A Look into Spectacular Ancient City Of Anuradhapura Sri Lanka

Leaving Sigiriya
We left our Sigiriya hotel at check out time to make the one and a half hour journey to Anuradhapura, a vast area of religious ruins and artefacts stretching over 35 miles. I will never understand Róisín’s fascination with old temples and monasteries, I can safely say they wouldn’t be on my bucket list. But there you go we are back to the hijacking of Róisín’s trip so I will do as I am told. We had organised our driver through a tuk tuk driver we had met the previous evening. He assured us that his boss had a beautiful car, air-conditioned and good price was agreed. It was a lovely car no doubt but I got the distinct impression that this was the bosses son and he was filling in because his father had another engagement but didn't want to lose the fare.

He seemed just about legal age to drive and for what ever reason the boss couldn’t be there this young lad was bent on making an impression and not with us but with his father/boss. We were just in the car when he started taking pictures of us. When asked he said he had been told to do so by his boss. I was feeling generous that day so didn't charge for the promo pictures, just hope my agent doesn’t find out! It was a pleasant enough drive and the time passed quickly. When we eventually arrived to our accommodation I was a little surprised to find it down an alleyway on a back street. It was as if a series of chalets, all in a row, were built in the back garden of someone's house. As we drove along we are looking into the rear of every other residence which at home would be dodgy but here it's what I have gotten used to as normal. The driver turns into the lane way of the house and the first little chalet of five has been assigned to Róisín and myself. This wasn’t five or four star that level of qualification didn't exist in this location. But I was happy to stay as it had the all important cleanliness badge which is the one thing I look for regardless of star rating. We waved our driver off and entered our little room and my god it was clean. The entire room was white. Brilliant, glaring, reflective, white. it was like something from a horror movie where the asylum is snowy, featureless white, and the patients shuffle around in slippers walking into and talking to walls. The ultra white bedroom led into the ultra white bathroom. I would swear that after each residency the owners just repaint the entire room. Anyway we are here for a few days and although the room gave me the heebie jeebies I really couldn’t complain that the place was too clean.

Anuradhapura Town
We organised a tour for the next morning to start at 8:30 pm. Anuradhapura is a town that sits in the middle of the ancient capital of Sri Lanka. Established in the 5th century BCE. That’s the history and you would seriously want to be an archeologist or aspire to be one for this trip as the site covers 35 square acres. So, having booked our guide for the next morning to do death by Sri Lankan ruins we decide it was best to go looking for some place to have dinner before it gets dark. As we walked the back allies my only thought was that we would have to return this way in the dark. At the top of the lane way, we saw a local clinic which always seemed to be packed and as we are still in PCR times I thought to myself ‘we are bound to get Covid passing this place a few times a day'. We found our way to the main road and another cut through a side alley brought us to a restaurant. Róisín always researched the eateries we went to as she knew how fussy I was and this place had exceptional reviews. Outdoor dining with entertainment supplied by swarms of mosquitos. We had no sooner sat down when they started to enjoy our ankles. We weren’t the only ones I could see other guests flapping at their legs to try to ward them off. Citronella candles were brought along but they had little impact on the hungry beggars. We are hardened travellers now so I go nowhere without lashings of mosquito repellent which both Róisín and I liberally apply. So our order is taken by a very jolly little Sri Lankan man who endlessly jokes at every opportunity. He takes our order and heads to the kitchen to place it. While waiting I notice a group of men going into enclosed glass rooms and out of the annoyance of the bugs. When our jolly waiter returned with our food I said “how come you never offered us the rooms over there” indicating where the men were comfortably sitting. He replied by saying “that’s where we keep the monkeys” with his jolly little head rattling on his shoulders. I didn't at first understand what he was saying and thought perhaps he was talking about monkeys. Róisín had a look of horror on her face and it was only then that I noticed the men in the glass house were black and the derogatory remark was directed towards them. I could have made a scene but the moment had passed. We eat our meal with my brain going into overdrive as to why this man thought we might think his remark was funny. When it came time to pay the bill, he arrived with the cheque. I did challenge him on his previous comment and told him I didn't find it in the least bit amusing. He apologised and said he was only joking to which I told him his joke was in very bad taste. They were very happy to take money from these men yet make very insulting remarks, safe to say we would not be returning. We returned to our little ultra white room down the now pitch dark alley. We put on the air-conditioning system and the floor was covered in tiny black specks which at first I thought was dust but turned out to be bugs. We plugged in the mosquito repellent and retired for the night. I have become so totally desensitised to creatures at this stage of our trip sleep came easy.

