MIHINTALE-THE BIRTH OF BUDDISM IN SRI LANKA

WEATHER: Hot as an oven and 36C and SUNNY

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: We are on the road today

BUMMER OF THE DAY: It is like a sauna

WORD OF THE DAY:  Are You Bo One (Ayubowan) May you live long and I wish you good life

THANKS TO ALL MY WATER CAHRITY DONATIONS SO FAR:

Kate Sladdin and Marina Kadlubowski…

http://mycharitywater.org/bernies-odyssey-for-clean-water

DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 212km

BUDDHA QUOTE FOR THE DAY: Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. 

Today we leave Negombo and head to Anuradhapura 212km away.  We are lucky for the first day we are in a private van, a nice way to break us in slowly for the rest of the trip that will be done on public transport and we do have 2 train journey’s and I think another private van thrown in there for good measure.  Indika is an organized leader and this morning all our bags were colored coded with different colored ribbons to simplify our check in for the next 14 days.  It sounds like we hopefully won’t have much to do with our bags which is fine with me and especially now I don’t have to feel guilty that some poor Sri Lankan will do his back in lifting the ‘monster’.  I have decided to leave a bag of things at the hotel in Negombo, lucky I bought a bag in Thailand, and we have a free day in Colombo that I can come back and collect it if the hotel won’t send it down with a driver.  I really don’t think I will be needing scarfs, beanies, jeans, long sleeve tops, cardigans, IPad and jewelry.  So I officially I have clothing in 3 continents, with stuff left with Zeme in Africa, stuff with Shelly who is currently still in Thailand and my belongings in Australia.  Not a bad feat though huh!!  But I feel a whole lot better that my pack is definitely I rekon 10kg lighter which is awesome.

Our first stop of the morning, at 10am, was at the Asia Pacific Brewery that does brew beer but today we were there for the Arrack.  Arrack, also spelled arak, it is a distilled alcoholic drink typically produced in South Asia and Southeast Asia, made from either the fermented sap of coconut flowers.  The clear distillate may be blended, aged in wooden barrels, or repeatedly distilled and filtered depending upon the taste and color objectives of the manufacturer. Sri Lanka is the world's largest producer of coconut arrack.  Other than water, the entire manufacturing process revolves around the fermentation and distillation of a single ingredient, the sap of unopened flowers from a coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). Each morning at dawn, men known as toddy tappers move among the tops of coconut trees using connecting ropes not unlike tightropes. A single tree may contribute up to two liters per day.  Due to its concentrated sugar and yeast content, the captured liquid naturally and immediately ferments into a mildly alcoholic drink called "toddy" or occasionally "palm wine". Within a few hours after collection, the toddy is poured into large wooden vats, called "wash backs", made from the wood of teak or halmilla trees. The natural fermentation process is allowed to continue in the wash backs until the alcohol content reaches 5-7% and deemed ready for distillation.  We got to see the toddy tapper in action and it is amazing to see some-one up so high, these coconut trees were so tall, milk the flower and then travel via 2 ropes to the top of the next coconut tree with a bucket tied to his hip with the milked toddy.  So our sample taste test was fresh from the flower and I have to say it was disgusting.  I sniffed it to start with and reminded me of Araki in Ethiopia, which is never a good start, but I tried it and swallowed it (just) and I can add the tick in the box.  Apparently as it ferments and the arrack you can buy in the bars is a lot more refined but I don’t think it will be my drink of choice here.  No matter what country you go to they refer to the coconut trees as The Tree of Life and Sri Lanka is no different.  It is called "The Tree of Life" because of the endless list of products and by-products derived from its various parts. Food, shelter, fuel - name it, the coconut has it.  The coconut industry is considered a major dollar earner that provides livelihood to one-third of the country's population.  As we were getting ready to leave Gary wanted to have a look at the toddy’s knife that he uses in the trees and without even thinking as he pulled it out of the sheath he cut his hand on the rounded blade.  It was actually a pretty deep cut and after some water, some green natural stuff a Band-Aid and we were on our way.  First drama of the trip on day 1.  Gazza.

The scenery really changed as we left Negombo, tall, and I mean tall, coconut trees and canals that were built by the British full of water, known as the ‘wet’ side of the country and as we crossed the last river that had water in it to the ‘dry’ side of the country, it really lived up to its name.  It was dry as a bone, one match and the whole landscape would go up in a puff of smoke.  That and the heat as well, was making it incredibly hot and I don’t think I really knew how hot this tour was going to be.  Would I have still booked the trip knowing, that is a resounding yes, but I may have been able to be better prepared, mentally at least anyway.  Well I am here now and I will just have to get my head around that each day will be in the high 35C.  All the road signs we pass are in 3 languages.  The official language of the country which is Sinhalese, Tamil and also English.  Every time I see Sinhalese it looks like some wacky font on Word and some of the letters look like little pictures.  Every time I look at the signs it makes me smile, it is so cute.  I have no idea what it says as a lot of the shop signs are not in the triple language but it looks pretty groovy all the same. 

