Going Where the Road Goes

I wasn’t bothered in the slightest by the crashing of the surf last night. Maybe those three big beer bottles that Lal bought did the trick.

We only did tea at the hotel because of the accompanying inflated prices for a complete breakfast. We had full intentions of finding a bakery in town. We turned right however to get to Mulkirigala. Since it wasn’t yet eight o’clock most shops weren’t opened. We kept driving and driving.

Since it was only 18 kilometers to the ‘rock’ we passed no good places to grab a breakfast. There are generally vendor stalls near points of interest but Mulkirigala gets most visitors on weekends, so no one was there. Then, someone pointed out the little shacks down the hill a bit. We ended up having our fill of hoppers cooks by two, tiny, ancient ladies. I think the total bill came to nearly a dollar.

The climb was steep but everyone did well. Even auntie took it in stride, so to speak. The mountain had about 3 stops on the way where cave temples contained Buddha images. Most were reclining and carved right from the stone of back of the cave walls. The entire inside was painted the wonderfully colourful scenes depicting the Buddha’s life. When we were finally on the top, the view was wonderful. The views from this sort of place are always wonderful. It sort of make one wonder why in our harried lives, we don’t take the time to have more personal reflection and mountaintop experiences.

The gang headed back with the exception of Jay and me. We let them drop us off at the Tangalle bus stop. We found a bus headed for Tissimaharama. We’d half considered going to Kindra but heard after the Tsunami there’s not much there except a lighthouse and the beach.

I’m typing this at the Regina Holiday Home. The quick tour guides spotted us at the bus stand and quickly whisked us to back to the ‘new town’. We ate a late lunch here and went for a walk to see an old reservoir. Rain hit when walking back and we avoided it by taking refuge at another guest house along the way. They are constructing new rooms. The proprietor was very interesting and Jay chatted for quite a while. Since we’re heading to Kataragama tomorrow and need another night in this area, maybe we’ll switch.