From Mihintale we continued straight to the Anuradhapura heritage site (UNESCO recognized) – a mere half hour away.

We started our journey around the site at the Sri Maha Bodhi, the sacred bodhi tree –  and supposedly the oldest tree on the planet – supposedly – going back to the 3rd century BC; over time the tree was tended for by generations of tree guardians.

After a trip around the bodhi tree we continued to the Ruvanvelisya Dagoba / Stupa, a massive white dagoba; after hearing its history (and getting a proper introduction to Buddhism) we also walked around this one – this, plus climbing the rock at Mihintale, was certainly highlight of the day (oh – and let’s not forget that great al fresco curry lunch straight within the gardens of the heritage site.

There was much more to come for the day: more stupas, more temples and more Buddha statues – though I have to admit, eventually it did somehow become less distinguishable and left a sort of blurry picture; I have added some non-blurry ones below though 😉

Today was also our first day of experiencing, what was quickly called temple dress – essentially making sure, knees and shoulders are covered, plus shoes and hats removed.