debbieann

one thing I really liked was the mix of buddhism and hindu together. It was interesting to see the similarities with India and the differences with India. I certainly liked seeing so many big buddhas everywhere. there were also various christian shrines with jesus or mary - all together way more religion then you see in the US.

We had a great trip to Sri Lanka. Talked about it on a Sunday, bought tickets on Monday and left on Wednesday. Charles made the plans and called the hotels and I was thrilled with both.

We landed on Weds morning, an hour late, but still early in the day, and the driver was right there with a sign. I liked this driver immediately, and we spent three days with him. The car was larger and more comfortable than the cars we tour India in (at least usually) and we travelled light - one suitcase for the two of us, which worked out well, I thought. It was good to get right out of Colombo and into the heart of the country. Our destination that day was Deer Park Hotel on Lake Giritale and we wanted to stop one place on the way, and it wasn't Dambulla, which would've been right on the way. The driver and the hotel convinced us that the one place we picked was too far out of the way (it was about 6 hrs to Deer Park Hotel), so we decided to go to Sigiriya which is this huge rock out in the middle of flat lands with caves. There are big gardens and pools - the king stayed here part of the year with his 500 wives. The caves have murals in them. There are a lot of steps to climb to see the murals and I made it just in time - 5 minutes before closing. I can understand why they close too, because it was dark by the time we were finally off the rock and the steps are tiny and there is no lighting, so I went down carefully. It was pretty tiring, but well worth it. We hired a guide, which I think was a good thing. It would be a great place to be a king and have someone carry you up all those steps.

The drive through the countryside to get to Sigiriya was beautiful, lots to see, just in terms of life going on all around the road.

Deer Park hotel was very nice, it was a relief to get there. Our room had a nice ourdoor terrace for sitting and looking at the lake. I also liked the shower that was open to the outside air above and had trees and plants growing in it - sort of like showering outside, but private.

The next day we headed out for Polannaruwa - I wanted to see big buddhas. It was a lot of walking, despite being driven around from spot to spot. Our driver had a friend who did the guiding for us, and I thought he did a fine job. We saw huge stupas and buddhas all 900 years old, many buildings. Charles will post photos. The weather of heat and humidity was a bit hard for me. Went back to Deer Park to relax and unwind after the day.