As expected our morning breakfast turned out to be well below the standard offered at Santani. I had two fried eggs and the yolk had virtually no colour. They served the very cheapest white bread. The only choice one had was how you wanted your eggs cooked.
We set off on our bumpy back road with Caesar, our driver, he suggested we see other things for us to visit think. `On the way to Polonnaruwa we spotted three elephants at different locations, two beside the road and one washing himself in the lake. We later saw two more on the return journey. Spotting wild elephants is not a problem.
We stopped at a Buddha statue with the stupa alongside set in gardens with a backdrop of the misty lake. Unfortunately the army base sat opposite which stood in contrast. The military looked after their site better than the priests.
Polonnaruwa Archaeological Museum
Caesar dropped us off at the Archaeological Museum in Polonnaruwa. He parked up while we toured the museum. We expected Caesar to come into the museum as well and explain some of the stories and exhibits. He stayed in the car and waited for us to make are own tour. I thought he would be a driver/guide but he is actually a driver.
We wandered through the exhibits trying to make sense of it all. For a brief history of the area have a look at the Wikipedia Page. The museum focuses on two great kings, Prakramabahu the Great (1153-1186) and Nissanka Malla(1186-1197).
We spent about one hour to pass through the exhibition. I’m sure we would have benefited from having someone to accompany us and explain more of the background.
Polonnaruwa Sites
Caesar drove us to two nearby sites where we walked through the well maintained gardens to see the archaeological remains of buildings and Buddhist statutes, temples and stupas.
After we had walked around two or three places Maggi decided to stay in the air conditioned car while I walked up to a group of royal courts and religious sites.
In order to enter different buildings you needed to remove your shoes. I didn’t mind this until I stepped onto the baking hot stones. As I walked through the open air exposed spaces to take the pictures I had to keep moving my feet which made photography difficult.
Our final stop took us to the statue of the Sleeping Buddha, probably the largest statue we saw during our visit.
Lunch
The local tour operator offered us lunch after a tour around the historic sites. We pulled into Jaga Family Restaurant. I am not that keen on a buffet meal. I would rather choose from a menu and have it served. I always take too much food when a large choice lays before me and then I regret having eaten so much.
The main guy, possibly the proprietor, explained the offering layer before us. To begin with we had a choice of 4 different types of rice. He then pointed out each dish and beside the pot stood an example of the main ingredient. A woman made rotis over coals. We wandered round all the multiple dishes trying not to select everything. The moment of truth arrived when we sat down to eat. The food proved to be very good, tasty and not too spicy. Apparently they have a number of dishes at the back which are hotter but this all featured fish or meat. Our d
Back to Kumbukgaha
After our very filling lunch at Jaga we drove back to our hotel. I would like to say that sitting as a passenger is a relaxed affair. Maggi spoke to Caesar that she doesn’t like him texting as he drives. I didn’t realise he was doing this.
We arrived back fairly tired by the heat we had experienced at Polonnaruwa and I had a little sleep. A slow wifi at the hotel meant my picture failed to sink with cloud and I spent a couple of fruitless hours trying to figure out what was wrong. It turned out that it was the speed of the WiFi.
Despite our rather large lunch we still walked across to the restaurant area which is all open to the elements (although it has a roof). We then proceeded to have a much better meal than the night before. The food didn’t match lunch or Santani but didn’t make me annoyed.