Two Monkeys at the ruins

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Tour of the Ruins
We had a knock on the door at eight the next morning to say our tuk tuk had arrived. We grabbed our bags and headed out. The first stop was the museum to purchase the ticket we needed for our day of exploring. The museum itself was small with a few artefacts displayed explaining highlights of this major site. The ticket cost €35 which was very expensive for these parts of the world and this was only for a day pass. Believe me it was not possible to visit the entire site in one day but at these prices we were going to cover as much ground as possible. The tuk tuk was supposed to bring us to our guide but this guy seemed to be covering all the bases. He directed us to the ticket office. He walked us around the museum. He walked us around the grounds immediately outside the museum and pointed out items of interest. I asked when we were going to meet the guide but he just brushed the question off and said we were going to the temple. We hopped into his tuk tuk again and off we go to the museum. The guide we had booked and paid for then started to message Róisín wondering where we were as he had sent a tuk tuk to our lodgings and was told we had already left. We explained that we were on the way to the temple and that a driver had picked us up. I told the driver we were meeting our guide at the temple in ten minutes still not realising our error. The driver insisted we didn't need a guide as he knew the area and could preform the role of guide for us. I explained again that we had already paid for a guide and that the guide was waiting for us. Well he drove up and down roads at as slow a pace as he could manage without stalling the engine. I then realised that he was doing everything in his power to delay so that the guide we had arranged would get fed up and leave. He then brings us to a different temple and not the one we had arranged to meet our guide at. He kept saying “it's okay, you don’t need a guide I can show you”. He pulled into the car park of the temple and asked us to follow him. At this stage I had had enough and again explained that I had hired a guide. I had paid the guide and I wanted to be delivered to that guide. Still he would not listen up until I said I am not going to pay you. "I don’t care how much you show us you will not be paid stop the bloody tuk tuk and let us out!".
Róisín was still trying to mediate politely with the guy and was telling me to calm down. I got out of the tuk tuk and said to Róisín that I had no intention of paying for this hijack and if she wanted to continue she could go with him and again pointedly said to the driver “I will not pay you”. I think he assumed I was the one with the money so he let us go. My God but it was tough going. We now had no idea where we were and had to ask security for details so that we could get the correct guide to pick us up.

Stupa in Anuradhapura

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Our original guide arrived a short while later and as part of his tour included bicycles we had no bicycles or transport of any description as we were so far from the meeting point. We started our tour from here and made our way to the temple. Shoes off, which I cant stand but had no choice. There was some big festival going on so although the temple was huge it was packed and we were obliged to queue on well trodden sand to make our way in. The most interesting thing about this temple was it's bodhi tree. This tree here in Anurahapura, Sri Lanka is said to be a cutting from the tree of enlightenment under which Buddha had his revelationary insights. It was planted in 288 BC and is the oldest living human planted tree. I am still skeptical of the story but I can't say I know what a two and a half thousand year old tree looks like. Its old and the long trailing branches are supported by golden posts and the tree is surrounded by a golden railing but who am I to argue if they say two and a half thousand years old so be it. Our authentic guide had organised a tuk tuk for us while we were in the temple so we now had transport to bring us to the other five million ruins in this vast vast vast archaeological site. Seriously how many stupa does one need to see in a life time. A stupa in a giant dome made of bricks. Its solid through and through. They are the size of a church but solid so you cant even shelter inside. Our guide told us that these shrines to Buddha were not a requirement of Buddhism but something people choose to do to prove their devotion but unnecessary. They looked like a great waste of energy to me and there were hundreds of them. We finished our day and we returned to our hotel. Our tuk tuk driver asked if we would hire him for the next day and he would show us some lesser known sites of the area. We had the driver drop us at a restaurant and with a price agreed about €15 for the day we waved our goodbyes with a see you tomorrow.

Bodhi tree held by Gold Posts

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Mihintale Rock
We were collected at around 11:00 am for our journey up the mountains to visit the temple at the top. In the middle of the forest the tuk tuk driver parked the vehicle and pointed us towards the steps to start the ascent upwards. I have to say I found the going tough and was a little ashamed of myself to have given up just a few steps from the top. But as I have said I was not taking my shoes off for anyone. Little old ladies far more advanced in years than I were passing me on the way. Old men purple in the face with exertion also breezed on by but as the old saying goes pride comes before a fall I took my pride and myself to a nearby wall to admire the view and be entrained by the monkeys. On Róisín’s return we made our way back to our driver who brought us through the city and out into the countryside. I have to admit to being a little nervous as it was now getting onto dark and the sun was descending fast. Less traffic was passing us now as he drove along the edge of a lake and then turned down a side road. A little way down he stopped the vehicle and pointed us towards the purple moon raising between two mountains and reflecting off the lake. It was a relief to know that this had been his mission and a fabulous end to our day. All the photoshopping in the world could not have improved this vision and a beautiful conclusion to our Anuradhapura exploration. We would be heading to Negombo next where we rest up for a few days before leaving Sri Lanka.