Janet's Journal

On the night of Halloween, I returned to Sri Lanka, this time with a friend. It was her first visit to the island, and I had put together what I hoped would be a good beginner’s tour.

We drove straight to Palugaswewa, near Habarana, for a two night stay exploring some of the Cultural Triangle.

The ancient city of Anuradhapura, the City of Monks, was first on the itinerary. An awesome city of giant stupas, temples and ruined palaces. In the beautiful Isurumuniya Vihara we received a blessing from a monk.

After a rest we went on to Mihintale, believed to be the site where the Buddhist monk, Mahindra, first met King Devanampiyatissa and brought Buddhism to the island.

We climbed up the rock to the stupa at the summit, and stunning views of central Sri Lanka.

Departing from Palugaswewa next day our first stop was Sigiriya, true to my previous promise I stayed in the relative cool at the bottom while my friend climbed solo.

The Golden Temple and rock caves at Dambulla were next – another rock to climb! A UNESCO World Heritage site, the series of rock cave paintings are over 2,000 years old.

A day of sightseeing in Kandy, included Ranawana Royal Temple at Pilimathalaw;, Bahiravokanda Vihara,the huge white seated Buddha overlooking Kandy; the Temple of the Tooth and Kandy Lake. We finished the day watching a Cultural Show of traditional Kandy drummers and dances.

We had managed to get tickets (with difficulty) for the Blue Train to Diyatalawa. A nice relaxing journey with only the train doing the climbing. Two nights stay enabled my friend to see the sights of Ella. I did climb Little Adam’s Peak with her through the rain and mist!

Then we were off to Tissamaharama for a relaxing swim in the hotel pool and an early night. The next morning we would be leaving soon after 5.00 to be at the entrance to Yala National Park when it opened.

Leopards were again elusive, but we did manage a rare sighting of a sloth bear.

A short drive away is Kirinda. A beautiful 2nd century temple sits at the top of a rock with views across the south coast and sea.

Galle was our last destination. Staying inside the walls of the old Fort meant we could stroll around the old town easily at our leisure, including the obligatory photo stop at the lighthouse.

Our ten day tour finished today with a leisurely drive up the west coast with stops at the Ambalangoda Mask Museum and the Turtle Hatchery at Kosgoda. Then it was dinner on the outskirts of Colombo before taking my friend to the airport for her overnight flight back to UK.

I returned to Kandy with Tharindu to plan my next two weeks.