National Parks and The Ancient Cities

Sunday 29^th March 2015

I had to wake up at 4.30am this morning to makes sure that I was packed and ready to go on safari at 5am (packed so I could just come back and grab my bag and leave) I slept really badly constantly waking up after just 20 or 30mins of sleep and when my alarm actually went off I struggled to wake up.

I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed and at 4.55am just as I was opening my door to go out the safari guide was knocking on the door to let me know he was there. I walked out to the jeep expecting to see the three German girls I was told were staying at the guesthouse and joining me on the safari but the guide told me I was the only one from that accommodation and that we were picking up someone else along the way.

We drove into town to a tea shop and had a cup of tea while we waited for the next girl, it turns out she slept in and we ended up waiting over 20mins for her to arrive. While we were waiting I reminded them that I needed a vegetarian breakfast which was lucky as they hadn’t even been told I had breakfast included and had I not said anything I would have had a hungry morning!

Finally we got moving but we still had to pick up one more girl her guesthouse was just 2km from Yala but she had been told to be ready for 5am, we turned up at 5.45am the drive there was hectic the driver went so fast and up in the open jeep all manner of things came flying at us at high speed and we could barely see.

Before we even made it into the park we saw several spotted deer running across the road pausing to give us a once over before scampering away.

Once everyone was in the jeep we drove into the park we had to stop at the office to pick up our park permits but once that was done we piled back into the jeep and headed on our way. We went through the park gates where the park ranger checked our tickets and waved us through at this point we were still hurtling along but now we were on a dirt road and breathing became impossible.

Pretty soon we had caught up to several other jeeps. Annoyingly the park seemed full of trucks but each only had two or three people in them some had only one person which seems a bit stupid except from the point of view of more drivers more money and since I had heard that most of the jeep drivers in the park are unlicensed I guess it makes sense that all they care about is money. But if the jeeps were full there would be less of them at each sighting making it easier to see the animals and also from an environmental point of view less jeeps would mean less impact on the park. But I digress.

Our first sighting was a crocodile basking in the early morning sunlight between two small lakes followed by another one swimming just a short while later. We turned off the main road onto a smaller dirt track and ended up in a traffic jam of jeeps. Our guide spoke to some of the other drivers who said a sloth bear had crossed the road in front of a truck and now everyone was sitting around for a look. I didn’t think we had a chance but as we waited for each jeep to take a look and move on we were rewarded by a spectacular view of the bear rummaging in the bushes right next to our truck.

We drove off as he went on his way snuffling off into the bushes seemingly undisturbed by the hordes of people craning their necks for a view of him. Not too far along the road we came to another traffic jam across a small lake a leopard was lounging in a tree. We all clamoured up on top of the truck for a good view but before we could locate him he had slinked down the tree and disappeared into the greenery.

It was quite a disappointment but it didn’t last long as soon we came across another one this time just chilling in the shade in a clearing to the side of the road as we watched he quietly got up and stalked away lazily into the bush disappearing with a flick of his beautiful tail.

We drove about the park bumping our way along. It seemed our driver had two speeds insanely fast or granny crawl. The truck seemed to lack any sort of suspension and more than once I was thrown off my seat when we hit a particularly large pot hole.

As well as the more notable animals during the course of the morning we saw loads of birds as well as monitor lizards lounging in a tree and also sauntering across the road. And of course there was water buffalo and wild pigs around every corner.

About 8.30am we got to the beach where we could get out and stretch our legs and have some breakfast. I was glad that I had mentioned food the other girls hadn’t been so lucky but thankfully there was quite a bit of food in my little picnic and so we shared.

After eating we continued on our way, we hadn’t seen any animals for a while but came around a corner to see a huge elephant cooling itself down in a lake. It was quite far away and the road that would get us closer was very damaged so unfortunately we only got a long distance view.

Thankfully after the two very busy sightings of the bear and the leopard the jeeps seemed to get further away from each other and so it was only occasionally that we would bump into someone else.

As we were bumping along we saw a baby rabbit on the side of the road it stayed so still and I wasn’t sure if it was frozen in fright or truly not bothered by us either way it didn’t move until we drove off even when a giant monitor lizard cruised by it.

