Polonnaruwa

Another day on Lasantha's tuktuk, this time we were heading to the Sacred City of Polonnaruwa. One of the ancient cities in Sri Lanka and part of the cultural triangle, Polonnaruwa was made out off various structures from different time periods. A lot of them were now ruins but some were still pretty well preserved. I planned to use a bike here and go to the pre-planned places. A lot of them were just names for me and only upon arriving at the actual destination was I able to appreciate. There were some kind and curious people offering me drinks and saying hello and the occasional vendors to wish I had actually purchased one of them elephant carvings as they were selling it for dirt cheap. Most of the spots seemed pretty okay for me, some were quite unique in terms of scale and architecture such as the Dalada Maluva. It had a dome like structure in the middle housing a Buddha statue. Both Pabalu Vehera and Menik Vehera had the giant brown stupas with Rankoth Vehera being the largest one. I remember circling the entire are barefoot. I picked up some clay plates that I put into one of the chambers housing Buddha. It had several of these chambers around and it looked like it wasn't that well-maintained so I took it upon myself to at least fix or put up some Buddha idols that had fallen over or were hidden behind objects. Alahana Pirivena, housed an impressive giant statue that towered over the rest of the ruins. I went to the Lotus Pond next, passing by Gal Viharaya which was where I was supposed to meet Lasantha. The Lotus Pond had a peculiar shape so I really wanted to get a shot of it meanwhile, the last push towards the Thivanka Image House was draining me after biking the whole day but I made it and for me, the Image House had the best preserved sculptures and carvings around its walls, the inside housed a lot of bats which was pretty neat too. I then went to Gal Viharaya to see the carved Buddhas and was finally ready to go back to rest since I was going to the Eco-Park with Sanji after.

On the way back, Lasantha was trying to convince me to go for a Sri Lankan Ayurvedic massage and there was a lot of back and forth and I searched for several other candidates but he seemed quite adamant about me taking that one, probably since he will be getting his commission. The massage sounded pretty good though and it was perfect after so much traveling. On the way back, we also saw an elephant crossing the road. It was such a delight to see and it was the same for the Sri Lankans as they all got out of their cars all excited like as the majestic beast passed by. Back at the homestay, I finally got to try kottu after requesting it and also caved in to Lasantha's massage recommendation after a hefty discount though it was still very expensive for my taste but hey, I'm only here once so might as well go for it.Read more