Off on day two of my customised tour with James. Actually, his name is Francis. We headed 60 km west to see historic ruins from the 1100s. Before he started the car, he quietly performed a Buddhist prayer at the steering wheel.
A very nice drive, with much less traffic than yesterday. We saw quite a few wild animals along the way, including 4 elephants (!) which he even said were very unusual. Elephants are generally nocturnal, so you are unlikely to see them during the day. They are also dangerous animals nobody wants to get too close to, so I kept my distance when photographing them. Some were huge; others were babies.
We also saw wild peacocks and evidence of many cobras. Cobras burrow into termite mounds to eat the insects, which is pretty amazing when you think about how tough termite mounds are.
The historic Buddhist temples were very beautiful and reminded me of Sukhothai in Thailand (which was perhaps a little nicer, mainly because of a car-free district surrounding them and the close proximity of all the ruins). I spent some time wandering around Polonnaruwa Vatadage, an ancient structure dating back to the 12th century.
Either I’m much more used to hustlers these days, or Sri Lanka is pretty tame compared to other countries I’ve visited. They don’t seem to be too aggressive in their sales tactics at sites, but they do seem to mumble something under their breath when you turn them down. Cursing? Who knows what they’re saying…
