Sri Lanka: The Undiscovered Country – Photos and Videos

I know I included a lot of photos in the posts this time, but check out the below ones too as there are tons of new ones.

Or you could just go straight to the flickr gallery.

01 - Signs like these are found all over the country, enticing people to join the army 02 - Our first day in Sri Lanka was spent mostly on the train from Colombo to Kandy 03 - Buddha statues everywhere in Sri Lanka, like this one in the Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy 04 - Dagobas are the most common structure in Sri Lanka. This one is the Thuparama Dagoba in Anuradhapura 05 - Monks are also everywhere. This one carved our names on a palm leaf at Matale's Aluvihara Rock Monistary 06 - Temple of the Sacred Tooth at night 07 - The storage case of the Tooth Relic at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth (taken by Carrie) 08 - Fun inside the Temple of the Sacred Tooth 09 - Buddhas donated from around the world at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth 10 - Carrie lights a clay bowl filled with prayer oil in the courtyard of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth 11 - School children light a clay bowl filled with prayer oil in the courtyard of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth 12 - Incent sticks burn in the courtyard of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy 13 - Carrie holds lotus flowers at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy 14 - The Temple of the Sacred Tooth from across Kandy Lake 15 - A view of the hills behind Kandy, as taken from our hotel balcony 16 - A giant Buddha towers over the town of Kandy (taken by Carrie) 17 - A monk walks with his friend in the Kandy Botanical Gardens 18 - A group of Muslim women enjoy the day at the Kandy Botanical Gardens 19 - Cool shaped trees at the Kandy Botanical Gardens 20 - A giant fig tree at the Kandy Botanical Gardens 21 - Carrie has fun with bamboo trees at the Kandy Botanical Gardens 23 - Blowing the conch to open the traditional dance performance we saw in Kandy 24 - All the different costumes used in the various traditional dances we saw in Kandy 25 - Fire eating in Kandy 26 - A Monk classroom 27 - A Monk classroom without the students 28 - I get blessed by Monks for the first time 29 - Carrie gets blessed by Monks for the first time 30 - Me and some monks 31 - The sunset from our balcony in Kandy 32 - Lightning storm outside our hotel in Kandy 33 - Some of the amazing wooden pillar carvings at Embekke Devalla 35 - A row of stone elephants on the streets of Kandy Seeking Shelter in the Kandy Rain 37 - The scenery in Hill Country, where Kandy, Ella, Adams Peak and more are located 38 - My pillow at Rodney's View Guesthouse...yes, the red is blood 39 - The night veggie market in Kandy 40a - Our van for our three day trip tthrough the Ancient Cities. The woman outside was begging for money or our water. 41 - Me at the Hindu temple at Matale 42 - One of the giant charriots used during Hindu parades and stored at Matale 43 - One of the giant charriots used during Hindu parades and stored at Matale 44 - A statue at Matale 44a - Woman and child at Matale Hindu Temple 45 - A statue at Matale 46 - Aluvihara Rock Monistary 47 - A giant resting Buddha carved from the side of a mountain at the Aluvihara Rock Monistary 47a - People pray in front of the resting Buddha. All statues in this room were carved directly out of the mountain wall 48 - Beautiful statues were everywhere at the Aluvihara Rock Monistary 49 - Gory scenes of punishments given to sinners at the Aluvihara Rock Monistary 49a - Gory scenes of punishments given to sinners at the Aluvihara Rock Monistary 50 - Gory scenes of punishments given to sinners at the Aluvihara Rock Monistary 51 - Ringing the bell at the Aluvihara Rock Monistary 52 - The dagoba above the Aluvihara Rock Monistary 53 - A monk at the Aluvihara Rock Monistary carves our names into a palm leaf, the ancient substance of books 54 - Carrie outside the main entrance to Nandala 55 - Nandala, one of the Ancient Cities and the most tranquil of all of them 56 - The Golden Buddha of