The ancient cities; and the centre of Sri Lanka

On the road again, this time accompanied by two new pals, Thom & Valentina, a couple around the same age as us, from a small town in the Netherlands. We set our sights on Polonnaruwa & took off in our overly expensive taxi van, made worse by the fact that our driver was the biggest money-grabber in Sri Lanka. ‘I take you to temple/spice garden/temple again,’ no matter what, it was like he was trying his best to call the shots. We caved in at the ‘No.3 Matale Spice Garden,’ & were taken on an insightful tour by a tattooed, trendy man. The tour was followed by a complimentary massage, Sean, Thom & I chose neck which was firm & relaxing, whereas Valentina chose lower back & her massage was a little more intimate, much to her delight & Thom’s dislike! We tipped our masseuse’s & headed back to the van. Before taking off, the driver slyly informed us that the road to Pidurangula Rock was closed as it was flooded by the heavy rains the previous night. Not believing him for a second, we ordered him to try anyway, & he reluctantly agreed.
Feeling hungry, we pulled out our trusty Lonely Planet & looked up restaurants in nearby Dambulla. ‘Bentota Restaurant,’ was one that was highlighted & was an easy choice. However, this did not go down well with our driver & it was from there we realised he was out for commission from bringing us to certain businesses. First it was ‘It’s too far up the road,’ which we could clearly see on the map it wasn’t. Then - ‘very bad place, very dirty,’ which was laughable, as it was recommended in the bloody Lonely Planet! Then finally, after we spotted Bentota, the ridiculous - ‘no parking, dangerous road, I can’t park here,’ despite there being numerous vans & cars parked, & plenty of space. By this point it was clear that Sean had to exert his dominance. ‘Pull over right now, mate, or we are jumping out.’ He did as he was told & we all celebrated a small victory by buying lots of delicious pastries & hot dogs from the bustling restaurant, full of locals & travellers alike. Taking them away on the road, we chowed down on the delicious rottys & samosas. Happy, & with our pockets still full, Sigiriya appeared on the horizon. 

Funnily enough, yet not surprisingly, our driver had no idea how to get to Pidurangula, thus confirming that his story about the road being closed, was utter bullshit. A few asking locals & directions later, we pulled up at the giant rock. ‘Quickly, go up & down, 1 hour.’ The cheek of this man was amazing. An elderly gent greeted us at the foot of the climb & asked if we wanted a guide for 2000 rupees. We managed to barter him down to 1200, & it was an excellent decision in the end, mainly because there were cobras on the climb, & if we didn’t continuously hit the bushes with a stick, they could strike. Also, Sean took the lead once going down the mountain & would’ve led us into the dangerous jungle with wild elephants. Our guide firstly showed us an amazing cave temple which featured a colourful, impressive reclining Buddha made out of rock. He took us up the arduous climb, showing us meditation rooms, ancient writing, momma cobra’s lair, & yet another massive reclining Buddha, this one made out of pottery. We learnt that pretty much everything on the mountain was ‘one thousand, five hundred years old.’ Our guide said it so many times we couldn’t help but laugh, & pretend he was trying to trick our subconscious into upping the price! After crawling through caverns & clambering up boulders, we reached the top, & the view immediately floored us. (The exhaustion from the climb also might’ve influenced this..!) Sigiriya looked a stones throw away. Climbing even higher up the face of the monumental rock, we discovered panoramic views from the official centre of the country. Everywhere you looked, there were more vast land, mountains & lakes to feast your eyes on. After taking a few photos, & taking in as much as we could, we began our descent. 

On our return from Pidurangula, we walked back towards our taxi. Before we got halfway, the driver hastily made his way towards our guide & told us to hop in the van. Hells no was I going to let this man bully our guide into giving him commission, (especially because he tried his best not to take us here!) So I turned & followed him to make sure he didn’t. Thankfully, he didn’t get a cent, but what concerned me was he asked for his number so he could bring more tourists there, (& probably take a cut!)   

Resuming our journey to Polonnaruwa, it didn’t take long before we simultaneously shut our eyes & drifted off into a nap. ‘Excuse me madame, where in Polonnaruwa?’ We all woke up to the driver’s  pestering voice. Fortunately, just under two hours had passed & we had arrived! Unfortunately, the driver was only going to drop us straight to our hotel, whereaswe thought Thom & Valentina had agreed to be shown around the ancient city. It wasn’t to be, so we headed for the ‘Primate Centre,’ the hotel we were staying in, that was in the middle of a primate research facility. Strangely, we saw no monkeys during our visit, but the hotel housed the two most adorable jet black puppies, who we nicknamed Kiwi, the chilled girl, & Shuttie, the energetic boy. Dropping our bags off, & unsuccessfully finding cheap bikes to hire in the town to ride around the ruins, we wandered into ‘Manel Guesthouse’ in search of a well deserved cold beer.
We were greeted by a smiling man by the name of Lian. He shook our hands & gave us a massive welcome. ‘Four Lions, Lian!’ We requested, & our dying thirst was subsequently quenched. We played cards into the night, & before we knew it, we were starving. Lian promised us the best in a shared curry feast, so we happily obliged. After a little while, the meal came out in abundance, it was enough to feed an army. The Dhal was lovely & spicy, the Chicken Marsala was tender & delicious, the eggplant was amazing, the potatoes flavour-filled & the bean sambol equally so! Full, & ready for some to catch some z’s, we retired to our hotel to play with the puppies before eventually hitting the hay.

The next morning we arose, ready for another full-on adventurous day. Hiring bikes from Manel Guesthouse, we set off into the ancient city, full of temples, ruins, & Buddha statues. With Thom as our ‘Rough Guide,’ we cycled steadily around the sun soaked roads, stopping in at important archeological sites, & seeking respite from the heat under trees & in temple shadows. 

Feeling like we’d explored enough, & happy with the amount of exercise we achieved, we headed lakeside for a bite to eat. We came across a restaurant on the very edge of the lake called ‘The Lake House,’ & we all hungrily walked on into the refreshingly ice-cold, air conditioned dining room. Unfortunately, the restaurant proved to have the fine dining mindset of ‘less is more,’ & the meals were tiny. Valentina had the rawest end of the deal, with her ‘chicken & apple salad,’ manifesting as half an apple, shredded, & a minuscule amount of dry chicken! We paid up feeling a little ripped off, but still excited to get on the road with the exotic beach town of Nilaveli being our next destination!