The 5 hour train journey took us northeast of Negombo to Anuradhapura, an ancient Buddhist city and UNESCO world heritage site. The journey was pretty uncomfortable, the train seats were as hard as concrete and were covered in plastic which ensured we sweated profusely. We were accompanied by an extended family of cockroaches, who were charming and largely kept themselves to themselves, with one exception when a small one climbed up Jan's trouser leg and gave her a tickle. But we were pretty much on time and we got there safely and all for £2.50. The scenery was lush, initially much of the farmland looked flooded, however the further north we went, the drier it became. Much of the crop is rice and the immaculate paddy fields were host to buffalo, huge lizards and numerous species of birds including storks, peacocks and cranes.
As we pulled in to the station a gentleman came over to us to tell us it was our stop, if we were staying near the New Town and offered to help us with our bags. We thanked him but declined his help and once on the platform his sales pitch began. He ran a homestay and for a reasonable price we could come a live with him and his family for a few days. This was the first time we'd not reserved anywhere to stay but we knew which hotel we were going to go to. We again decline his offer and tried to find a tuktuk.
There were a few rickshaws lined up outside the station and as we approached the 'homestay guy' pops up next to us again. Now he's a rickshaw driver and will take us to the hotel for Rs 150. We scoff and tell him that's way too expensive (we have no idea in reality) and say it should only be about Rs 100. He says no. We ask him where the nearest supermarket is and fortunately it's just at the top of the road. We need some basic provisions and head toward it. As we near the shop, another tuktuk driver pulls up along side us and says that once we're finished in the shop, he'll take us to the hotel for Rs 100. Sorted.
As we're wandering round the store, I feel a presence at my shoulder, it's 'homestay guy' again. He too will take us to the hotel for Rs 100. I asked him if he was going to follow us around the entire shop, he said no but shuffled along next to us as we looked for suncream. He asked "where's madam from?", "Go and ask her yourself" I replied, I was getting a bit tired of him.
We got our shopping and went to the tuktuk. The homestay guy was there and said if we squeeze up he can fit in too. I don't think so.
Jan and I got to the hotel and after a bit of haggling over price and how we pay, we got to our mosquito infested room. Fortunately we have mozzie coils and after a bit of mosquito tennis (we won 16 love) we lit a coil to clear up the rest. We later found out that Anuradhapura is the Malaria and Dengue fever capital of Sri Lanka.
The local area had very little to offer us, there were no restaurants, not even any tea shops where we could buy samosas or hoppers. Back to hotel food again.
The hotel had just 2 options available veg rice or veg noodles. We had one of each and to be fair, they tasted ok but lack of choice always makes us feel like we're having our liberty taken away and things become less enjoyable.
The next day we arranged for the tuktuk driver to take us round the ancient sites, en route the driver says that as the UNESCO site tickets are really expensive (USD25 each) he could sneak us in to the monuments for free but we would have to pay him a bit more. We had read about this and we'd already agreed our position. I pulled out my soapbox and began our co-written speech about how redirecting money from UNESCO would lead to the ruin of the site and that people would stop visiting and local people would lose jobs blah blah blah. The tuktuk driver just laughed as I'm sure he'd heard it all before.
50 dollars paid and our first stop was an enormous Buddhist dagoba which is contains Buddha's belt. The huge bell shaped structure held us in awe. Over a couple of thousand years, the ancient red bricks have shifted slightly giving the monument the look of an over worked piece on a potters wheel.
We climbed the stairs to the entrance, on each step more and more of the stupa came into view. At the top we had to lean backwards to see its peak.
At the front of the dagoba there is a entrance that leads to a disappointingly small (in comparison to the dome) but extremely beautiful place of worship. The ten metre reclining Buddha statue stretches out in front of numerous larger-than-life statues of disciples and Hindu gods. Surrounding the reclining Buddha were numerous other statues of Buddha in different seated positions each one intricately carved. The ceiling is painted brightly with images of flowers and birds and the walls were covered in equally bright murals depicting beings looking on in wonder. We were the only two people here and it felt very peaceful in the silence.
Our next stop was theTwin ponds (two ornate pools positioned end to end that the ancient queen used to bathe in) and then on to Jetavana stupa. This dagoba is even bigger than the first at 400ft tall. It is currently under going a full restoration and was covered in scaffolding but we could still make out the enormity of it. This stupa was very busy. As we approached there were large numbers of Buddhists and tourists coming and going, around the trees the langur monkeys chased the dogs and the chickens and played in the trees just a couple of feet above us. Monitor lizards three feet in length ambled around looking for scraps to feast on. We were so engrossed in the animals that we all but forgot about the dagoba. Again we walked up the steps and at the top the hussle of people seemed to be far greater. I went in and almost immediately stepped bare foot into a puddle of something. I was hoping it was just water. The room was very similar to that of the first stupa we visited, maybe a bit larger and there were many people praying in here, on their knees and foreheads on the floor. We still feel like we are intruding on something very personal in these situations and so I exited after only a cursory look round. Jan decided not to go in, the intrusion into their prayers was too much for her.
Another pond next, the Elephant pond so called because its big...
This was where the 1500 monks from the opposite temple came to bathe. It's 150 metres in length and 50 metres wide. The water is now luminous green with algae which only enhances the aesthetics of the place.
Next to the Moonstone. Moonstones are an important characteristic of the temples in Anuradhapura. They are semi circular stones that represent a Buddhist's journey from the secular to the sacred. The moonstone we saw here was particularly old, large and intricately made. A local old boy kindly explained the meanings of the carved rings. Fire - turbulent life, elephant, bull, lion - learning from experience, Creeper - a persons manipulation of others or situations for personal gain, Small fire - less turbulence , Elephant, bull and lion - learning from experience, Small creeper - less manipulative, and at the centre is the sun - Nirvana.
Isurumuniya was our next stop. The temple was built into and on top of an outcrop of 4 or 5 huge rocks in 250 to 210 B.C. We walked around the temple and climbed the steep and narrow stone steps leading to the top of the rocks. The view of the surrounding area was well worth the short climb. Wilderness stretched out in all directions with the tops of some of the giant dagobas visible among the dense jungle.
Back on the ground and we walked around the base of the rocks. By the entrance to the temple is a shallow cave. The cave opening is full with bats, every nook, every crag is covered with bats. The smell is indescribable other than to say it was the worst thing I've smelled in my life. The Bat-cave can't possibly be real as Batman would spend the entire time gagging.
The temple houses another reclining Buddha and on the walls there are 17 scenes showing Buddhism being brought to Sri Lanka.
During the day, we also saw the Brazen palace/lovamahapaya which has 1600 pillars that once upon a time supported a 9 storey structure and used to have a copper roof (hence the name). The monks that lived there were responsible for the protection of the Bodhi tree.
The Bodhi tree (Bo tree) temple houses the worlds oldest tree at 2000 years old. It is said to have been grown from a cutting of the tree where Buddha gained enlightenment. It is Sri Lanka's second most sacred place after the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.
Our final stop was at Ruwanwelisaya a fully restored white dagoba, it is the largest in volume of the dagobas in Sri Lanka and is the centre of Buddhist worship. We stood on the path with the temple ahead of us and it was one of those moments that left us temporarily speechless. The enormity and beauty of the building finally prompted me to say "We're actually here, seeing this" the scale is staggering and by the time we'd finished walking around the burning hot circumference of the stupa, we were literally staggering.
We returned to the hotel and zonked out. We had the same options for dinner, veg rice and veg noodles (yawn).
We were catching a 7am bus the next day to Trincomalee and an early night would do us no harm.