We've just finished our whirlwind tour of the cultural triangle in Sri Lanka. We figured we would spend more time in this area, but the transportation was easy, and the short distances made seeing everything go twice as fast as we expected.

After arriving in Sri Lanka, we almost immediately made our way to Anuadhapura. We rented bikes from our guesthouse and spent the next day cycling around the ancient temples. After seeing Angkor Wat just a few weeks ago, it really didn't compare, but we really enjoyed the large white dagoba. The pictures just don't do it justice!

Another thing we enjoyed were the monkeys! They were much different than the monkeys in Bukit Lawang, Indonesia. These had black faces and sat like humans. They also seemed more friendly.

The next day, we went to Sigiriya, home to the large rock with an ancient monastery on top. I thought the hike to the top would be more challenging, but there were lots of frescos and such to see on the way up. The view from the top was incredible, and we had lots of fun seeing the old ruins. Again, the pictures don't do it justice as to how far we could see and how big the rock was. I think we heard the summit was over 1 hectacre, however big that is.

That same afternoon, we booked a safari to Kadulla National Park with two Russians who were staying at the same guesthouse. In the two hours we were in the park, we estimate we saw about 200-250 elephants in their natural habitat. The park is quite large, so it felt like we had it all to ourselves. Just as we were about to leave, a huge downpour started and I was just glad we'd gotten to see so many elephants while it was nice weather.

These last few days we've been in Kandy, but haven't done much here yet other than soak up the atmosphere and walk around the lake. We've bumped into a few people surprisingly: the two Russians from our Safari, as well as a Chinese couple we sat next to on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo (but we'd actually already seen them in Anuradhapura!).

Our plan for our last 6 days here is to go to Ella, also in the hill country, by train, which should be very scenic. After that, we'll hit up some beaches, probably in the south. So far, this country has exceeded both our expectations and we're also loving the food! Continuing to shed our extra Korean weight though, so it's about time to invest in some belts for the both of us! :)