As we drove out of the park gates we saw a jackal in the bushes and then another one darted out as well looking to the other side of the road there was a group of them fighting dogs for something dead that they all seemed to want to eat. They weren’t close enough to get a good look at whatever it was.

We finished our safari around 11.45am stopping just to use the bathroom at the entrance and take a look at the creepy museum of stuffed dead animals and elephant tusks. Amongst the creepy collection was the skin of a female leopard who was hit by a bus on the main road whilst pregnant they had skinned her and pickled the little leopard cub foetuses all three sat in proud display in jars.

The below is the Animal count for the day

A sloth bear

A leopard

Two crocodiles

Heaps of jackals

A load of mongoose

A baby rabbit

Five monitor lizards

Sambour deer

Spotted deer

Wild pigs

Water buffalo

Several troops of different kinds of monkeys

An elephant

Numerous birds including

Painted stalks

Grey heron

Little bee eaters

Weaver birds (which the guide called beaver birds it was very cute)

Green parrots

 Beautiful view of a lake and our driver and guide

 The girls and I. and the truck and I

 Sunrise with a truck ahead of us

The ripple in the water is the second croc we saw.

 Beautiful sloth bear

 a watering hole and then some buffalo in the mud.

Me and the guides.

Back in town I checked out the route to Polonaruwa as it was a Sunday there were no direct buses but at the bus station I was told I could get there by taking four buses. The direct bus took eight hours and I managed to get there on four buses in ten hours so I felt it was a success.

I first had to go to Thanamalwilla which was about an hour away I travelled to there with one of the girls on the safari and we shared a bag of samosas. The bus driver went almost painfully slow and stopped very often. Despite this the bus was almost empty I guess a perk of travelling on a Sunday.

Next bus was to Wallawaya this bus ride again only took about an hour but I had to wait at the bus stand in Thanamalwilla for about 40mins before it left.

When I arrived in Wallawaya it was 3pm and I needed to go onwards to Monaragala there was a bus there waiting to leave but I hesitated when a man told me I wouldn’t be able to get an onwards bus nor would I find a place to stay and that from Monaragala it would take seven hours to Polonaruwa but from Wallawaya it would take four looking at the map Monaragala was east rather than the north I needed to head which made me unsure. He tried to get me to go with him to his friend’s guesthouse which he didn’t know the name of and got weirdly verbally aggressive when I hesitated to go with him which made up my mind and I told him to get fucked.

A samosa man told me the Jaffna bus from Monaragala would stop in Polonaruwa and that I could aim for that or stop the night in Monaragala and continue the four hours onwards in the morning. The bus was about to leave so I got on board and headed to Monaragala an hour away.

When I arrived there the Jaffna bus was leaving in 15mins I decided to just push on and get there in one go. Pretty soon the bus was filing up and I ended up next to a very drunk man with a mouthful of alcohol stinking paan who kept staring at my boobs and attempting to communicate with me despite not knowing any English except “hello good morning”

When he got off after an hour or so he was replaced by a friendly fat man who smelt quite a bit like poo I’m still not sure which one was worse.

Before the bus left town the driver stopped at a Hindu shrine and the ticket guy jumped out and lit incense and said a prayer he repeated this ritual at every Hindu shrine we passed which I thought was wonderful he was obviously praying for a safe and happy journey.

We got into Polonaruwa about 10.30pm I had no idea where I was going to stay other than trying to find something in the lonely planet I was standing on the side of the road when I was approached by Raja a rickshaw driver I was wary of him but to tired not to check out “his friends hotel” something I would normally never do. It turned out well the place was decent and after a shower I was tucked up in a huge bed out to the world.

