The road ahead

For those who are wondering....

I am currently in Kandy and plan to leave tomorrow or the next day for a tour of Buddhist historical sites in the north central area of Sri Lanka. This area, known as the Cultural Triangle, is generally described by a triangle formed by Kandy, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. The places I have visited or plan to visit are all described at this excellent site, Sacred Island - A Buddhist Pilgrim's Guide to Sri Lanka, which is an online version of the book I brought with me as a guide to my travels in Sri Lanka. Places in that list I have already visited are Buduruvagala, Kirivehara, Maligavila, Sithalpavuva, the Temple of the Tooth, Tissamaharama and Weligama. In addition to the triangle cities, I particularly hope to visit Arankale, Avukana, Dambulla, Sigiriya, and Yapahuwa.

For this stage, since I will be traveling to many locations for relatively short visits at most of them, I will hire a car and driver\guide. One can use trains, buses, taxis and three-wheelers (auto rickshaw or tuk-tuk) and a chunk of walking, but the hired car is not terribly expensive and it is very nice to have a guide and to be able to take whatever side-trips and make whatever stops you feel like. For example, I have been assured that beaches in the Trincomalee area are the most beautiful in Sri Lanka (quite a claim, that). I will also pop in on a friend in Badulla for a small gathering.

I expect to end up back in Kandy in a couple weeks. I will probably stay at least a couple of days at the Mahavihara Maha Prirvena and may drop into the Nilambe meditation center for a while. From Kandy there is a certain train that has an observation car that reportedly provides a particularly beautiful view Sri Lankan mountains and countryside from Kandy to Colombo. Then I will spend a couple days in the greater Colombo area before leaving Sri Lanka.

I had planed to travel next to Thailand and visit a forest monastery, perhaps taking a bit of a meditation retreat; but, Thailand is in a bit of turmoil right now with their political unrest. I'm confident the places I am interested in are safe, but I'm not sure I need to go to a place where the air is so filled with anger and ill-will. It occurred to me that by the time I leave Sri Lanka I will have been two months gone from India so I have the option now of returning there. Plus I have an outstanding invitation to visit a monastery in Singapore. Ah, so many options. Well, let's take the fork in the road when we reach it; meanwhile, I will focus on the path beneath my feet.