THE CULTURAL TRIANGLE, KAUDULLA NATIONAL PARK, TRINCOMALEE

August 30, 2018

THE CULTURAL TRIANGLE, KAUDULLA NATIONAL PARK, TRINCOMALEE - Mehtab Kaur Chahal

Sigiriya

Background Info: Sigirya was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. The "Lion Rock" sits atop a big gneiss rock rising 200m above the surrounding countryside. It is said believed that King Kasyapa killed his father, King Dhatusena in AD 477 to inherit the throne. Fearing punishment from his half-brother, Mogallana, King Kasyapa built a palace-fortress on the summit of the rock between AD 477 and 485.

For our 4th trip, we rented a private bus for 3 days as public transportation can be very slow and exhausting in Sri Lanka. We started the drive from Colombo early morning around 5 a.m. and reached Sigirya roughly around 9:30 a.m. We purchased our tickets at the Foreign Ticket Office for a price of 30 USD. We were fortunate to have the perfect weather as Sigiriya was definitely a place for good photography. Once we entered, we came across the Royal Gardens. These gardens are landscaped very well and have many brick-lined pools that are filled with water.

After this, we started to move up by climbing many stairs up to the Lion Platform. Here we saw the lion's massive paws which allow visitors to reach the final summit. The views from the top of the rock were phenomenal! We took many pictures and spent about an hour just sitting and watching the beautiful scenery. In addition to the Lion Platform, we saw the "Mirror Wall". This on its own was a climb up and down. When we climbed up, we saw many paintings (frescoes) which are well-preserved. One can easily spend 3-5 hours here and it is definitely a must visit!

Kaudulla National Park Jeep Safari

After visiting Sigirya, we were back on the road headed to Kaudulla National Park which is located close to the city of Polonnaruwa. Before we knew it, we were standing in an open jeep ready with our cameras. We were super excited about this Safari and didn't want to sit down at any point.

We drove towards an open field which was absolutely filled with enormous elephants! There were many other jeeps as well, however the engines were turned off and everyone was asked to remain inside the jeep. We saw a few cute baby elephants who followed their mother. In addition, we saw many cows and other animals. This safari adventure was definitely one of our best highlights of Sri Lanka.

Kanniya Hot Water Springs

We spent the night in Trincomalee. The next morning, we woke up early and visited the Hot Water Wells. Legend has it that the spring water has therapeutic properties and those with skin problems or arthritis can come here for relief. There are seven square shaped wells and the water at each well is at a different temperature. The wells are not very deep, only a few feet below the ground level. We were told that the wells have a high significance for Hindu pilgrims because of a historical belief. It is said that Lord Vishnu created the wells when he appeared to Ravana, the king of Lankapura. When Lord Vishnu struck the ground with his sword, water poured out. This place did not get destructed in the 10th century when the Cholas from the south India invaded Sri Lanka. To this day, one can find big crowds of people pay visits to this place each and every day.

Pigeon Island & Nilaveli Beach

Shortly after the visit to the hot water wells, we were on the way to Nilaveli Beach. The bus ride took approximately 20-30 minutes as it was still early and we avoided traffic. The beach was beautiful and a great place to go for a swim. We were asked to put on our life jackets and hop into a speedboat that would take us to Pigeon Island.

It was a fun ride to the island and when we got there we were surprised that there were absolutely no shops or restaurants anywhere. It was a small island that people visit to go snorkelling. Snorkelling at Pigeon Island was perfect as we were able to see many different colourful fish without even having to really put our head underwater.
Note: always remember to snorkel with a buddy and/or use a lifejacket if you aren't a strong swimmer.

After our Snorkel, we headed back by boat and spent some time swimming at Nilaveli Beach

Koneswaram Kovil (Temple)

Later that day, we drove to a famous Hindu Temple, "Koneswaram Kovil". It is a temple that is dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple is located on a big hill that overlooks the Indian Ocean. We were asked to remove our shoes outside before we entered the temple. We walked up and passed by some local stalls that were selling small touristy items. Upon climbing up, we saw a big statue of Lord Shiva. It was evening time, so we witnessed the prayer ceremony. The priests performed many rituals. We walked around the temple and saw various holy statues. There were many other tourists as this place is considered a must if one is visiting the Trincomalee area.

Mihinthalaya (Mihintale)

On the last day of our trip, before heading to Colombo, we visited the Mihinthalaya Buddhist temple. This temple is considered to be one of the highlights of the cultural triangle. It is said that this sacred hill of Mihintale is where "Mahinda", the son of the Indian King Asoka, converted King Devanampiya Tissa to Buddhism in the 3rd century BC. When we arrived, we had no idea how many steps we were about to climb, 1,840 to be exact! We took short breaks getting to the main area. Once we arrived, we had 3 more places to climb. One of them was the Mahaseya Dagoba which was an enormous stupa that had a sleeping buddha statue inside.

The views from the top were absolutely amazing and we were able to capture quite a few good shots. The second place we climbed was to get a good view of the Buddha statue. The way up was treacherous as it was extremely windy. We held on to each other to get to the top safely without getting blown away by the wind. The third climb was to see the gigantic white Buddha statue. There were steps to get here and it was also another place for taking good pictures. We saw many monkeys, caution: do not feed the monkeys or they WILL attack. Our group enjoyed the mini hikes here and we had a great time taking pictures.