 Monday 30^th March 2015

I slept pretty solidly through until about 7am when I woke up needing to pee I couldn’t ignore it and when I got back into bed I was wide awake. I read my book for a while and then fell back asleep to woke up shortly after 10am

I had been told that breakfast was included at the guesthouse but it was a struggle communicate anything. There was no menu and the only dude about spoke no English. In the end he rang someone and I told him what I wanted. About 10mins later a guy arrived and asked me what I wanted for breakfast I told him I had already told the person on the phone he was confused I was confused and about 45mins after the first conversation happened a huge spread of curry and rice arrived. I was enjoying it until I got a mouthful of fish in a previously untasted curry it seemed they had served me fish curry with the fish picked out and had missed a bit. As usual they failed to see why this was a problem for me. After that fishy mouthful all I could taste was fish and I soon gave up on eating any more.

I hired a bike from the guesthouse and borrowed a guide to the ancient ruins. First stop was the museum to buy the entrance ticket which was a whopping 3250 LKR I had a quick look through the museum but couldn’t focus on all the reading so just looked at the pictures and artefacts.

Leaving the museum on my bike I climbed up a steep incline to see the lake and took a few pictures, while I was there I bumped into my rickshaw driver friend Raja who pointed me in the direction of some lesser seen ruins the cycle there was beautiful, along the lake in the brilliant sunshine. Only dampened by the oncoming traffic repeatedly almost running me off the road.

I parked my bike up in the shade I had asked if I needed a lock at the guesthouse but the owner seemed to think it was fine there was a bunch of touts at the entrance and I had this rather cynical thought that they might steal my bike and try to sell it back to me!

I walked up the path to a statue carved into the rock some say it’s a king others a Brahmin sage either way it’s pretty well preserved and stares intensely down at whoever is looking at it. The other ruins here are thought to have been a library.

Back on my bike I headed to the main entrance. I showed the dude my entrance ticket and shrugged off all the guides that seemed intent on attaching themselves to me. I asked the gateman which was the best way to go and he told me to turn right start at the bottom and make my way to the top.

I made my way slowly through all the sights at each I parked my bike under a tree and stored my jandals in a shady place (the sights are sacred and as such all hats and footwear is removed) I learnt my lesson after leaving my flip flops in the sun and having them practically melt onto my feet! I tried to explore as many of the nooks and crannies as I could, the guy at my guesthouse had loaned me a guide to the ruins which was helpful for knowing what everything was.

After a few sights I stopped for a cold drink and some shade. The touts here are making a killing by overpricing everything ridiculously and I was annoyed at myself for not picking up water before I went in.

Feeling rested I continued on my merry way. I had read that cycling was the best way to see all the ruins but most people were in cars or tuk tuks maybe the heat put them off? It took me around five hours to see everything my favourite part was the Buddha’s right near the end which are beautifully carved and in excellent condition.

I slowly cycled back through the sites to the entrance gate and then to town to see what was on offer there. (Not much) I stopped at the supermarket for some water and a popsicle and then headed back to the guesthouse to watch the sunset over the rice paddies behind. I got absolutely abused my mozzies and the Wi-Fi wasn’t working (someone told me because it was the funeral of the president’s brother but that seems hardly likely)

I sat and read and planned my last week in Sri Lanka thanks to some insane travelling the last few days I can fit in more than I expected and am pretty happy about that.

I spent the evening chatting to a couple of German girls in the guesthouse and trying to fill up on peanuts as I have decided to do another safari tomorrow and as such can no longer afford to eat…

 A dog asleep in the ruins of the library.

 Buddha and a Stupa 

My trusty blue bicycle

No Cowboys allowed...

beautiful stone Buddha

Tuesday 31^st March 2015

This morning I was up early despite not needing to be and needing the sleep. I got up and had a long breakfast reading my book and chatting to other guests.

About 9.30am I got myself ready to go out and took a bicycle to see some of the ruins I missed yesterday technically I wasn’t supposed to go in as my ticket was only valid for one day but there was no one to check and the dude at the guesthouse said to just do it. I followed his directions but couldn’t find the entrance.

I gave up and cycled along the lake for a while taking a seat in the shade to relax until a bunch of young girls all came along wanting a picture. I obliged but didn’t stick around long after that as I could see a bunch more coming!

Back on my bike I cycled through town past the market day that was going on, I went slowly so I could see what was on offer but it wasn’t anything interesting just normal day to day things and clothes.

