Sigiriya-Kandy: Mesolithic Burials and the 3 Temples Loop

No early start required this morning, so we breakfasted about 9am, got our gear together, and met Raygar outside with his car. Our first stop was the Ibbankatuwa Burial Site, just past Dambulla, a set of three burial sites from about the 9th century BCE.

An austere and plain collection of shaped rocks formed burial chambers, some capped by large flat stones – some are thought to be memorials, but others contained urns with human ashes in them. We’d seen some of the original urns, plus metal objects and beads, at the Sigiriya Museum.

There were no other visitors and a man enthusiastically described the site to us at one of the three dig locations. We also learned that Raygar, up until his recent retirement to concentrate on his hotel, had been a school principal!

An hour or two later, at Matale, we stopped at a large Hindu temple called Sri Muthumariammam Thevasthanam , the usual colourful, insanely detailed gopuram covered with a riot of figures. A festival meant tourists weren’t allowed inside, but they still charged 250 to wander around the building and have your ears assaulted by PA speakers blaring insanely loud music and chanting. How the neighbours put up with it is a complete mystery to me. Presumably there’s something in Hinduism that dictates this punishing volume – who knows?

The traffic got heavier as we got closer to Kandy, and after some wrangling though side streets we reached our next accommodation, the Kingsman. A nice white building on a hilltop 10 minutes walk from the lake at the city centre, only spoiled by the constant noise of barking dogs nearby – but then everywhere is spoiled by the constant noise of barking dogs nearby. Sadly, street dogs roam everywhere in Sri Lanka, often barking their heads off and sleeping in the road. Almost all are the identical brand of lowest-common denominator mutt that results from feral breeding. At our Sigiriya lodge the barking at night was almost unbearable – lucky we have earplugs – and it’s even worse here, and going on all day as well. Why do people endure it? 

The sole attendant here is a very nice but obsequious man, and the hotel seems deserted. We had to change our room because the toilet cistern took 10 minutes to noisily fill, but it appears our new room has the same problem. Which is a real shame as the building is beautiful and the rooms are good.

We had a very nice lunch of kottu outside on the terrace, then I went for a long walk down the hill, followed by a full circuit of the lake (past the Temple of the Tooth), an icecream, and back up the hill. I was bathed in sweat when I got back.

Carol had been hard at work trying to find us good Ella accommodation. It’s been stressful trying to work out what to do next, as some activities in the hill country are very touristy.

In the evening we took a tuk tuk to a place called the Hideout Lounge, which turned out to be great, though full of tourists. It was a nice two-story area with a guitarist and singer playing, good food and friendly service, and drinks. Much better than we expected, though of course there was nothing Ski Lankan about it beyond the young staff (who seemed to all be well-educated guys who had spent some time in the UK). But sometimes you need a change of scene when you’re travelling.

4th March

Started the day with a delicious breakfast on the outdoor terrace. Still haven’t seen another guest here, strangely! Great coffee (past coffees have been like tar). 

We ordered a tuk tuk to take us to a temple (Tharanga) about 45 mins away. At first the drive didn’t want to take us as it was one way, and thought I was setting a low price, but we finally got him to name a price he was happy with (2,000), and we were great friends at the end of the day because we got him to pick us up at the end of the 3-temple walk and paid him 3,000 each way. He even gave me a hug! There’s often confusion with booking rides on the Pick Me app as it’s really designed for short one-way trips by locals, not tourists wanting to be driven long distances, or taken back to their starting point later, and the drivers think you’re trying to get the price on the app for a more complex fare.

What is known as the ‘three temples loop’ was about 7km and took us from Embekke Devale temple, through the outskirts of a village, up over a hill and down to rice paddy fields to the Lankatilake temple, then along a busier road through another village to Gadaladeniya temple. The first part was especially beautiful, but walking along the road past innumerable tiny street-front businesses with people greeting us and smiling at us was also a lot of fun.

The temples themselves were each quite unique. Embekke was a small 14th century open pillared hall (drummer’s pavilion) with beautiful carved wooden pillars. It was a very peaceful and calm place. Lankatilake was perched on a stone outcropping, rock-cut steps leading up to it (one set original, another set next to them newer). Built in 1344, it Is divided into Buddhist and Hindu sides – the former was locked, unfortunately, but a man showed us around the atmospheric Hindu side, a dark vaulted passage around a central core with small curtained shires in it with various Hindu statues in them.

Finally, the Gadaladeniya, built in the same year, was also on a (lower) stone outcrop, and featured a stunning gold Buddha in a very old shrine chamber, entered through two tall, beautifully decorated wooden doors. We bought an illustration from an ‘in-residence’ artist (who also dispensed the tickets) for 7,000 which reproduced one of these door images. He’s been there for 32 years and was very appreciative – I took a portrait photo of him before we left.Our tuk tuk driver was waiting and took us back to the hotel via a short stop at Arthur’s Seat, a spot with a lovely view down to the lake with the main part of the city behind it. After a couple of watermelon juices on the upper terrace, a rest, shower, and change, we returned to the Hideout Lounge for drinks and an excellent dinner, and were in bed by 9pm for an early start tomorrow.