View Sri Lanka 2012 in a larger mapToday's post comes a little late in the day; Altered Esthetics is turning 8! We'3e planning a big event for Saturday, so I've been a little distracted (but in a good way.)
But I'm dedicated to my Monday posts - and I've been looking forward to creating this one for months. One of my favorite stops in Sri Lanka, without question, was Polonnaruwa.
A UNESCO World Heritage location, you can spend days in this site without seeing everything. Unfortunately we only had an afternoon - but we did see quite a bit.
Polonnaruwa was peaceful and still... and well tended. While we were there, we saw quite a few sleeping dogs all curled up quietly in sands of the ruins.
A beautiful little star flower hiding at the edge of a stone.
A thoughtful monkey contemplates his next move.
The site was incredible, and there were ruins and stories in every direction. Only in books and movies had I ever before been so surrounded by such history and beauty.
What a perfect place for meditation.
The tooth relic.
Inside the temple- a perfectly quiet stillness.
This guy was guarding the tooth relic... and was purring as we left the temple.
"Sleeping Buddha" - carved out of a single piece of rock. Our guide told he was actually in "Parinirvana," due to the placement of his hands, earlobes, and toes.
Monkey with a fruit...
Don't worry, nobody did. But I love how even the signs had a little bit of character to them.
Tiny baby!
Another dog basking in the sun.
The last thing we saw as we left was this guy, just hanging around unattended.
There are lots of options to getting around in Polonnaruwa. You can even rent bikes and go from location to location, really exploring the grounds. I'm so grateful my family made the stop - and I hope I have the opportunity to go again someday. Note to self: take your time.
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