Sri Lanka – Interior sites and Nilaveli

Continuing into the center of Sri Lanka, and all the way through to the East Coast. 

After time in Kandy, I started a whirlwind tour of the rest of the island. As I mentioned, Sri Lanka has great tuk-tuks, and it is very easy and affordable to get a car and driver for several days. I did that, and got a great driver, Rohan. We first went into the highlands. Despite all the former British colonies I’ve visited during my travels, I had not yet gone to a “hill station”, essentially a vacation spot at a higher altitude the British used to escape the heat of the cities.

On the way up, I saw some outstanding waterfalls as we traveled through a lush landscape dotted with tea plantations. Nuwara Eliya itself is a charming town with a nice lake, diverse vegetable fields and all the tea you could ever drink.

The central area of the island has some very important archaeological sites. Dambulla is a series of religious caves carved halfway up a mountain, with brightly painted interiors. The site is serene and the surrounding landscape beautiful. Except for the climb up, it’s a very tranquil experience.

From there it was off to the rock fortress of Sigiriya. It juts over 600 feet from the ground, with a sheer, imposing face that frankly I wasn’t sure I’d be able to climb. Thankfully, these sites in Sri Lanka are well maintained, so the steps were secure and clear of debris. Still, it was a hot, difficult climb.

After inching your way up the side of the rock, you eventually reach a terraced area on one side that gives you a stark view of the hundreds of stairs still to go. Oh, and this is also where the helpful ranger provides you with your hornet protection suit. It seems there are huge wasps of hornets on the way up, and they do not like to be disturbed.

So I asked for the largest suit, which turned out to be pretty large indeed, and it kept falling off me and making it even more difficult to climb. But I did make it to the top and was duly impressed. From afar, it remains a breathtaking site.

There are also outstanding ruins at Polonnaruwa, including several carved Buddhas, wonderfully dappled by the striated rock.

Polonnaruwa also has some impressive structures. It was a delight to wander through this site. Immaculate, with excellent roads and a seemingly light touch in terms of restoration.

I also stopped off in Anuradhapura, another holy city. For me, it didn’t quite rival the other cities, but it does have some massive brick dagobas, which dot the landscape. This is the Jetavana, which was the third-tallest structure in the ancient world, after the Egyptian pyramids.

There is also yet another sacred hill to climb nearby, Mihintale. I walked up this sheer rock and got great views of the countryside.

And I ended the Sri Lanka adventure with a day at the beach – a truly outstanding beach, in fact. It has been talked about being a site for much development for several years now, but the war dampened those plans and financing has been difficult since then. So for now, there are a few small hotels — and a few fishermen. Otherwise it’s a broad expanse of sand with shallow waters that lets you walk far into the sea.

Before I headed off to India, I had to get back to Colombo. The military — yes, the Sri Lankan Air Force — has a small commercial arm that flies from Trincomalee to Colombo twice a week, on a Chinese-made MA-60, which is kinda like an ATR turboprop. No logo, no markings, and flight attendants in military uniforms!

And lastly, I’ll share some of our animal friends. They seemed to be everywhere in Sri Lanka. This was a huge monitor lizard I saw wandering the grounds in Polonnaruwa.

And some guinea fowl I saw at Mihintale — enjoying a banana of all things!

And finally some adorable puppies that kept trying to suckle on this monkey, who was not interested. She kept playfully pushing them back.