After lunch at 12 noon at a local restaurant we motored onto our final stop of the day in Anuradhapura just after 2pm.  The hotel was better than I expected and they had free Wi-Fi which sounds great but it was slow as a snail and could only be found in one small section, right near the chair at the far end of the covered verandah.  I was able to get my Hotmail emails ok; I just couldn’t get onto Facebook, which at the end of the day is not the be all and end all.  We are staying here for 2 nights and the upside is they have a pool and they have ice at the bar.  Similar to Africa it is a push (so far) that the soft drinks you get are cold and they also have the old fashioned recycle glass bottles, so you can’t take them away with you as they get cash back for the return of the empty ones.  There are the plastic bottle floating around in the supermarkets, but at the local shops they are all the glass ones. 

As soon as our bags were delivered to our beautifully AIR-CONDITIONED rooms we had 30 minutes to get ourselves ready as we were heading out to Mihintale for the afternoon and travelling by tuk tuk’s.  I am still a lover of tuk tuks and I think we will be riding in them quite often on this trip which is a kick for me as I think they are so cute.  So at 3.45pm we all climbed into a tuk tuk, 3 to each one so I was with Melissa and Serena, and we set off for the 30 minute ride.  I keep asking Indika about how tough the walk is, how many steps are there, as I want to make sure that I firstly will be able to keep up and secondly that I won’t be holding the whole group up as well.  The latter is probably my biggest concern.  But he seemed to think that this would be okay and to give a number that there are around 900 steps to get us to the top.  I think I could manage that, heat and all and as they were all steps, he said that your thongs would be okay to wear.  So half way to the site we had to pull over as we had got a flat tyre, on our tuk tuk!!!  The wheels are so small to start with and if you haven’t seen how a tyre is changed it is hilarious with the help of one of our fellow tuk tuk’s, 3 men lifted the vehicle up on 2 of its 3 wheels, while another changed the tyre and after 10 minutes the new wheel was on and we were all loaded in and ready to go.  Well, as they had tipped the tuk tuk we think they may have flooded something as it now wouldn’t start!!!  So we sat for another 10 minutes for the fuel to redistribute and then when he started it, we got the unmistakable noise of a lawn mower and we were back on our way.  Tuk tuk’s (or Bajaj in Ethiopia) are hardy little things.  They certainly get a work out in some of the Ethiopian Cities and still run strong. 

Mihintale is a mountain peak near Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. It is believed by Sri Lankans to be the site of a meeting between the Buddhist monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa which inaugurated the presence of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It is now a pilgrimage site, and the site of several religious monuments and abandoned structures.  According to Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa, Thera Mahinda came to Sri Lanka from India on the full moon day of the month of Poson (June) and met King Devanampiyatissa and the people, and preached the doctrine. The traditional spot where this meeting took place is revered by the Buddhists of Sri Lanka. Therefore in the month of Poson (June) Buddhists make their pilgrimage to Anuradhapura and Mihintale. 

“Mahinda” was the son of Emperor Ashoka of India. King Ashoka embraced Buddhism after he was inspired by a very small monk named “Nigrodha.” The King who was in great misery after seeing the loss of life caused by his waging wars to expand his empire, was struck by the peaceful countenance of such a young monk. Meeting this young monk made a turning point in his life and he thereafter, renounced wars. He was determined to spread the message of peace, to neutralize the effects from the damages caused by him through his warfare. As a result both his son and daughter were ordained as Buddha disciples, and became enlightened as Arahats. In his quest to spread the message of peace instead of war, he sent his son Mahinda, to the island of Lanka, which was also known as “Sinhalé”. This island was being ruled by his pen friend King Devanampiyatissa. Thus, “Mahinda” was the exclusive Indian name which in Sinhalé, became commonly known as “Mihindu” in the local vernacular “Sinhala”.  In Sinhala Mihin-Thalé literally means the “plateau of Mihindu”. This plateau is the flat terrain on top of a hill from where Arahat Mihindu was supposed to have called King Devanampiyatissa, by the King’s first name to stop him shooting a deer in flight. Hence, “Mihin Thalé” is a specifically Sinhala term. This is said have been called Cetiyagiri or Sagiri, even thought it was more popularly known as Mihintale - the cradle of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

