he doesn’t think he is well enough to do it tomorrow morning. As the loving wife that I am, I give up the opportunity to experience this in order to stay back and take care of my husband.
We head to a local restaurant for supper. As we walk back after dark down an unlit road, I look up into one of the trees and it is filled with tiny lights blinking on and off. Fireflies! How wonderful.
Little frogs and chirping geckos serenade us for the rest of the walk.