I turned around and started back for the guesthouse passing the supermarket for more water and then taking a winding explore of the rice fields. On the way back I bumped into thee guesthouse owner buzzing about in his rickshaw (I’m pretty sure he just drives about looking for tourists for his guesthouse) he asked if I found the ruins and I said no so he said to follow him. It was a sweaty 10mins trying to keep up with his rickshaw especially when going uphill.

We got to the entrance of the ruins and he pointed me in the right direction. I walked through and stopped to take a few photos of a spectacular stone lion. The path led right through and onto the road on the other side so I walked my bike along luckily I was paying attention as in the distance was a security guard checking tickets! Before he noticed me I had turned around and walked back out the way I came.

I almost got a fine for looking at this bad boy without a ticket!

I headed back to the guesthouse to relax for an hour or so before getting picked up for another safari at Hurulu Eco Park. I had never heard of it, it’s not in my lonely planet or on any of my maps but apparently at this time of year it’s the place to be for elephants. I was sceptical when the guesthouse owner told me about it but after a quick google search it seems pretty promising.

Two other guests from the accommodation joined me on the safari the jeep picked us up and we rode for about an hour to get to the park entrance. Before we even got to the park we saw an elephant on the side of the road eating mangos from a box and a bunch of deer in the bushes timidly eating the grass. At the entrance we paid for our tickets and took down the roof cover for the jeep so we could stand up to see the animals.

The road was pretty wrecked but1 luckily it was mostly dry (there were a few points I thought we were going to get stuck in the mud!) we hadn’t been driving long when we came upon our first herd of elephants including a tiny baby one that our guide estimated was only about four months old. From where we were we had a pretty good view but there were some jeeps that went off road to get even closer which I wasn’t happy with

During the two and a bit hours we were in the park we saw far more elephants than I could count and tons of pretty birds. We stopped each time we found a herd and watched until they would saunter away into the bush signalling that they had been ogled enough. At one herd a young bull appeared behind us and as we slowly drove away he followed us for a bit seemingly amused.

In the middle of the park was a viewing platform high up on a rock we walked up and then went even further up onto the platform for a stunning 360 degree view of the park which stretched for miles in every direction it was absolutely beautiful.

We left the park at a different entrance to where we came in and started the drive back to town. This time we took the scenic route through rice paddy fields and past lakes full of birds it still took about an hour to get back to the guesthouse where they dropped us off and I chilled for a while before dinner.

Dinner was a feast of vegetable rice and curry which I ate at my table for one before having a somewhat early night.

Just a few of the amazing graceful elephants we saw. the last picture is the dude who followed our truck.

Me at the view point.

Ganesh temple we past on the way home.

Wednesday 1^st April 2015

I got up early and packed my bags ready for my three hour bus ride to Anuradhapura I checked out (and argued about the price since I was told breakfast was included but it wasn’t) the owner offered to drive me to the bus stop in his rickshaw and I asked if I could drive and he said yes it was only down the road but I whizzed there as fast as conditions would allow. I don’t think he thought I’d get out the gate and he was hanging on for life in the back seat.

I had just missed a bus but they came by every 20ins so it wasn’t long before I was aboard and bound for Anuradhapura the ride was pretty and along the way there were loads of monkeys and deer to be seen.

When I got to the bus station I was picked up by a friend of the guesthouse owner in Polonaruwa who I had organised to stay with in his guesthouse I went inside to check the place out which was pretty twee but would do for a night.

I sat in the garden to take a moments rest and to see what I wanted to see in town. Anuradhapura is full of ruins but as they are super expensive and I had already seen the ones in Polonaruwa I decided to skip them and just check out a few of the sights.

While I was sitting reading up on sights an Australian guy arrived and we decided to go to Mihintale together which is a town about 13km away which has ruins and a huge stupa and a Buddha on a hill. The hill is the birthplace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The guesthouse guy tried to tell us we wouldn’t be able to get back as the buses finished at 5pm but it seemed that was just a lie to get us to take his friends tuk tuk as when we got there (by bus) we were told the last bus was 7.30pm so we had plenty of time.

