Today was a chance to explore Anuradhapura. I marked three places on my map, set out a walk to visit them and took a tuk tuk back.

• The Sri Maha Bodhi Tree was grown from a cutting and is over 2000 years old
• The Jetavanarama Dagoba was built ~2300 years ago and was once the third tallest monument in the world, the top two were Egyptian pyramids
• The Abhayagiri Dagoba was another massive ancient monument and surrounded by a large monastery

I started with a pleasant walk along the lake.

A small shrine, some monkeys. As I got closer to the ficus tree I saw more and more pilgrims, mostly dressed in white.

A place to drop off shoes. I had remembered to wear long pants and take off my hat. If done again I would wear a lighter shade than dark red.

The tree is surrounded by the raised platform. Pilgrims went up to see the tree, while others rested and visited. There is a much better description of the tree here here than I can provide.

Originally 120m+ high and built 2300 years ago by King Mahasena the Jetavanarama Dagoba is a massive structure that I wandered one lap clockwise. It is described better here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetavanaramaya

After that a little further walking, a water and a mango juice…

Brought me to the Abhayagiri Dagoba. Another massive temple to walk and described better here

I got a good sense of everything with these large monuments, ancient sites and still cultural destinations for pilgrims. I walked a bit over 7 miles.

From here a tuk tuk ride to the railway station which was close to downtown. I found a restaurant for fried rice.

Stopped at the big, for Sri Lanka, grocery.

Took a second tuk tuk back to the hotel. Now a chance to relax. I dropped off some laundry so will also pick that up later.

The next four days are posted. Longer days of riding. Most likely I’ll look at riding to lunch and skipping afternoons.