Tour of Sri Lanka 2025 | Day 20 | Trincomalee – Anuradhapura | 172.4 kms

I wake up after 6am and get ready. The weather is cloudy, but it doesn’t seem like rain is coming. I couldn’t find the caretaker to make coffee. I wrote in my diary outside, and he arrived with my coffee sometime after I finished.

After that, I get ready, load up my bags and around 8:45am, leave the hostel after saying goodbye to Blanca and Lynn. Blanca too is coming to Anuradhapura later in the day. Anuradhapura is just 100kms away which will not take more than 2hrs of riding.

The roads are good, the sky is cloudy but not rain along the way. I stop for a breakfast of boiled corn and bananas and proceed towards the destination. During the halt, I book my hostel and forward the same details to Blanca. I reach the town of Anuradhapura around 11:30am, find the hostel and also meet the owner of it.

He is friendly and super helpful. He advises me to visit the points of interest in evening post 6pm as the security guards go home and no one is there to check the tickets. The ticket to visit the monuments is costly. $15 for Indian and $30 for non-Indians. Out of the 5 places which I have marked on the Google to see, 2 of them are free while for the remainder 3, you need to purchase a ticket. Instead, the owner advises me to visit the city of Mihintale which is nearby and of cultural importance since it is believed that Buddhism in Sri Lanka first came here.

I make my way there which is 18kms far. One the way, I experience light drizzle but nothing serious. I reach the place within an hour, park the bike and purchase the entry ticket of 1000LKR. Just at the counter, nearby on a tree, I see the giant Sri Lankan squirrel which is their national animal. I try to feed him by hand, he comes closer and sniffs the food but refuses to eat it. Locals nearby say that he has already eaten and that is tummy is full.

After that, there is a little climb to reach to the place of interest. Actually, the whole place is religiously important. At the top of the hills are the big stupas of Buddha. There is also a flag of Buddhism placed atop a boulder which you can reach via man-made and rock cut steps. The similar is the case for the white sitting Buddha statue and the 2 big stupas next to each other.

There is also a standing Buddha statue in a ruined hall which has only stone pillars left now. I visit to each of these places and then also visit a cave of a monk. For that, there is a little hike down at the back of the mountain. After this, I visit another places of interest which are in ruins now, like the library and community kitchen hall, some big stupas, lake and monk living cell. The cells are spread around the rocky neighborhood. There are a total of 62 stone caves. I visit 2-3 of them before making my way back to Anuradhapura.

The rain intensifies now which forces me to take shelter. I utilize that time to eat some juicy mangoes at a nearby fruit stall. I wait it out and thereafter head towards the hostel. At the nearby restaurant, I have some light snacks and then proceed to see the 2 free places. One is the Maha Bodhi tree and the other one is a giant Stupa. It’s just 2km from the hostel. I go on a bike and park at the dedicated parking lot and go walking after depositing my shoes. It’s a 5 min walk towards the Maha Bodhi tree.

It’s the most sacred place for the Sri Lankans and it is believed that Buddha attained enlightenment sitting under this Fig tree. I enter the complex and can see many locals and foreigners gathered around. People are offering flowers while some are chanting prayers. The silence there seems so powerful. I pickup a leaf fallen from the Bodhi tree to take it as a souvenir back to India.

I go inside the temple and offer my blessings and come out. With me visiting are a large group of Chinese and Japanese nationals. From there, it’s a straight walk towards the Stupa. Takes around 5mins to walk. The size of it is massive. It is towering like a giant pyramid, but in a white color. This place is crowded with all types of people. Monks, locals wearing white dress and non-Sri Lankans.

I walk towards the stupa and as I reach the premises, do a circular walk around it observing the details and admiring it’s size. The weather is still cloudy but the rocky floor is wet. Once the round is completed, I take a photo and retreat to the parking lot and back towards the hostel. There, I meet Blanca as I had told the owner to reserve a bed for her. While I was at Mihintale, she was busy exploring the free places and even took a walk at the nearby lake which I had missed completely.

We eat something and post 6pm, visit all the remaining 3 stupas in the night without paying any entry fees. The stupas look magnificent in the warm light which really took me by surprise. I didn’t know they would look so beautiful at night. We even re-visit the free stupa just to see it shining like a bright moon from a distance.

Back on our way we visit some local convenience store for fun but end up buying red wine and cheese which we relish sitting by the lakeside until we finish it off. Later, we head to our hostel for a good night sleep.