The bus ride was pretty nice we got vegetable roti’s which we ate on the way and I chatted to a little girl who was sitting in front of me who asked me just about every question she could think of during the 20miin ride. I also watched the hilarious music videos they had playing including one where this guy date raped a girl and then she ended up marrying him (and not the other dude she was really in love with) and on the wedding night committed suicide by drinking poison it was all very dramatic

When we got to Mihintale we made our way to the entrance we went around about way as it wasn’t signposted. It was a good walk up the first set of steps and on the first landing we deviated off the path up another long thin flight of steps to the ruins of a stupa. On the way up my trusty jandals kicked it and I was forced to walk around barefoot for the rest of the day.

At the stupa a hilariously high pitched man attached himself to us as a guide we let him show us around the stupa and the caves behind where in the days the sight was a monastery the monks would meditate in the mornings.

We tipped the guide for showing us the caves and then headed back down the stairs to re-join the main stairs and head up to the top. At the top we had to pay an entrance fee but it was only 500 LKR which seems reasonable. While we were buying tickets we saw a huge squirrel like the one I saw at Sigiriya but it moved too fast to get a picture.

We started off by going straight to the top which was up the great staircase (1840 steps) at the top we had to take off our shoes (mine were already off) before we could go in. at the top of the hill is a limestone stupa surrounded by stone columns which would have originally held up a wooden roof to stop the rain. There are also a few Bodhi trees and plenty of collection boxes

From the hill there are three things to climb up and see first is a lookout point on top of a rock which had steps cut straight into the stone these days there are railings in place and I can’t imagine climbing up there without something to hold onto (read something to stop me falling off!)

We climbed up there first to take in the view and get some pictures then clamoured down which was harder than going up. Next we climbed up to the Buddha which is a recent addition and is only about 30 years old. He was getting repairs on his hand the craftsmen were moulding it straight out of cement which was impressive to watch we headed back down avoiding playful monkeys.

The third thing to see is another stupa but this one is huge on the way up to it is a pond with turtles and fish and also a bizarre model of Buddha sitting under a tree surrounded by a bunch of monks it seemed this was also a rather elaborate collection box. The stupa on the hill is also a modern addition although I’m not sure of its age behind it is the smaller original stupa but it is in a state of ruin.

Once the temple complex was explored we headed back down. We walked down the back of the hill which would have been an easier (but longer) walk as it was a gently inclining ramp heading up to the second car park. 

We got back to the road and passed some people doing a puja at a ruin surrounded by monkeys who seemed to be watching but I’m sure were actually just waiting for food.

Our high pitched guide and I meditating in the monk caves

1840 steps to the top

statue of the King when Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka

Up on the view point

The view

the rock view point if you look closely you can see people of the stairs

the monkeys at the Puja

We got to the main road and it wasn’t long before we were on a bus back to Anuradhapura. At the bus station we got down and saw that the sky was black with rain clouds and the approaching night. 

We decided to walk to the Sri Maha Bodhi tree which is said to be the oldest historically authenticated tree in the world. It is said to have been grown from a cutting brought from India and has been tended by guardians for over 2000 years.

We started to walk and were about 1km away when the sky opened up and we were soaked. We didn’t let that put us off though and sheltered under a tree in the dark (the sun had set by this time) and waited for a rickshaw to go past. We managed to wrangle a deal that he take us there wait and then take us to our guesthouse.

At the Bodhi tree there was a festival going on so the complex was full of devotees all in white praying while a prayer was chanted over the speakers. It was quite a magical feeling even though you couldn’t get a good view of the tree as it’s surrounded by a high wall with just its branches climbing above.

Sri Maha Bodi lit up at night

the Moonstone at the Sri Maha Bodi Temple

We took a walk around and then headed back to the rickshaw where the driver agreed to take us to somewhere for dinner close by to our hotel. It seemed there are no pure veg restaurants in town but we found a rice and curry house where we could point out what we wanted.

After dinner we walked back by this time it was after 8pm and I sat down to read but was swarmed by mozzies so showered and retreated beneath my mozzie net.