Dambulla / Sigiriya DIY —-> Polonnaruwa – August 6
I go out that it’s dark and I leave my bags at the guesthouse entrance.
I’m at the bus terminal at 6.30, a stall is expressly dedicated to departures to Sigiriya, but they tell me that it is too early for a direct bus. I wait almost an hour, in the meantime I have breakfast at a hotel nearby (15 LKR). Then I start to get worried. People tell me to forgive the stall and wait in the street, I catch almost immediately a bus which makes a lot of stops, and it takes an hour (40 LKR one way and 37 LKR to go back ).
At the entrance I pay the astronomical amount of 3900 LKR, absolutely not worth it, and if I could go back I would not do it again. Also, all my good intentions to start early / finish early to avoid the crowds vanish like snow in the sun. I’ve already lost a lot of time idling in the wrong place, then I took a slow bus, now I find on my way a JERK who tells me, even if I did not ask anything to him, that after the descent I will be obliged to follow a different path, so I can’t postpone the visit of the ruined citadel I’m running across righ now. This is absolutely NOT TRUE !! So, if you arrive early, just run on the stairs and visit the rock BEFORE big buses arrive, and visit AFTER everything else.
After having walked among perimeters of walls in decay,
at 9.00 I start queueing to access to the narrow iron staircase that takes on the big rock
The positive side is that I am in the shade, exposed to a nice breeze. The bridesmaids frescoes are the only reason to visit this site, but this does not justify the high price of the ticket
After the bridesmaids I reach a clearing teeming with people, from here another staircase that climbs to the top.
Rubber jackets are distributed to protect from bites of wasps which have built nests in the niches and are evidently disturbed by the excessive noise of the human beings. Numerous signs invite to silence, but the neglect of this prohibition is directly proportional to the hysteria that breaks out at the sight of one single insect. Certainly being attacked by a swarm while you are on an iron ladder suspended in the air should not be the maximum, I imagine the panic that would trigger.
Good luck assists me and I reach the top. In my opinion the view is nothing special, but other people have been enthusiastic in their writings, so I guess it’s only a personal matter
Back to Dambulla, I take my luggage, have lunch at Kirula Juice Bar, and catch the bus to Polonnaruwa (95 LKR). There are no free seats, but the ticket collector places my big backpack in the trunk, so I can relax by taking the cool air from the open windows. I will stand up for two and a half hours, but it does not bother me that much, because there is no crowd in the aisle.
The nicest place to stay, around Polonnaruwa, would be Giritale, a tree-lined village on the lake, but here it is too isolated, and therefore I prefer to go into town. I saw on the Rough Guide that near the bus stop, along the canal that leads to the lake there is a budget hotel, the Gajaba. Followed by some tuk tuks I reach it; the cheaper rooms are drab, and expensive, despite the staff, noticing my disappointment, decreases the price of 100 LKR per every meter I walk backwards towards the exit door. Back on the main road, I notice a small restaurant which looks nice, for my next dinner. Even close to the police office I can’t find anything, till I accidentally come across the Jayaru Guesthouse where a clean spartan room costs 1000 LKR, the record for this holiday.
Water is cold, but due to the heat the hot one is not essential. Happily I do some laundry, deposit my things and then I go out, looking for a place to rent a bike (my pension does not). On the main street, right next to the bus stop I find one (mentioned on the Rough Guide) and I settle for 250 LKR. I eat a great dinner at Ariyasinhala Hotel (150 LKR paratha with dhal) and, in the shop next door, the holiday cheapest bottle, 50 LKR for 1.5 lt. I go back to my pension, and stop to talk to the owner and his sons.