When we finally made it to the first section of the site we climbed over 50 steps to have a look at The Cave of Arahant Mahinda located on a slope of a mountain is the cave known as Mihindu Guhawa or the cave of Arahant Mahinda, where he resided. With any sacred site we are required to wear appropriate clothing which is basically a top covering your shoulders and your shorts have to be beneath your knees.  Indika being organizes as he is had ‘temple clothes’ for those who didn’t comply which was a sarong type warp for the boys and a wrap-around skirt with extra-long ties for the girls that would even fit me!!!!  So once we were properly attired we went into one of the caves (there are 88 of them) but out of all of them this cave is the most famous and incidentally the most sacred to Buddhists is this cave with its flattened slab on which Thera Mahinda was accustomed to rest.  There was a great view from here of the Maha Stupor, which is where we were going to walk to next. 

After passing some of the ruins to the left of the courtyard we saw the refectory. The quadrangle is 19m in length and 7.6m in breadth and is surrounded by the storeroom. Since a part of a pipe line has been discovered here, it can be concluded that a systematic and well planned pipe borne scheme was provided. Two stone troughs can be seen here, which would have been used to store food close to the refectory where the monks used to eat.  There were 2000 of them at the height of the site.  On either side of the entrance to a building, are 2 inscriptions engraved on 2 large slabs of granite known as the Mihintale Stone Inscriptions. The rules and regulations pertaining to the administrative purposes of the monastery are engraved on these 2 stone slabs. This inscription installed by King Mihindu (956 - 976 AD) contains records of payments made to the service staff.  One of the stones had the pecking order of each monk in the community and from the top down to the lowest which happened to be the laundry monk and on the list the astrologer was higher than the doctor and the pharmacist was quite high on the list, like 5^th from the top.  The other slab had the rules and regulations of what a monk could and could not do and if they were bad enough then they could be dismissed from service.  This is also where we picked up some ‘friends’.  They were official people to the site and they start to talk to you, ask you questions and before you know it they are helping you up steps, pointing out good photo opportunities you would have seen yourself and I knew that at the end of it all that they would require a tip.  My guy was called Rundu and I took it all in my stride, not really needing his help for the 244 steps to the next courtyard but then looking at what we were to climb next I knew I was going to need help and I am not sure if Rundu knew what he was getting himself into. 

Before entering the second courtyard, we had to remove our shoes and hats, as we were now in sacred territory.  We were told to bring socks with us, if the ground got to hot or the rocks and sand we were to walk on got too much for peoples feet, socks were permitted to wear if required.  There was a small stupor in the middle of the courtyard which was 2,500 years old, a large Buddha to our left, Invitation Rock in front of us and the Maha Stupor to our left.  So what is a stupa? A stupa is a Buddhist cult building , usually on an enclosed and richly decorated place.  Stupa evolved in India during Sungariket around 100 AD from the Indo-Aryan mounds after Mauryahärskaren Ashoka converted to Buddhism.  Central to a stupa, the dome-like , mainly massive hill or building that houses a shrine . On top of the relics is the so-called stem passing through the hemisphere top and ends in a spiral consisting of a number of rings and so called umbrellas. This hill is usually surrounded by a bar of the ornate porticoes of the cardinal directions . The entire composition to symbolize the universe .  A stupa is also a symbol of Buddha’s enlightened mind. Each part of the stupa symbolizes an aspect of the Buddha’s teachings.   There are 8 different types stupor which all correspond to different parts of the Buddha Shakyamuni's life. 

So we headed straight to Invitation Rock also known as Aradhana Gala, where the Arahant Mahinda landed.  It faces Maha Seya on a summit of a hill. Even during very windy weather pilgrims do not fail to visit this rock, which has iron railings to help them to climb. In the ancient books such as the Mahavamsa it is written that Mahinda came to Sri Lanka by travelling through the air. He came down and landed at Sri Lanka on the top of the Aradhana Gala.  I was all prepared for all the steps, but when we got to the base of the rock we had to climb, there were so stairs as such, but a rock surface that we had to scramble up with the help of a chained fence on our left and if you decided to stick with your friend (e.g. Rundu) then he was also used to haul my arse up the cliff face (slight exaggeration) but I needed to use both my hands and the rock was not smooth and in turn when you have on no shoes it is a different experience that is for sure and I did think for a second that I just may not make the top if it was all going to be like this.  But Rundu and Indika were very ‘supportive’ and kept me going and after the initial steep climb it wasn’t too bad, but I did  need the chain and Rundu to get me to the second last landing before seeing I had to lift myself up a section as there were no stairs and I said that I think I had come far enough, I could see everything from this level, but Rundu was determined to get me to the top, so I pushed myself and with a little help we made it right to the top with a magnificent view over the plains and of Buddha and the Maha Stupor.  So after a few photos from my personal photographer, what goes up must come down, but it always easier to come down and didn’t find it as daunting.  Rundu pointed out another photo opportunity on our way down through a crack in the rocks, but it was a little hairy for me to go into, so he took my camera and got the shot for me.  I told you he was going to earn his worth, whatever that tip decided to be….

