The Sacred City of Anuradhapura

It was a long day, but from Sigiriya we went straight on to Anuradhapura for the afternoon. 

Anuradhapura is a Sacred City built around the cuttings from the “tree of Enlightenment” – Buddha’s fig tree. It is another UNESCO World Heritage site and one time capital of Sri Lanka. 

The old ruins provide a fascinating view of what was a very significant site, two large Stupas stand out across the landscape – one in disrepair, the other stark white with a gold top. The original stupa was originally over 100 metres tall but has now lost its top and is about 70 metres in height.

The white stupa – the Ruwanweli Maha Seya, often alled the Mahu Thupa or ‘great thupa’ is still a working temple and it is quite beautiful to see the followers all dressed in white gathering at sunset in Prayer. Their prayers are sung out loud for all to hear and it’s a very moving experience. 

The stupa was built around 140BC and is said to house the largest collection of Buddha relics anywhere. Not surprisingly, it it a UNESCO World Heritage Listed site.

There are hundreds of ruins to walk through in Anuradhapura, it was, afterall, the capital city at one point in history. You could spend the full day or many days in the city wandering around.

We had limited time so our guide picked out a couple of the main sites, most we just viewed from the air-conditioned comfort of our van. It was very hot in Sri Lanka.

The next morning we were up early to take in Dambulla from the water.

When we had first arrived in Dambulla, our hotel manager had suggested we take a boat ride out on to Kandalama Lake to do some bird watching.

Ade loves photographing any kind of wildlife, birds included, so we were down at the dock at 6.30am. The boat was more raft than boat so I couldn’t help but feel like Huckleberry Finn as we rowed out. 

Fortunately the lake was very still and it was stunning to watch the sunrise over the mountains. Amaya Lake sits right on the lake so we didn’t have to wander far to get on the raft.

The only other boats out that early were the odd local fishermen. The birdlife was abundant, though perhaps not the great variety that I had expected. Still the trip was worth it for the sense of calm and serenity on the water.

We leave Amaya Lake tomorrow and while I’m looking forward to heading to Pasikudah – which is meant to be stunning – I could do with spending another couple of days here. The hotel is stunning with vast grounds to wander through and a lake to sit and ponder by.  

The two swimming pools are very inviting – you could easily stay at the hotel and just relax for days. But we are here to experience some of the cultural heart of Sri Lanka and not just the hotel.

I have mixed feelings about the way we are travelling this time. It’s fabulous having our own driver and having the hotel organise everything for us, but I can’t help but feel you get a slightly sanitised experience of the country; will we experience the true Sri Lanka in the way we did India? I’m not convinced we will. It will be a far different experience, no worse, no better, just different.

The people are lovely and it is a far more relaxing way to travel, but we do like to experience the local culture, to immerse ourselves in our surroundings as much as we can – that can be challenging and confronting, but in the end, for us, it is a more authentic experience of a country and that feeling of being outside your comfort zone is one of the things that makes travel so rewarding.

Read about more of our adventures in Sri Lanka here.

Fast Facts

We stayed at Amaya Lake Hotel.

We were here for two nights and spent an hour or two on the lake looking for birds.

Was it long enough? We could easily have relaxed at Amaya Lake for a few more days.

Highlights: The silence and serenity of the water at sunrise. Watching the fishermen start their day.

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