Dambulla caves



After our soggy rest stop in Jim’s Farm Villas, we traveled to Habarana in the Cultural Triangle, where we are staying at the Cinnamon Lodge.

On our way, we stopped at the Dambulla Caves, the largest and best-preserved temple complex in Sri Lanka and a World Heritage site. With 153 Buddha statues as well as statues of royalty and gods spread over 5 painted caves, it is undoubtedly an amazing site. It is also up a large hill with many, many steps – somewhere between 364 and 800 steps, depending upon who’s counting!

The steps are broad and the slope is gradual; I had made sure that, if I had to stop, I would be able to do so and not block others as I have some health issues that impede my walking, especially uphill.

This is also a very popular tourist destination, and while the caves are remarkable to see, we both felt much more of the spirituality of the place in the earlier visit to the Silver Temple.

We arrived just as the caves closed for a period of time, which was somewhat frustrating after the long walk uphill. But eventually, of course, we were allowed in!

The Dambulla Caves - up the many steps and to the caves!

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Up, up, and up!

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The view from the steps as we got close to the top

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Arriving to the top of the hill

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The entry way

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No shoes, of course!

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Temple interior

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Your fabulous photos are jiggling my memory of our time there.
The devotees are extra special 🙏

Thanks again, sartoric! I agree, seeing the devotees remind me that there is a purpose to the place and it’s not just an amazing tourist site!

more to come...

We stayed in Dambulla for our first 3 nights in Sri Lanka but somewhat frustratingly we never got to the eponymous caves, so i'm very grateful for your beautiful photos, Progol. Fortunately we did lots of other interesting things while we were staying there so I don't feel the disappointment so keenly, especially after seeing how long was the walk up to them! So I get the pleasure without the pain!

annhig, I'm so glad you're enjoying traveling vicariously through my photos! Of course, there are so many places to see that it becomes impossible to see everything. And I do remember reading and using your report in making some of my travel plans and decisions!Cultural Triangle/Habarana

Cinnamon Lodge Habarana: I opted to stay here because it got decent reviews and was within the budget I set. I had considered booking Heritance Kandalama in Dambulla, as it got so many positive reviews here, but it was more than I wanted to spend. Cinnamon Lodge is a resort that caters to groups, not normally the type of place I prefer to stay, but we found it to be a comfortable place to be, conveniently located, and staff was welcoming and responsive.

The meals were, in a word, overwhelming! We stayed in many places with buffets, but this was by far the largest, most elaborate, of all. As we were nowhere near a city, there was really no place to have dinner but at the lodge, and breakfast was also an involved affair! So hard to choose! We kept going up and down, wanting to sample as many dishes as possible, both western and eastern style. Between breakfast and dinner, I think we ended up with at least 6 meals a day! And, at dinner, a room dedicated to desserts!
The monkeys are everywhere and are, at times, a mild nuisance, but for the most part, are part of the fabric of the place. Staff does walk around during the day and evening to disperse them from areas where tourists congregate. But they can be quite entertaining- we watched from our room as 2 monkeys were having an “intimate” moment! I won't post our X-rated monkey photos as I imagine I will get kicked off the site for inappropriate postings!


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One of the many lodges throughout the property

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Swimming Pool

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A welcome elephant!

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Looking out from our room

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On our porch - randy monkeys (a few moments later)

We did an “elephant safari”, traveling by Jeep to Habarana Eco Park and saw lots of elephants! Loved it! They are such amazing creatures to see and we even got pretty close to them. We really enjoyed the "safari."

I had researched this before the trip and found that this area was generally a good one to see elephants. The park most mentioned in this region is Minneriya National Park; we were taken to a nearby one which, we were told, herds of elephants were seen. I was a bit worried but as you see, I had no reason to be! We also went in the mid-afternoon to avoid the huge number of jeeps, rather than the more popular time closer to dusk. And it made a huge difference - while there were other jeeps around, it was not overwhelming, and we were able to enjoy the experience without feeling like we were in a traffic jam.


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And it was not only elephants - we saw a large herd of water buffalo, too.
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A beautiful crested hawk eagle
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And a herd of wild jeeps!
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(This last photo was taken as we were ending our tour - I was very, very glad we went early!)

Wonderful photos of the elephants, Progol. We did go to Minneriya National Park and though we did see lots of elephants frankly i think you made the right choice, as at times it was quite a scrum with all the jeeps.

Thanks, annhig! I love the elephants, especially the mother and calf. I want to say they have so much humanity, but that's not the right word -- and honestly, they have so much more than what it takes to be human!!

We did see some jeeps, but it's nothing like you described in your trip report and we felt very fortunate to be able to experience what we did without too much interference. We lucked out with this "safari".

Anaradhapura

We first visited Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka’s first capital, which was established around 380BC and lasted around 1300 years, only being abandoned in 993 after an invasion. Our first stop at the site was to visit the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi, the tree that was grown from a cutting from Bodhgaya. The branch is held up by a gold crutch, and is said to be the oldest historically authenticated tree in the world! It is a very important site spiritually. White is worn by pilgrims and worshippers and is a holy color. It was wonderful being around the heart of such an important spiritual place that is still so alive with worshippers.

This is a huge site, but we had a driver, so there was not a problem in getting around. It was HOT, and though we were out pretty early, by early afternoon, it did catch up with us. And running barefoot, hopping from foot to foot, around the religious structures, was a challenge! Our driver, though not a formal guide, provided some overview to what we were looking at, although it is sometimes difficult to really feel a sense of the past when looking at the individual stops around the temple complex.

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I'm still following as well, progol. Great pictures.

I have a real soft spot for elephants after our African adventures.

I've been following too.

Thank you! Great TR.

Ian and jacketwatch,
Thank you! It’s so good to know you are following my trip report! It does feel good to know that you are enjoying it and makes it worth the effort to get back to it after 2 years! Glad to know you are there!
warmly,
Paule

My pleasure. Your TR skillfully combines narrative and photography!

Thanks, jacketwatch! I hope to add more later today.

I actually must give you some credit progol for helping to wake me out of a covid-induced travel lethargy that I had slumped into. Like most, we had to cancel a trip (to India) in 2020 and 2021 will also be a washout for us for several reasons. While I usually really enjoy researching and planning destinations, I had drifted away from the travel forums since there didn’t seem to be any point. I ignored the auto email about your post for a while but curiosity got the better of me and here I am. So thank you.

We never made it to Anuradhapura, progol, so it's great to see your photos of it. I had imagined that it would be like Polonnaruwa but whereas that is entirely ancient, Anuradhapura is modern as well. Fascinating.

Ian, thanks so much for your kind words! I am finally trying to finish this report after 2 years, including this past year in which I ended up canceling 3(!) trips, so I do understand the reluctance to look at travel forums and confront the lack of traveling. I've also detached for a good part of the year and am only now returning to the "fold". I don't really have any expectations of international travel in 2021, either, though I have vague plans for "someday" travel.

annhig, we really enjoyed the fact that Anurhadapura is still important for worship - this is the location of the bohdi tree, taken from the original tree at Bohdgaya, the tree where the Buddha became enlightened, so it's not a modern site but an ancient site for worship with some modern construction. The Anurhadapura complex is older than Pollunawara and is in a greater state of ruin, though it was the first one we visited so it was the one that affected us a bit more, especially since we were able to observe worshiping and other activity. By the time we got to Pollunawara, the heat affected us more!

Back to Sri Lanka now!!

Anurhadapura, continued...

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The beautiful brick Abhayagiri dagoba, dating back to the 1st Century BC, is one of the great structures of the ancient world!