Third capital of the Kingdom of Rajarata

On our next move in this trip through Sri Lanka, we change the base from Colombo to the central/north province of the country at Anuradhapura where we will spend the remaining days of our tour visiting the beautiful ancient city itself, and the nearby other major important destinations Dambulla, Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa: all of which, the Golden Triangle as it is known. Very busy days ahead of us, however, not that fully loaded and saturating in visiting sight after sight non-stop, but instead quite chill and relaxing, enjoying the mix of nature with ancient capital cities, palaces and temples. Each of the ancient cities we would visit make up for around half of the day touring, giving you the rest of the day some free time except for when visiting both Dambulla and Sirigiya which you do in the same day.

In my original plans before gathering proper information about Sri Lanka and the places I wanted to include in this tour, I though flying between cities would be the easiest way (as is for example, in neighboring India). I was wrong. From Colombo, the only city we could have flown was Sigiriya from where you can make the perfect base and visit all of the other cities I’ve mentioned before. A very convenient flight? Yes, at just 30 minutes, but the cost? £175 for a one way ticket per person! That is actually insane and nonsense; so the options, pretty much as is for the entire country, are moving by train or bus. Super reliable and in truth, trains were the best way to travel and enjoy the country.

Anuradhapura is the ancient capital of many different kingdoms, and is really overwhelming. There are so many archaeological remains, some of these over 2000 years old that no wonder this is one of the key places in the country in what relates to history and culture. The entire “Old Town” which is the archaeological park itself has been designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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