After seeing the Sacred Bo-tree I spent some time cycling around the banks of the Tissawewa and sitting in the Royal Pleasure Gardens. The bike ride itself was very interesting and is much like a bike ride around the sea wall in Vancouver. While I was cycling I stopped to talk to a local man about crop circles. While here I saw a very young girl walking up and down the pathway trying to make it through her labour.<\/p>\n
I stopped for a coconut (my saviour these days) and talked with the vendor for a while. Coconuts are great for getting rid of thirst and also great for a quick energy boost. In Canada we associate coconuts with the small, brown, hairy ones you see in the grocery store. Here coconuts are large, green and soft. You can easily chop off the top and plop in a straw.<\/p>\n
The Tanks:<\/strong> Anuradhapura has three large bathing tanks, the largest one is 1200 hectares. Many date back 2000 years and are man-made though you wouldn’t know it by looking at them as they have become a part of the natural landscape. The reasoning behind building these was to irrigate the rice crops in the dry northern climate. When I asked a few locals why the tanks were so large they told me that they were elephant bathing areas and back then the elephants were very large!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"