Despite having arrived late the night before, we were up bright and early to head off to the Unesco World Heritage Site of Anuradhapura.
We decided not to cycle (good decision) but instead found a friendly driver who looked like a Sri Lankan leprechaun and who was able to drive us around in his tuktuk for several hours and see all the temples.
The first stop was in Mahavihara. A pilgrimage site, an enormous white dome, Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba was being wrapped in a large symbolic ribbon by monks in orange robes. People were dressed in white as they walked to the temple to offer flowers and pray.
A wall of elephants stood guard around the temple.
Monkeys sat watching tourists and vice versa.
After that there were too many temples to mention separately, we covered the three main areas including the Citadel and Jetavanarama.
From the twin pools to Lankarama, we saw them all!
And finally a reclining Buddha!
It was an incredible day and definitely worth the visit.
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