The trip from Penang, Malaysia had two legs, first to Singapore and then to Colombo. Passport control in Colombo gave us a nice gift - a Sri Lankan sim card with 50 rupees credit, enough for 50 local calls. The only use we we have for it is to stay in touch with our driver at various points, but still a very nice gesture.
The four-hour ride from Negombo where we spent the arrival night, to the outstanding Kandalama hotel near Negombo (our base for five days of exploring the "Cultural Triangle") covered only 140 kilometers in that time, mostly narrow, truck, bus, and repair-filled roads and small town clutter and only achieved some scenic beauty in the last 25 kilometers or so.
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| On the Road to Dambulla |
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| A King Coconut Break - First the water then the meat. "King" is yellow and has sweeter water than green. |
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| Three-wheelers are everywhere |
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| The view from our room includes monkeys who know how to slide open the balcony doors. So we must lock them when we leave. |
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| In the distance, Sigiriya fortress - 1000 steps to the top - to climbing which I am not looking forward |
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| In Dambulla, a giant Buddha statue sits above a vulgar museum entrance near the 400 steps leading to the Dambulla caves. |
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| It seemed to me the Buddha was counting the daily take. |
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| A line of Buddhas decorates the hillside to the right of the museum |
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| On the very top, (after 400 steps) a long arcade runs along the entrances to the caves, which are cut into the rock and contain many more Buddhas than you need. Some are worth seeing. |
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| Buddhas in Cave |
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| If you are lucky, you may get to see a Living Buddha |
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| The proof of a Living Buddha are the lines of energy that show in the rock wherever he walks. |
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| Entrance to the caves is done by hand-written tickets. |
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| From our window we can see guests taking an elephant ride. |
That is certainly a lot of Buddhas...
ReplyDeleteIf you encounter a Buddha, kill the Buddha...