The cultural triangle by bus

In the centre of Sri Lanka are a collection of UNESCO listed sites, known as the Cultural Triangle. Scattered through the hot and dusty plains are the archeological remnants of Sri Lanka's ancient kingdoms dating back over 2000 years. I'm a sucker for a good ruin, so there was no way we were going to miss seeing this. Apparently there are seven listed sites in the boundary of the 'triangle', we narrowed our adventure to four­ Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya and Dambulla. We did the whole lot under our own steam; public buses, rental bikes, the occasional tuk tuk and our own two legs. I mention this because in the beginning it seemed is wouldn't be possible; because it was part of the adventure; and, because it was an important step in our remembering how to travel.

We got ourselves to Kandy, the usual jumping off point for the Triangle, but had very little idea of how to go from there. Despite lots of internet research I couldn't get my head around the distances involved, the transport available or how much time we would want in each place. All things I figured we would work out once we were actually 'on the ground'. However, it turned out not to be that easy. At every turn the trip was presented to us as something incredibly complicated. We found ourselves seriously considering hiring a driver - at just over 45,500 Rs for two nights/ three days with car, driver all their costs and our accommodation it was sorely tempting. Over our daily budget, sure, but so enticingly convenient and not that much over (until you start adding entry fees and food). We were, it should be noted, only one day off our 32 hour transit to get to Sri Lanka, hadn't changed our clothes in four days (our bags took a little longer to arrive than we did) and still switching from planning to experiencing mode. It turns out it takes some time to remember how to travel (even for people like us who feel that we have been on the road in some form or another for years). Fortunately, we roused ourselves and decided to test out the first leg of the journey by public transport.

Transport-wise, the entire trip was seamlessly easy. We all know the quintessential image of public transport in this part of the world - humans, goats, chickens crammed into a bus with a driver who has a death wish. We didn't get the animals and, for the most part, we were not too uncomfortably squashed. We did get the driver. And, as an added bonus, for one trip we found ourselves on the party bus...with a monk. Thumping Sinhalese beats and a dashboard display of Hindu and Buddhist deities back lit with flashing lights.

Now, to get to the point, ancient Sri Lankan kingdoms.

We began with Anuradhapura. The oldest set of ruins, furthest from Kandy. It was, if I am honest, underwhelming. Maybe it just isn't for the vaguely informed traveler. The ruins at Anuradhapura are extremely ruinous. More mounds of grass with fences of archeological digs around them than ramshackle castles being reclaimed by the jungle. There was also not much to help decipher what you were looking at- no map, no audio guide, no human guide, no museum. There was the occasional silver plaque, which we would run to like the desperate navigators that we were only to learn that this site is of continuing religious relevance and we should not walk on the walls.

On the plus side, is the fact that many of the sites at Anuradhapura are of continuing religious significance. This means it still has a life of its own. We were very lucky that our visit coincided with Vap Fullmoon Poyaday (an important Buddhist festival, marking the end of the monks' rainy season retreat - I think). The stupas were wrapped in colorful ribbons and flags. Families, all dressed in white, were visiting in the hundreds and there was an incredibly festive atmosphere.

From Anuradhapura we bussed to Polonnaruwa. Now this is more what I had in mind. The ruins looked like something from an Indiana Jones set. Enough of the original buildings remained that you could get a sense of the layout of the town. There was a great museum telling a little bit of the lives of the inhabitants of the place, explaining the relevance of the sites, showing miniature reconstructions of the kingdom and most excitingly a map to help us get around. The partial remains of the buildings were a little bit mysterious and as you walked through the ground floor plan of the old citadel you could get a sense of the lives that were once lived there.

After a day wandering the ruins at Polonnaruwa, we jumped on a bus to Sigiriya. We had, it turns out, saved the best for (almost) last. Historically, Sigiriya comes between the Kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. It is a huge rock rising something like 200 meters out of the surrounding plains. A particularly devious King (and therefore reasonably paranoid) built his palace on top of the rock, proceeded to cultivate beautiful gardens and work some kind of genius with water features. Even without this back story, Sigiriya has the sort of ruins that stimulate the imagination. If you squint a little you can see the ancient kingdom come to life. It isn't very hard to conjure up the ladies of the court, floating around in their saris. You can feel the awe an out-of-town visitor must have felt walking through perfectly manicured water gardens (flowing even in the dry season), to climb the rock-face to the castle perched on the top of the world. Surely, the visitor couldn't help but be intimidated as they ascended the stairs guarded by a huge lion carved out of the rock. If squinting and conjuring aren't your thing, well there are the views.

Finally, Dambulla. It is the transport hub back to Kandy. We wouldn't have otherwise gone. I am glad we did. There are ancient caves holding tributes to Buddha in the form of paintings and statues dating back about 1000 years. It is impressive and still very much complete and current.

Final consensus on the Cultural Triangle? It is worth the effort. In between the famous sites Sri Lanka is getting on with life - that is worth experiencing in and of itself. The sites themselves are interesting and it is a good excuse to explore the countryside.

Here are the things I wish someone had been able to tell me before I started out:

• Public transport is seamless, cheap and good fun. From Kandy to Anuradhapura the 'fancier' a/c bus goes every half hour until 4.30 and took three hours. We paid 360 Rs each and bought an extra seat for our packs (now known as the clergy). From Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa we caught the regular bus (the only option), it runs approximately every half hour till 4.30 p.m. and took 2.5 hours. We paid 153 Rs each and were able to stash our packs under the backseat. Polonnaruwa to Sigiriya we had to take the bus to Inamula Junction, it ran so regularly no one seemed to bothered by the timetable, we narrowly missed one bus pulling out as we arrived at the bus station, but were driving out on the next one in under 10 minutes. The journey took just under two hours. We paid 100 Rs each and this time our bags went in the under bus storage. From the junction we caught a tuk tuk about 15-20 minutes for 500 Rs.
• The entry fees to the sites are steep by Sri Lankan standards and sent us well over our budget every day. If your shoestring won't handle this kind of stretching, I would skip Anuradhapura.
• Bikes are a great way to get around. We rented ours from our guesthouses for 250 - 400 Rs. Don't expect anything fancy. My bike in Anuradhapura was held together with wire, but it did the job. The ancient cities are separate from the main towns so there isn't a lot of traffic to contend with.
• It is hot. Although we set out early each day we were still wandering around the ruins by early afternoon. Dragging ourselves around in the mid-day heat made the last few sites more of an endurance test than an adventure. I'm not sure how you avoid this without going for the more expensive tuk tuk or car and driver options. Just take lots of water.