Dambulla

October 20, 2012

Dambulla

We got up late, we were supposed to go out by 7am but ended up getting out of bed at 6:40am and got stuck chatting at the breakfast table with a Taiwanese traveler till 8:30am!

Took a tuktuk and went over to the Pettah bus terminal. The city landscape of Colombo had really changed a lot through the years. There are now less policemen and more new buildings cropping up. Modernization is really encroaching fast.

For only 300LKR, we were already in an A/C van bound for Dambulla (it will stop there only for a few minutes then it’s off to its final destination - ). It was quite fast. I initially thought it would take at least 5-6hrs to get to Dambulla, we left around 9:40am from the bus station and arrived in town around 2pm. We just slept the entire journey, it was quite comfortable and minimal stops.

The town of Dambulla is just a 3-way street junction which is one of the busiest stops for most buses (going to Kandy – Colombo – Anuradhapura) and has slowly shown signs of prosperity since the last time I used to pass by here. Now there are lots of new stores, restaurants, and banks lining up the streets.

We got down and flagged a waiting tuktuk (we got swarmed with tuktuk drivers offering their services for varying rates! I hate haggling for tuktuk fares!), we decided on 1500LKR for a trip to the Cave temple then to our resort afterwards.

The Dambulla Cave temple is a World Heritage Site (sabi pa nga ni J-blogged na di daw sya aakyat kung di yun WHS! Hahaha) and is the most well-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. The rock temple dates back to the 1^st century BC. The most popular amongst visitors and tourists are the 5 cave temples which have been converted into shrine rooms and were used earlier as a monastery. The entrance fee is 1300LKR which you pay before you go up, there is a ticketing booth near the museum. Make sure you have your ticket with you otherwise its a long walk back again as the temple entrance is right there at the top of the rock!

The ceiling frescoes are out of this world! So beautiful and still well-preserved despite being painted on the rocks for hundreds or maybe thousands of years. The craftsmanship is really outstanding! Buhay na buhay ang colors!

In Buddhism, the opened lotus flower in full bloom like this represents the true nature of beings, who rise through samsara into the beauty and clarity of enlightenment.

The entrance to the cave complex

From the cave temple, it’s another 40 minutes tuktuk ride passing by the Kandalama tank. If not for the rain we would have stopped and stayed for awhile and just bask in the serenity afforded by the lake. One thing to remember though, be careful of other residents in Dambulla……monkeys jumping in your roof at night, stampeding elephants, or this one…….

Our last meal was breakfast so when we arrived at the hotel, we were really famished and wolfed down the towering Chef’s sandwich special.

The following day, we went to visit Heritance Kandalama for our evening tea. I’ve always wanted to visit this hotel, a Geoffrey Bawa creation and is one of the most high-end property here in Sri Lanka.