January 26: Anuradhapura

It was the first day of our 25 day tour around Sri Lanka.  First stop was to the ancient city of Anuradhapura, which served as the capital of Sri Lanka from the 4th century BC until the beginning of the 11th century AD.  The drive from Columbo was over 4 hours — so glad we had an amazing driver (Janika). The driver/tour guide, van, and gas costs us a total of only $50/day – what an incredible deal!

Once we arrived at Anuradhapura— it was an intense tour of several Buddhist Stupas.  The first and most famous was Jetavana Stupa, which was one of the three tallest monuments in the world by the 4th century AD— only behind the two Great Pyramids of Egypt.  From here, we also visited the Abhayagiri and Thuparamaya (first stupa built in Sri Lanka) Stupas and the Kuttam Pokuna (Twin Pools).

It was super hot so we retreated back to our hotel, which was really beautiful and relaxed by the pool and ate pork belly that Kimchi had marinated.