Day 76 - We slept pretty well at the Crown Grande Hotel, although the name was definitely more grandiose than the facilities. Our intention was to get up early and walk to a close restaurant for breakfast. We did walk a bit but quickly discovered maybe it'd be better to get on the road and then find a place to eat.
Our only real destination of the day was to visit Mihintale. Then, we had to travel from Anuradhapura back home, a distance of about 160 km. After packing our things into the van, we knew we only had to travel for about 14 kilometers to get to the famous, Buddhist site. We kept our eyes peeled but suddenly arrived at our destination before we spotted a roadside restaurant. Fortunately, we saw a Perera and Sons, which provided breakfast and lunches as well as the chain bakery's items. The religious site was located nearly across the street!
The summit was quite a hike up, as I remembered. A lot of religious sites in Sri Lanka require a little exertion but this is one place I really didn't mind. We've travelled extensively in Sri Lanka and have seen much of the island. However, this is one of my favourite sites.
Once one reaches the upper plateau, there are a number of final climbs. The main stupa, or dagaba, provides commanding views on all sides.
I'll not forget the monkeys who made off with the lotus flowers as soon as Jay's sister placed them next to an offering table. The macaques have come to realize the center sections are good to eat.
This area somehow feels like home. It is weird to explain, but I sometimes feel a certain connection to particular places on the globe. Mihintale is one of these places. Even though the path to the uppermost rock was closed for maintenance, I didn't feel slighted as I happily drank in the whole environment.
By the time we headed back down the 1,840 steps to the car park, the time was after 12 o'clock. We slowly walked through the sellers stopping for both cold lime and belli fruit tea at vendor's shacks. We had to retrace our way back through Anuradapura and the way home.
We briefly stopped at Nuvara Tank. In this country, what appear to be lakes were actually commissioned by ancient kings. Before the time of Christ, some of these creations helped the dry areas prosper by providing enough water for irrigation. The immensity of this work rivals modern-day schemes.
We stopped along the way home for a really late lunch. Also, we bought many agricultural products at roadside stalls. It was nice getting back from a trip before darkness had set in. We were home before 5:40 pm.