​The mountainous breakfast of spicy vegetables and hardboiled eggs with “string hoppers,” homemade vermicelli like noodles, and a side of corriander onion chutney, was so good I almost embraced Umpali, our host. 

I restrained myself though, since despite his attentiveness, he was more of a gentlemanly handshake and slight bow sort of guy; not the hugging type. We were not surprised when he told us that he had served as the personal chef to various ambassadors to the UAE, including the  US and UK, and that if we ever needed anything in Sri Lanka, we should call him on his cell phone. 

We got an earlier start today, enjoying the relative cool and watching the small towns come to life, from people cycling  to school and work, to pink painted storks and turquoise kingfishers catching breakfast. 

Arriving in Anaradapura, we cleaned up and headed out to find a bite to eat and visit the sacred city. Considered sacred to the Buddhist world, the ancient city was the center of Theravada Buddhism for many centuries and today is a UNESCO world heratige site surrounded by monasteries. Such a place should be easy to find, right? The heat and a caloric deficit apparently went to our heads and we ended up walking in the late afternoon heat in precisely the wrong direction…for over an hour despite a GPS enabled map. Don’t ask. We kept our metaphorical cool though, found a bite to eat at a place with a creative approach to cleanliness, and grabbed a tuk tuk to the ruins. 

En route, we stopped for gas, commonly sold here on the secondary market in old 750ml liquor bottles for 100 rupees, or 66 cents, which allow for drivers to buy fuel in small amounts as they earn fares. My fascination with microfinance continues.

The sacred city was impressive, in the sort of abstract way historic sites tend to be, and the surroundings were beautiful. I am disappointed to report, however, that we were politely denied entry to the site of the Bhodi tree because our knees were visible, which means that we remain unenlightened. Our journey continues.