I went on a jeep safari at a national park in Sri Lanka last month. The park that I went to was Kaudulla because the elephants were located here when I was in the area. This park has other mammals and birds to see as well; I did see peacocks, watr buffalo, an eagle, monkey, jackals, iguana, and also a crocodile. The elephants got very close to the jeeps, and the youngest elephant was only two or three months old. The tour guide/driver pointed out the different animals and birds. All of the safari drivers and jeeps kept back from the elephants and respected these creatures.

According to the guide, seeing crocodiles here was not common.

This was a wonderful experience to see the elephants in the wild. Elephants are native to Sri Lanka and do live in the wild.

Polonnaruwa is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Sri Lanka and the next stop on my Sri Lankan road trip after the first day. The city was founded by the Cholas dynasty (from southern India) after Anuradhapura was detroyed in 993. It was known as a garden city and contains the ruins of palaces, temples, and monastaries.

The trip started early in the morning after a quick breakfast, and we drove from Anuradhapura to this ancient city Polonnaruwa. 

We met our guide who led us through the history and some of the ruins of the city. This started with the lake that was built. The lake house was visited by the queen of England.

We also had a quick look around the museum to see how a few of the ruined buildings would have looked and to see some of the exhibits.

The Royal Palace of Parakramabahu I was the first stop. This palace would have been built up from multiple levels, and the scale of the remaining walls can help us see that this would have been an impressive structure. It would have been taller than the present remains.

We could see one of the toilets in the palace. Remains of plaster with some details and bits of coloured paint were also present.

The next building ruins were nearby, and this was the council chamber of the king. It retains the carvings around the sides of the building and a colonnade structure from the stairs.

There was a well next to it.

Below was a pond.

Next, we were taken to the temple complex. This area had a lot of very different temple ruins to visit.

The Galpota stone book was impressive; this is the largest stone carving inscription in Sri Lanka.

Sathmahal Prasadaya is one of the temples in the complex but with scaffolding.

Vatadag is a circular temple with Buddah statues on the four entrances.

Nissanka Hatadage is another one of the temples.

I also visited the others; all were very different.

There were also some Hindu temples.

Afterwards, we went to the monastaries location.

We saw some buerial stupas and the monastary ruins.

We saw another temple too (Alahana Pirivena) with the remains of a very large Buddha.

We also saw a chameleon.

The last stop here was a location with three very different Buddha statues - one meditating/sitting, one standing, and one at the moment of passing away. There was also another inside the cave carved from the stone.

This was a fascinating place to visit with a wealth of history and not to miss if visiting Sri Lanka.

I had a road trip around Sri Lanka last month, and the first day was the trek from Colombo to Anuradhapura. I had the afternoon and evening at Anuradhapura, which is a world heritage site for the well-preserved ruins. Th city was founded around 437 B.C. but was inhabited for much longer and is considered one of the most longest inhabited cities in Asia and was once the capitol of the country. It serves as a Buddhist pilgrimage site and contains the ruins of monastaries and temples, though the temples are now maintained and recovered from nature. The guide I had told me that they were maintained in the later 1990s and early 2000s after years of neglect when they were covered in mounds of dirt when he was growing up.

The city was destroyed due to invaders from southern India. It was not populated for centuries until the British colonial area in the late 1800s, but it never recovered its original status. Today it is primarily a historical and pilgrimage site.

The first stop was to get a late lunch, and I had different dishes at a local Sri Lankan restaurant.

They also had a resident cat who was very pregnant or who had just had kittens.

I crossed through several towns and villages and admired the scenery.

We finally got to Anuradhapura, and below is the museum and information centre. We went into the museum at the end. 

At the back of the museum is the entrance to the ruins and the temples.

We saw a land monitor, a type of giant lizard. There was a water one too, but I did not get a photo.

We went into the first temple, which had the statues of Buddha and a shrine.

We also went to another temple, but it did not have a shrine inside.

Around the temple were various grafitti carved into the walkway - inscriptions and game boards.

We then went by car to another location where there are pools. We were told that the monks would sit here.

We also saw some Buddha statues. There were four that would have been in this shrine area. Only one remains intact.

There were many wild monkeys everywhere.

We also went to a part of the former monastary.

One temple had a well-preserved moonstone. This is the entrance to the temple that is meant to help you think good thoughts when entering.

Carved figures also are marking the entrance.

There were also monks visiting.

Below was irrigation and water set up. It was an advanced community.

The reservoir was also built to supply water.

After we finished, we had a quick look around the museum.

I headed to the hotel for a quick break and we planned to meet in the evening to go back to the site and to see the new temple pilgrimage site.

The temple was busy.

As we left to go back to the hotel, we had a nice viewpoint over the temples from the other side of the lake.

I was impressed at the ruins and the infrastructure for such an ancient site with many ruins well-preserved. I enjoyed visiting the temple in the evening as well.