Ancient Ruins (Polonnaruwa ~ Sri Lanka)

January 2020

From Kandy we headed north to Polonnaruwa. Did the 146 kilometer (four hours) journey by local bus and definitely paid the local rate as we got a ticket.

FYI - 197 Rupees is about $1.70

Abut 800 years ago Polonnaruwa was the thriving commercial and religious center of Sri Lanka and the place Kings ruled from. Today it is a very quiet town with some amazing ruins. We are now closer to the east coast and back at sea level and the weather is very hot and humid.

First night there we went out for a bit of a walk in search of a hotel that served cold beer, on the way picked up a couple of samosas as a snack to have with the cold beer. Forgot that monkeys know that small plastic bags carried by people contain food. Was mugged by a small pack of monkeys and lost one of the samosas. But did find a nice spot for a cold beer and the remaining samosa.

Next day we hired bikes and spent the bulk of the day cycling round the amazing ruins of the ancient city, they are spread out over a large area, and so we  sweated profusely.

We stayed in a small guest house set on the edge of some paddy fields where Black Ibis's and the like foraged.

One of the advantages of staying in local guesthouses is that the food is all home cooked and not toned down for the tourist taste. The curry and rice we had for dinner was superb, chicken curry with 3 or 4 vegetable curry side dishes.. Strictly speaking these guest houses aren't allowed to server alcohol (as a liquor license is required which is very expensive) so your bill at then end of the day will include thinks like "Special Mixed Fruit Drink".

From here we head to one of the most touristed spots in Sri Lanka - Sigiriya.