We have arranged for Mustalif to drive us to Polonnaruwa and on to Sigiriya, Dambulla and Kandy taking in the main sights along the way; a 2-night, 3-day trip for 100 pounds plus accommodation.
Sri Lanka is peppered with ancient man-made tanks (as well as innumerable lakes and ponds) which serve to irrigate the paddy fields. Today we drive along the earth embankment that dams one such tank,the Kala Wewa, where a line of colourful traditional narrow-hulled fishing boats with crude wooden stabilisers lashed to one side are beached at the water’s edge.
It’s Good Friday and several villages are holding events to mark this national holiday. One is in the midst of a cycle race, whilst another is holding a ladies marathon. We stop to watch the latter as a number of young women run by each with their supporters in attendance, some with motor cycle outriders, all drenched in water to keep cool in the stifling early morning heat. Some are young girls in their early teens; all are running barefoot, which is a feat in itself (pun unintended) given the scorching heat of the tarmac.
Further along our route there is a fete in full swing and we stop to mingle with the crowds and watch some of the events: teams climbing the greasy pole to retrieve the flag at the top – no one makes it while we were – one-handed pillow fighting whilst sitting on a raised log, children’s races, and a competition to be the fastest to weave a palm leaf which generates considerable excitement amongst the onlookers. All the events have monetary prizes attached which are funded from donations made by local businesses.
Our first scheduled stop is at Aukana to see the magnificent, 12m high standing Buddha finely carved from the rock face and dating back to the 12th/13th century. The Buddha stands in the ashiva mudra pose signifying blessing with a burst of fire above the head to mark the achievement of englightenment. It is also embellished with an enormous colony of bees hanging from one elbow!
Ritigala, on the other hand, is rather less impressive. These partly restored ruins and caves are the remains of a once extensive monastic complex spread over a hill deep inside the Ritigala Strict Nature Reserve. On arriveal we are immediately pounced on by one of the Department of Archaeology employees who follows us round insisting on acting as a guide. He is so persistent that eventually we agree to let him take us round the site for 400 rupees. But after the umpteenth time of being asked which country we are from we realise that his English is more or less none existent and we are in for a pretty perfunctory tour of what amounts to a not particularly impressive set of ruins. We scramble through the ungrowth of the hillside looking at the monastic caves and end up at a pair of wattle and daub houses, where the guide makes a clumsy attempt to kiss me while Andy is outside taking photographs. Needless to say he did not get his 400 rupees and was lucky not to get a thump for his trouble!
After lunch we take a jeep safari into the Kaudulla National Park to see some of the 150 wild elephants that live there. We have a bit of trouble tracking them down to begin with and then getting up close enough to get a good view. The best spot is a rocky lookout where at least a dozen or so other jeeps are congregated where one group of elephants is gradually making their way closer to us until they come right up to the edge of the rock where we are standing, seemingly quite oblivious to what by now was a quite large group of chattering onlookers.
Luckily the rain holds off until we get back to our car and then the heavens open as transfer from the jeep. There is a rather nasty accident on the road to Polonnaruwa involving a van that has come off the road and become wrapped round a pole. Several drivers have parked up to offer assistance and Mustalif stops to do the same. He reports that the driver of the van and his son both escaped without a scratch.
We are not too further along the road when our van cuts out we find ourselves on the side of the road once more with Mustalif muttering to himself as he tries to find the problem. Eventually he decides a fuse has gone. By this time it’s pitch black and we sit in the dark with buses thundering passed feeling uncomforably vulnerable and wondering whether we might be stuck for the night. Meanwhile Mustalif stands in the road with his head in the driver’s footwell going through all the fuses to identify which one has shorted. Half-an-hour later we are back on the road and arrive in Polonnaruwa in time for dinner.