Dambula towers above the countryside 57 - All of these Buddha statues at Dambula were carved out of the solid rock wall of a mountain 58 - All of these Buddha statues at Dambula were carved out of the solid rock wall of a mountain 58a - The mountainside that hundreds of Buddha statues were carved out of at Dambula 59 - All of these Buddha statues at Dambula were carved out of the solid rock wall of a mountain 60 - The giant golden Buddha statue 61 - Anuradhapura - Abhayagira Dagoba - Reflecting 64 - Anuradhapura - Mirisavatiya Dagoba 64a - Me outside the Anuradhapura - Mirisavatiya Dagoba 65 - Anuradhapura - Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba - 3 66 - Anuradhapura - Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba - repairs done dangerously 3 67 - Anuradhapura - Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba - repairs done dangerously 4 68 - Anuradhapura - Lanka Rama 2 69 - Anuradhapura - Jetavanarama Dagoba 3 70 - Anuradhapura - Mahasena's Palace Moonstone 71 - Anuradhapura - Kuttam Pokuna (Twin Pools) 72 - Anuradhapura - Samadhi Buddha - woman prays 73 - Anuradhapura - Sri Maha Bodi - a sacred 2000 plus year old Bodi tree 74 - Anuradhapura - Sri Maha Bodi - man prays moments before being told to get down by security 74a - Anuradhapura - Brazen Palace - pillars and gate 75 - Anuradhapura - Empty souvineer stands by Samadhi Buddha 76 - Mihintale 77 - Mihintale monestary dining hall 78 - Carrie and I in front of the Dagoba in Mihintale that is said to have spawned Buddhism in Sri Lanka 78a - The view from Mihintale with Annapuranna in the distance 79 - Ancient wall carvings at Mihintale 80 - After our second day of driving, we had a few drinks with our driver, pictured to the left 81 - Polonnaruwa, Gal Vihara - Standing and resting Buddha 82 - Polonnaruwa, Gal Vihara - Buddha 83 - Polonnaruwa, Potgul Vihara - 84 - Polonnaruwa, Potgul Vihara - We bought a flute from this man for $3. It already no longer makes sound. 85 - Polonnaruwa, Kiri Vihara Dagoba - 86 - Polonnaruwa, Kiri Vihara Dagoba - Cows outside 87 - Polonnaruwa, Lankatilaka - Carrie presents the 7 meter high Buddha 87a - Polonnaruwa, Lankatilaka Lankatilaka - stone carvings on the side 88 - Polonnaruwa, Shiva Devale No 2. Carrie, our driver and I all were blessed by the little old lady on the lower right hand side 89 - Polonnaruwa, Shiva Devale No 2. Carrie is blessed 90 - Polonnaruwa, Quadrangle 91 - Polonnaruwa, Quadrangle - Statue outside Vatadage 92 - Polonnaruwa, Quadrangle - Bodi Tree Shrine 93 - Polonnaruwa, Quadrangle - Thuparama Dagoba 94 - Polonnaruwa, Quadrangle Donation Box 95 - Polonnaruwa, Rankot Vihara Dagoba - do not walk up these stairs is denoted by a large branch on them 96 - Polonnaruwa, Carrie and I in the Lotus Pond 97 - Sigiriya, one of the Ancient Cities in Sri Lanka 98 - View from Sigiriya, one of the Ancient Cities in Sri Lanka 99 - The lion hands that signified the start of the climb to the top of Sigiriya 99a - Signs warning of the hornets at Sigiriya 99b - Carrie and I atop a hornet-free Sigiriya 99c - The view from atop Sigiriya 99d - This is the most famous image in Sigiriya and is on posters all over the country 99e - A parting view of Sigiriya 99f - A local bus 99g - The inside of a local Sri Lankan bus 99h - This is how much room there is in the overhead compartments. Barely enough to fit my chap stick, let alone a bag 99i - The cushy inside of an AC minibus. These cost up to 5x the amount of a public bus 99j - An egg hopper 99k - A plate of my favorite snack foods in Sri Lanka 99l - Veg rice curry 99m - Veggie Kottu 99n - Your parting moment of fun with signs...not just one, but multiple maths Sri Lankan Train Ride Through the tea fields in Hill Country near Ella Abandoned Sri Lankan train lays in ruin on the side of Hill Country Colombo train station stairs Train Tracks in Galle, Sri Lanka

All Videos for this section:


And your moment of Zen…a sunset at Galle Fort over the Bay of Bengal

Posted in SouthEast Asia, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka: The Undiscovered Country, Uncategorized |

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