The day was starting to fade so we bypassed the giant Buddha and climbed what were normal stairs to the top of the Maha Stupa.  The group had gone on which I am okay with, but I had Rundu showing me around now and he was calling himself my bodyguard.  This large stupa known as the Maha Saya is on the summit of the Mihintale hill, built by King Mahadathika Mahanaga (7-19 AD) the base of which is 41m in diameter. The stupa which was in a dilapidated condition has now been completely restored.  The stupas are not made to enter in, so they have shrines attached to them on the outside of the building.  This shrine had the first reclining Buddha on the trip and we were beckoned in by a monk and you are allowed to take photos as well.  Little did any of us know that on your way out you signed a guest book and then make a donation, how can you say no to a Monk? So I dipped in and at looking at the amounts before me contributed the same and then we were on our way back down the steps.  We were bypassed by a troop of monkeys that were on a mission and paid no heed to us on the way down.  This is another thing that we will have to get used to, monkeys, they are everywhere.   

So we made our way back to where our shoes were kept and this was the time to tip Rundu for the help he gave me today which I was totally happy to do.  My next move was a wrong one as I asked Indika what how much was a reasonable price.  I wanted to be fair and I hate under tipping as I think it is a slap in the face.  I know now that Indika couldn’t say, because no matter what he said and what I gave the guides Indika would be back and he doesn’t want to have bad vibes.  I did the same thing to Zeme once when I was in Ethiopia and I know that they can’t say-I should have known better.  So I had to go with what I thought and I gave 1,000LKR and I went to shake his hand and he said that it was his job to escort me to the bottom of the steps safely.  Okay so I must have given an acceptable tip.  I know the girls were struggling with their guys (they weren’t happy with their tip) but at the end of the day they should be happy with what they were given and if there is a set price they should be made aware of that.  At the end of the day they girls didn’t even need help (not like Granny here) and I told Mel not to get too upset about it all. 

By this time it was 6.15pm and we were losing light really fast as we had the 30 minute tuk tuk ride back to the hotel.  This meant that we would be heading back in the dark.  Normally this would not worry me, but in the dark in a tuk tuk, this was a little worrisome and with good reason as we had a close call to a truck at one point and a 4WD at another point that caused screeching behind us but we didn’t hear a smash and decided we all made it out of that one…..and alive which is always a bonus!

Dinner was at 7pm and we were heading to a local restaurant tonight.  Talk about a busy day and we were all just about pooped.  We were back in the tuk tuks again but this time it was only a 10 minute ride to from the hotel.  It was a typical ‘Asian’ looking restaurant with the front doors being the roller door type, the tables set up along the wall with plastic chairs to sit in.  The fans were going full ball but it really was an oven in there.  So after ordering our drinks we were then called to the front of the shop where there was a small BBQ style hot plate set up and we were shown how to make chapatti, we got to taste test and then we were show how to make egg chapatti and taste test and then we were shown how to make chop chapatti and taste that and then we could order one of the 3 for dinner.  I have to say I am enjoying the beer here and I washed it all down with a cold Lion.  The soft drink may not be cold but they somehow always manage to have cold beer.  I was the last to get my dinner and after waiting all that time it was too spicy for me to eat.  I don’t mind a little spice but this thing had bits of chili flakes that were just too fiery for my taste buds.  We were also given some curry potatoes so I just made sure that I filled up on that instead.  There was an option to walk back or take the tuk tuk and the girls and I and Gary and Sue decided to catch the tuk tuk’s and ended up having a tuk tuk race on the way home to which I am happy to report wee gals won.  I was going to head straight to bed but England were playing Sri Lanka in the 20 Twenty cricket that is currently on in Colombo, so I stayed to watch that till the end and then it was bed time for this little duck.  We have a bike ride tomorrow and another big day and I am going to need my rest.  So a MASSIVE first day on tour and the group is getting along well.  I have a feeling this is going to be a great tour.