Game Drive in Kaudulla National Park

This was a busy day – and it was not over yet.

After we had climbed down Sigiriya again, we made our way for a restaurant for a late lunch; after lunch we swapped our bus with 4WDs and continued for a game drive in Kaudulla National Park.

We soon discovered, what the park is famous for: the elephants. We saw hundreds of those, including many tuskers (i.e. elephants with tusks; not so easy to spot in Sri Lanka, as only about 5% of the male population have tusks here) – so very lucky. We were also lucky with the weather (as already for the whole day) – blue skies mingling with some very photogenic clouds – a perfect day for elephant watching.

The real fun part of the game drive – however – was the way back. With many of the roads in the park flooded, the way back turned into a 4WD mud fight – with loads of ups and downs beside the road and many of those downs straight into another pool of mud; driving obviously included loads of drifting (any direction) – – the experience overall felt a bit like a hectic roller coaster or log flume ride in an amusement park – not to mention, that is was great fun 😉

Aukana Buddha

Today we had a very busy schedule ahead of us. We kicked it off with a visit of the Aukana Buddha in the morning (actually another early one – helped with the tight schedule and also to – once more – beat the crowds).

So it was shoes off and temple clothing once again, before we made it to the Aukana Buddha. The statue itself dates back to the 5th century and the reign of king Dhatusena (though there are some sources, that put it to much later) – and is an amazing piece of craftsmanship with intricately carved details and features – the robe just looks real …

Mihintale

We were leaving the hotel early this morning (actually, we thought, it was early – as we had to learn later on, this morning indeed was a fairly average one) to beat the crowds at Mihintale.

Mihintale is a Buddhist pilgrimage site and links back to the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka. Stairs lead up a hill to a number of religious monuments; en route one passes many abandoned structures and ruins – including the ruins of a monastery.

We were given a guided tour of the ruin site before making it up the last flight of stairs to the actual religious site – the more adventurous of us made it up Aradhana Gala (Meditation Rock), while the others covered the easier climb to the Buddha status. We met up again later on for a walk around the Mahaseya Dagoba.

Editorial note: don’t get confused by the word dagoba – it is not more than the Sinhalese word for a stupa; I will use the two words interchangeably.

Welcome to Negombo, Sri Lanka

Like in many other years before, I – once more – used the month of November to leave grey Germany behind and get in some sun and heat.
As my trip to Southern India two years back had made me curious on the region, Sri Lanka was a natural pick, especially as some opportunities around flights and tour came up … quickly I was booked …

After 14 hours on planes and in airports (and about six movies) I finally had arrived in Sri Lanka and continued to the tour starting point of Negombo.

With close proximity to the aiport and its (fairly so-so) beach, Negombo certainly makes a good start and endpoint for a tour of Sri Lanka, however I would certainly not want to stay much longer here than a day or two.

The group got together on the evening of the 19th with the usual introductions, tour overview and information – – and it started with a surprise: in my group there were two known faces … at first I did not know, where to put them – but in the end my memory did not fail me and I found myself in company of two fellow travelers from my Japan trip back in 2008 – – really makes you wonder, what the odds are for that one … hitting the jackpot in Vegas (or Macao) might be more likely … anyhow, clearly shows how small the world is at last.

Sunday morning started with a quick tour of town: a short stop at the fish market (not too much to see here, given it was Sunday and the fishermen – supposedly – in church), a quick view of the former fort (now prison – therefore just quick), a short visit at the harbor, a glance of the Dutch canals and finally our chance for a church visit (or checking for the fishermen). From here we continued towards our next destination – Anuradhapura.

 

Back to Hanoi

We arrived back to Hanoi in the early afternoon. I felt miserable and cold after the long, bumpy ride on the bus; the cool and rainy weather in Hanoi did not help much either. After a shower I decided for a walk over to the Quán Thánh Temple and the West Lake with the Trấn Quốc Pagoda. A nearby tea / coffee place offered a good break and I did feel well again, so after consulting my guide book and google, I decided to continue for the Hanoi citadel.

The citadel used to be the residence of the Vietnamese kings and goes back to the 11th century; in 2010 it was recognized as UNESCO world heritage site. More interesting for me though – the citadel was also home of the Vietnamese military command – complete with hidden bunkers and tunnels.