Sri Lanka_ Kandy botanical gardens—-

Of COURSE I was blown away by the orchids! Thankyou Brian!

and some botanic gardens?

Fabulous trees——-

ferns—

See what I mean about trees? Computer exhausted so I must leave you, but I WILL be back!

 

Sri Lanka–Ceylon Tea

Well, impossible to miss this! Apparently still “Ceylon” tea for marketing purposes, in spite of country being “Sri Lanka” now. HUGE enthusiasm from our guide at the tea factory.

and——

Black tea is dried green tea, but you knew that of course!

LOTS of different outcomes from the drying process–

Hope those of you who were with me enjoy this!

 

 

Sri Lanka, extreme tourism.

I know there seems to be a lot of ancient monuments, but they have had memorable civilisation for well over 2000 years and we do all that first before travelling on to pastures new. More local bus travel, you know what that looks like! I love it. Then just look at this, they were very good water engineers all those millennia ago, and of course some of it was recreational, characteristic of civilisation—–

Read carefully! Extreme was what we had to climb up to see it, just the beginning!

view worth it?

OH!!

aparently VERY dangerous if roused!

Now under here is the start of the final ascent———

however, even thinking about this made me dizzy, so excellent alternative employment was found  (!!)

As you realise, I am not a mountaineer!

Tranquil site for lunch!

Thankfully.

–and after————

Sri Lanka was one of the first Buddhist countries, and a majority still is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sri Lanka, Polonnaruwa continued!

a bit more cycling today then THIS, zenith of Sinhalese rock carving-Then all this in caves under overhang of lava, and look at the clever drip line–

a bit of countryside underneath–off to market before tea–okra!Now those are quite some beans!

Sri Lanka, some travel arrangements!

Next day, local bus to Polonnaruwa, 1,000 year old capital after Anuradhapura was destroyed by invaders, nothing changes! I will also reveal more of my hobby horses along the way! First the bus station–

British seem to have left buses behind! Very smart Tuk-tuks as well. Below, sustenance for the journey–

this seemed to be the bus driver’s office, I think-and also seen from the bus, I reveal my obsession with work and safety, or not–

underneath, roadside living, and business–

A GARDEN CENTRE!-moving on (!) to cycle tour of Polonnaruwa. Sadly the buildings had a wooden framework and were set on fire in yet another invasion-so just hints of past grandeur-

but Archaeologists are here——-and conservationists——so visit if you have a chance———

 

 

 

Sri Lanka, mostly flowers and other wildlife!

Now did they say this was the “cannon ball tree”?

-well there was one on each side of the entrance, so significant!

Nice tree!——–and nice cow, seen from bicycle, marked for the owner—-

-and Lotus flowers, gathered, primped and sold in vast numbers for worshippers at Buddhist temples to present.

tree called Sri Lankan Laburnum, sorry about the focus!

Tree might appear later!-meantime, is this Frangipani, or am I mixed up?

Jack fruit and monk to scale——

Monkey, only a few sorts in Sri Lanka.

AHA! the so called Sri Lankan Laburnum, you can see where they are coming from—-

Someone give me a name for this–

Lizard?

Only joking! –but this might be a flower which will grow in UK but not in Scotland, far too cold.

-nice tho, as is this, reliably informed it’s “blue star” and not found anywhere else.

and below is the flower of the tea camellia, plant escaped from cultivation—

very nice–

He was close by, but now for a rest and a different topic——–

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anuradhapura, cradle of Sri Lankan Buddhist heritage

Courtesy of Intrepid, our travelling arrangements for this visit!

Great bikes, helmets and following support vehicle, what is not to like.

First stop, now THIS is a bath for applying medicines, perhaps not your first thought!

-and the first sight of the Stupa, which is of course to house relics, and seen on a significant day, hence the crowds.

-and this is just small view of the ancient site, which is vast, and dates as far back as 2,200 years.

-more later but first the approach to the Stupa–

and inside—-

-ancient water tank, water collection and distribution system had been very sophisticated–

slightly more prosaic, but stunning design, table and chairs outside monks’ accommodation———-

volcanic of course!

Then as we walked round the stupa this vast length of cloth symbolising a robe, was being wound round the stupa by monks-

then we were back out to a more ancient part of the site–

-relics were contained right at the top-and the Buddhist flag, of which there were hundreds–

and another tank, with details, and visitor facilities!

and a famous statue of Buddha, said to have different expressions depending on which side you saw him from——-

-and more of the vast number of building relics-

-we had lunch by the elephant pool-

tho I can’t say why it was called that, is it the size?

wonderful picnic lunch, but too busy eating for photos!

Then on to some architectural detail, tiny amount of the whole-

I am not qualified to explain, you need to do your own research, but here is the view back to remind us of the modern stupa on site–

home for tea!

 

Sri Lanka-Pearl of the Indian ocean

Before I even start, this is especially for Brian, who alerted me to the profusion of orchids in Sri Lanka, of which more later! This was one of several in a container tied to a tree in the town, so they know about orchids!

“Town” is Negombo, hotel ON the beach, but weather such that sea bathing was clearly suicidal! Photo stop next morning, too rough for fishing still, outrigger canoes, no life jackets.

——and just for fun, Sri Lankan hoodies, hooded crows to you!

Giant prawn, and then some!

VERY sadly, small stuff in the bottom was about 3/4 plastic!

-end of photo stop, more soon