When we arrived in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka on Tuesday, March 5th, our friends on SV Starry Horizons (Amy and David) had been here a week already. They had done A LOT of research about land travel while we were underway and offered us to join them on their itinerary….Why the F*** NOT! So less than 48 hours after dropping anchor…we left at 7:30 am to hit the road for 4 days!
DAY 1 – ANURADHPAURA and SAFARI
Loaded up at 7am…..
Raj, our driver stopped on the side of the road at this little shrine…. 
probably asking for prayers…. 
to keep him safe from US : )
What we saw on the drive northwest from Trincomalee….
Lake with sunken trees… 
rice patty fields everywhere1
Anuradhapura (per Wikipedia) is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, famous for its well-preserved ruins of an ancient Sri Lankan civilization. We visited to 2 different places (within walking distance of each other): The first was the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Tree and temple.
Entrance to the temple… I should mention here that David changed in the van to his pants…Raj retied Trevor’s sarong to make sure he was covered ankles up. Mind you, there were a few other tourists visiting the same day and some of them were in tank tops and shorts. What ever is your prerogative…we felt more comfortable being “properly instructed” to be covered.
Shoes are not welcome… be prepared to take off/on your shoes. With that said, the tiles (ground) get VERY HOT as the sun bakes them so maybe wear socks?! 
For a very small fee, the lovely ladies will hold them for you… 
Fancy…and later BURNT…. feet : )
Girls vs. boys….different entrances…, you will see this again….
We are STUPID…this IS an ancient Bodhi Tree but not the famous one…but you get the point…. we did walk around the famous one but no photos. 
As we walked around, I was handed Bodhi Tree leaves. I had no idea at the time what this meant. Raj told us it is a symbol of enlightenment and that I should put them in a “clean” place.
This place has so much significance that Buddhists from all over the world come here….see below article with fun facts about this Bodhi Tree when in 2015, the prime minister of India visited.
The second ancient temple, named Ruwanwelisaya or Mahathupa, was just a short walk away. I found this article (below) specifically about this “Stupa”, a hemispherical structure containing relics, built around the 140 B.C.!
Incense and candles…. 
“noted”….. 
and monks…..Thank you Amy Alton for this photo….
Mahathupa….. 
also at Anuradhapura but we didn’t visit this one.
Shoes back on…slightly burnt soles of the feet…we loaded up into the van and off to LUNCH!!!!
Ok, so I tried the local “rice and curry” meal for lunch that cost about $5 usd…though we were warned it was going to be spicy…what we didn’t know is that everyone tasted it and loved it, even David who tends to veer away from spicy foods.
It was a serious meal FOR 2!
A short drive later…we found ourselves at Raj’s friends place to book a part day Safari tour at Minneriya National Park .
****WARNING….there will be lots of photos and videos…you will have to forgive my photography skills…..but grab a beer or tea…and enjoy!
The tour cost us about 16,000 Rupee per couple…that about $30-35 usd per person. The tour took about 3 hours. There was a less expensive tour with just elephants, but we opted to see more.
Jeep riding…. 
Hi Ya!!! 
Who are these weird looking people?!!!!
We saw birds…. no idea their specifics….
I saw the below video a while back on why the color BLUE is not found in nature very often and thought of it while we were in the safari…because today we saw this little bird and a male peacock spreading it’s wings?! I mean feathers….
https://ed.ted.com/featured/RbAukXY8
A female peacock is actually called a Peahen….didn’t know?!
And lots of water buffalo….
All that’s missing is the white stork like bird on top of the back of the water buffalo. 
Bath time…. 
“cool man, text me later…”
And for the best part…ELEPHANTS!!!!
Ok I think you had enough….but there’s MORE!
Thanks to Amy Alton on Out Chasing Stars for these 2 photos…. 
That is true bliss on my face right there…
Ok….really….I’ll stop here…. Exhausted but still buzzing with the excitement…we settled down for the night.
Raj knows everybody…he stopped at this place….it cost about $25 usd…and breakfast in the morning was negotiated for us. Included in the price was Raj’s room…he would stay at the same places as us. We however paid for all his meals. Need to mention that alcohol (beer in this case) is “illegal” to sell in restaurants. Trevor and I broke all the rules and asked for beers. The restaurant owners first said no….but then went across the street and brought back cold beers. Then we felt bad…but couldn’t waste the cold beer! We drank it but note to self…beer drinking…or drinking in general in Sri Lanka is not a “public” thing….I haven’t see 1 bar yet…except for in a large tourist resort.
We have a very early start for tomorrow’s adventures…Next Up..Day 2 of the Road trip: 2,400 stairs, wood carvings, and a “off road” ride in a tuk tuk!